RNS) — In his bestselling book “The Color of Compromise,” author and historian Jemar Tisby explored the history of racism in the American church.
Now, in his new book, “The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance,” he looks at the other side of that history: “What about the Christians who did fight against racism?”
The book details the faith and fortitude of more than 50 people, mostly Black individuals and often women, whose stories are little known. As his research, which included the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, neared the present day, his book shifts to include some non-Black leaders.
“History is the study of both continuity and discontinuity,” said Tisby, who once pastored a majority white evangelical church in the Arkansas Delta and now teaches at Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically Black institution.
“So the continuity is the pursuit of justice. The discontinuity is who is involved. In the Civil Rights Movement and other eras of the Black freedom struggle, Black people were the majority. Now we’re seeing more people of other races and ethnicities partner in solidarity with the Black freedom struggle, because they know their freedom is intertwined with Black freedom. They know that right is right, and it doesn’t matter what race or ethnicity is advocating. They want to be on the side of justice.”
Tisby, who is in his 40s, talked with RNS about why he focused on lesser-known Black history figures, the roles played by wives of more well-known African American leaders, and why imagination is a virtue of justice.