"In these troubled times, this book is a reminder of the power that black Americans exercised in moving toward...the American Dream that each of these leaders so eloquently, if differently, expressed... I cannot recommend The Afro-American Jeremiad too highly. It should be required reading from the White House to the schools in the poorest backwaters of this country." --The Journal of Southern History "Howard-Pitney has identified the core beliefs and values that hold the nation together in her civil religion... By demonstrating how...Afro-Americans have drawn upon the jeremiad to make their case for justice and equality, the author has shown the enduring quality of this idea, which has been embraced and rejected by black leaders at various times." --Robert L. Harris, Jr., Cornell University "This very fine monograph is significant because it explores one of the few points of leverage that Afro-American spokesmen had in the nineteenth century in attempting to break out of the race's powerlessness. Very compelling and thought-provoking." --Walter Jackson, North Carolina State University
