Swing Low, Volume 2: An Anthology of Black Christianity in the United States, General Editor, Walter R. Strickland II, Associate Editors, Justin D. Clark, Yana Jenay Conner, and Courtlandt K. Perkins. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514004227) 2024.

Summary: An anthology of primary source writings on Black Christianity in America from the 1600’s to the present.

Last month I reviewed a new history of Black Christianity in the United States by Walter R. Strickland II (review at https://bobonbooks.com/2025/07/02/review-swing-low-volume-1/). So, this volume is a companion to that work, providing an anthology of readings to complement the historical narrative of the first volume. In other words, if you’ve studied history, you understand how important primary sources are. Therefore, this collection is a treasure trove, both for what is represented here and the more extensive sources to which they point.

For example, here are some of the readings included:

• Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
• Richard Allen “The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the R. Rev. Richard Allen…”
• Francis Grimke, “Christianity and Race Prejudice”
• Charles Octavius Boothe “Plain Theology for Plain People”
• Martin Luther King, Jr., “Our God is Able”
• Howard Thurman, “Jesus and the Disinherited”
• Fannie Lou Hamer, “To Praise Our Bridges: An Autobiography”
• Tom Skinner, “Black and Free”
• William E. Pannell, “My Friend, the Enemy”
• James Cone, “A Black Theology of Liberation”
• Samuel Proctor, “Samuel Proctor: My Moral Odyssey”

Like other anthologies, many of the readings are excerpts of key passages of longer works. In addition, each of the selections includes a brief biography of the author and the context in which it was written as well as the original source of the reading.

Moreover, the anthology follows the organization of Volume One, the history, in two ways. Firstly, the anthology annotates the readings with symbols for the five theological anchors Strickland elucidates in the first volume:

• Anchor 1: Big God
• Anchor 2: Jesus
• Anchor 3: Conversion and Walking in the Spirit
• Anchor 4: The Good Book
• Anchor 5: Deliverance

Secondly, the sections follow the historical periods of volume one, making it well-suited for use as a companion volume in courses on Black Christianity. These sections are:

1. Pre-emancipation: 1619-1865
2. Reconstruction and Its Aftermath: 1865-1896
3. Civil Rights Era 1896-1968
4. Black Evangelicalism: 1963 and Beyond
5. Black Theology: 1969 and Beyond
6. Into the Twenty-First Century

Finally, the readings in each section are divided into four categories:

• Sermons and Oratory
• Theological Treatises
• Worship and Liturgy
• Personal Correspondence and Autobiography

I especially appreciated the Worship and Liturgy selections which included early spirituals like “Go Down Moses” and “Oh! Peter Go Ring Dem Bells,” Civil Rights protest songs like “We Shall Overcome.” and contemporary hip hop like Sho Baraka’s “Maybe Both, 1865.”

In conclusion, this volume is the ideal complement to the history of volume one. Not only that, the readings allow us to listen to Black Christians in their own words. In particular, I found both great comfort in the faith of these believers and great challenge as they spoke of the sins of slavery and racism. For example, consider this excerpt from William E. Pannell’s “My Friend, The Enemy”, from 1968:

“No, this man is a friend. He’s against the KKK, abhors violence, supports the Constitution and is for Negro voting rights. We read the same version, believe the same doctrines, probably have the same middle class tastes, but all he knows about me–or cares to know–is what he sees on the 6 o’clock news.… I wear a suit as good as his, yet he sees me looting a clothing store in Watts. He knows something of my temperament as its mirrored in the behavior of my sons, yet he identifies me with the muggings in Washington or Buffalo. To him, the cause of brotherhood, the disintegration of human relations–civil rights!–is my problem. Mine, because I created it and I perpetuate it.”

Certainly, it does not take a great deal of imagination to draw parallels to our own day. For this reason, this anthology is so valuable. Because the writers are believing Christians who speak biblically into their situation, they offer us a chance to shed our blinders. But will we?

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.