Moving the Rock

Poverty and Faith in a Black Storefront Church

By (author) Mary E. Abrums

Publication date:

16 December 2009

Length of book:

252 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

Dimensions:

245x168mm
7x10"

ISBN-13: 9780759113190

Moving the Rock portrays several generations of African American women whose families migrated from the South to the Pacific Northwest in the 1940s and 1950s. As members of a small storefront church in central Seattle, these women—grandmothers, mothers, daughters—lean on their faith and church to face the challenges of poverty, racism, ignorance, and health. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it is painfully obvious that many of us know little about what it is like to be poor and Black in the United States. These powerful, profound stories bring this group of women and their problems, and joys, vividly and movingly to life.

Preface
Introduction: A Short History
Part I. Morning Sun Missionary Baptist Church
Chapter 1. Morning Sun Church and Its Leaders
Chapter 2. The Family
Chapter 3. Motherhood
Part II. The Women of Morning Sun Church
Chapter 4. Molly Lake Lander: "I Guess I Have to Go to Jesus"
Chapter 5. Caren Lake: "Having a Dream"
Chapter 6. Mahalia Lake: "I Don't Ask the Lord to Move the Mountain, Just Give Me the Strength to Climb It"
Chapter 7. Mable Jackson: "All I Asked the Lord for Was a Man with a Cigarette and a Job"
Chapter 8. Betty Jones: "I Like to Go!"
Chapter 9. Joann Jones Newton: "When God Comes, He's Getting Some of Every Race"
Chapter 10. Marie Jones Smith: "Getting that Made-Up Mind"
Chapter 11. Linda Wilson, Marie's Daughter: "All These Years I Have Become Stronger"
Part III. The Research Process
Chapter 12. The Research, the Women, and Me
Appendix: The Research Questions, Theories, and Methods

Abrums, an anthropologist and registered nurse, examines the lives of African American women members of the Morning Sun Church in the Central District of Seattle. Abrums spent 18 months observing and interviewing the women of Morning Sun, and the resulting stories are deeply engaging as individual narratives and compelling when taken as a whole. The work positively sparkles with the voices of these women as they discuss their struggles, joys, beliefs, health, and families. This book is undoubtedly academic, yet there is much here for the nonacademic reader to enjoy, too. Verdict:Engaging, beautifully written, surprising, and challenging in the best way possible, this is highly recommended for its fine, compelling writing as well as for its profound subject. Scholars of women's studies, religious studies, and anthropology should take particular note of this title, but it is strongly recommended to interested general readers as well.