Hailed upon publication as a beautiful, seminal book on the role of the church in the African American community as well as on the social history of America, reveals the deep religious conviction that empowered a people viewed as powerless to blaze a path to freedom and deliverance, to stand and be counted in this one nation under God. Here are the stories of politics, tent revivals, and the importance of black churches as touchstones for every step of the faith journey that became the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Using archival and contemporary photography, historical research, and modern-day interviews, features messages from some of today's foremost religious leaders.