Scholarship on Black American religious life has historically understood Black Pentecostalism as unconcerned with the socially-challenging lived experiences of its congregants. Many scholars and lay observers, maintaining that such Pentecostal religious life has no identifiable political dimension, have consequently overlooked the political nature of the ritual practices animating the worship event. Centering the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) as a case study, this dissertation argues that the ritual practices of COGIC worship events carry a tradition of political protest that contest dominant ideas of what it means to be “human” as both a social-political identity and an ontological category. To accomplish its task, this dissertation reinterprets turn-of-the-twentieth-century historical events and employs social theory to investigate the social practices of Black Pentecostals. It is the contention of this dissertation that COGIC congregants have historically embodied and expressed their political commitments through the adoption, adaptation, and engagement with Christian rituals. The project demonstrates how the ritual practices of worship (relating to preaching, music-making, tarrying, and ecstasy) allow COGIC congregants to remake themselves and their world, challenging the larger society to reconsider what it means to be “human.” Through the examination of four ritual practices of COGIC worship, this project explains how that group participates in the political dimension of human life as a necessary part of its religious activity. Through the activity of worship, congregants participate in the work of making themselves anew, which impacts how the greater society relates to them as people who are due the rights and privileges of U.S. American citizenship. Simultaneously, COGIC worship provides the ontological discourse or tools for congregants to become “new beings,” which directly corresponds to—and contests (racist) dominant ideas of—what it means to be human. / 2026-05-16T00:00:00Z

Researchers have suggested that Blacks who express linked racial fate are ideologically liberal. Given the prominence of Black philosophical thought and salience of race, I suggest that linked racial fate results in conservative ideology, which exists on a separate ideological dimension than the traditional conservative ideological dimension. This new ideological dimension, referred to as conservatism among Blacks, is vital to understanding Black political thought in the 21st century. Using data from the 1996 National Black Election Study, 2008 National Annenberg Election Study, and focus group data I argue that the conservative ideas espoused by Blacks, specifically members of the Talented Tenth, actually support Black advancement in the same way that Blacks express support for Democratic candidates or ideals as a result of linked racial fate. Moreover, conservatism among Blacks does not result in a specific partisan identification or support for certain candidates; instead, conservatism results in explicit support for policies and ideas that align with the ideas and philosophies of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus M. Garvey. This dissertation fills the gap in the literature that does not utilize Black philosophers, Black political leaders, or college educated Blacks to explain Black political thought and behavior. The study of members of the Talented Tenth provides a framework for understanding how Blacks negotiate various political philosophies, challenging traditional Black American political thought while remaining racially linked to the Black community