What happens to a historically African American church when its local African American community no longer exists? Can attempts to emphasize its historic heritage help it to survive? In this dissertation, I consider the racial politics of urban gentrification and the ways in which one historic Black church community utilizes cultural heritage politics as a survival strategy and resistance to city planning in the city of Dallas, Texas. This case study is part of a much broader phenomenon dating to the post-WWII era whereby U.S. local, state, and federal government officials “redeveloped” urban neighborhoods as part of urban renewal plans. Some of these government actions resulted in drastic changes to neighborhood landscapes, displacing entire “minority” communities. Affected by similar circumstances, the St. Paul Church community chose to remain in its original neighborhood and restore its historic building, rather than bend to the will of Dallas city planners. In particular, I examine two church heritage projects; a public archaeology project in which a shotgun house site was excavated on the church property and a public history project which resulted in an interpretive history exhibition on the church. I examine how this church community became involved in these two projects and whether these approaches are practical to the historic preservation of this church community. Basic contributions of this work include: 1) filling gaps in public archaeology research by examining a public archaeology project, beyond the excavation, and critiquing its viability in jeopardized urban contexts, 2) analyzing strategies of political mobilization around heritage politics; 3) determining which Black communities are more likely to engage in and benefit from this type of political mobilization; and 4) problematizing what constitutes giving the power to a community to negotiate its past in the present. This dissertation project finds that although African-American and other minority groups are often politically and economically disadvantaged when challenging eminent domain abuse, these communities are not powerless. The St. Paul community’s utilization of heritage politics as a means to avert eminent domain abuse is one case in point. / text

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / There is a psychosexual health crisis in the African American community, with disproportionate rates of HIV/AIDS infections and poorer medical treatment outcomes for Black men and women (Fullilove, 2006; CDC, 201 0). In contrast to the homophobic responses of most Black Churches, some Black Churches are offering an affirmative ministry for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) individuals. This dissertation examines how these ministries developed and what strategies they employ in response to the HIV/AIDS health crisis. Building on Stigmatization theory, Queer theory, and previous research on Black Churches, I construct a conceptual framework for interpreting this phenomenon. Using the Heuristic methodology, I explore the historical, theological, and practical dimensions of four LGBT -affirming African American ministries. During a period of four to six weeks with each church, I conducted two narrative mterviews with the pastors, 15 to 20 hours of observation of ministry activities, and a review of church documents regarding relationships with the LGBT community. Using narrative analysis and grounded theory, I analyzed the interviews, documents and observational field notes for evidence of the LGBT affirmative ministry. I constructed holistic profiles of each church and a composite profile of the four. All four pastors credited formal theological education and personal experiences with the LGBT community as sources of their theologies. Two of the pastors self-identified as members of the LGBT community; LGBT inclusion was the central focus of their ministries. The other two pastors integrated LGBT inclusion into a broad based social justice ministry that focused on multiple oppressions, including racism and sexism. All four pastors seek to avoid the psychological, spiritual, and physical harm that homophobic Black churches inflict on LGBT Black folk, and seek thereby to discourage behaviors that contribute to the proliferation of HIV/AIDS. Each pastor offered LGBT affirmative strategies for decreasing LGBT stigmatization and HIV infections in the Black community. / 2031-01-01