As early as the 1780s, African Americans told stories that enabled them to survive and even thrive in the midst of unspeakable assault. Tracing previously unexplored narratives from the late eighteenth century to the 1920s, Laurie Maffly-Kipp brings to light an extraordinary trove of sweeping race histories that African Americans wove together out of racial and religious concerns. Asserting a role in God's plan, black Protestants sought to root their people in both sacred and secular time. A remarkable array of chroniclers—men and women, clergy, journalists, shoemakers, teachers, southerners and northerners—shared a belief that narrating a usable past offered hope, pride, and the promise of a better future. Combining Christian faith, American patriotism, and racial lineage to create a coherent sense of community, they linked past to present, Africa to America, and the Bible to classical literature. From collected shards of memory and emerging intellectual tools, African Americans fashioned stories that helped to restore meaning and purpose to their lives in the face of relentless oppression. In a pioneering work of research and discovery, Maffly-Kipp shows how blacks overcame the accusation that they had no history worth remembering. African American communal histories imagined a rich collective past in order to establish the claim to a rightful and respected place in the American present. Through the transformative power of storytelling, these men and women led their people—and indeed, all Americans—into a more profound understanding of their interconnectedness and their prospects for a common future.

After the Catastrophe, every rule in the world was rewritten. In the Age of Black Iron, steel, iron, steam engines and fighting force became the crux in which human beings depended on to survive. A commoner boy by the name Zhang Tie was selected by the gods of fortune and was gifted a small tree which could constantly produce various marvelous fruits. At the same time, Zhang Tie was thrown into the flames of war, a three-hundred-year war between humans and demons on the vacant continent. Using crystals to tap into the potentials of the human body, one must cultivate to become stronger. The thrilling legends of mysterious clans, secrets of Oriental fantasies, numerous treasures and legacies in the underground world ¡ª All in the Castle of Black Iron! Written by Drunk Tiger, this novel is a prime example of fantasy steampunk. Let us journey through the world of limitless possibilities and inventions together!

After the Catastrophe, every rule in the world was rewritten. In the Age of Black Iron, steel, iron, steam engines and fighting force became the crux in which human beings depended on to survive. A commoner boy by the name Zhang Tie was selected by the gods of fortune and was gifted a small tree which could constantly produce various marvelous fruits. At the same time, Zhang Tie was thrown into the flames of war, a three-hundred-year war between humans and demons on the vacant continent. Using crystals to tap into the potentials of the human body, one must cultivate to become stronger. The thrilling legends of mysterious clans, secrets of Oriental fantasies, numerous treasures and legacies in the underground world ¡ª All in the Castle of Black Iron! Written by Drunk Tiger, this novel is a prime example of fantasy steampunk. Let us journey through the world of limitless possibilities and inventions together!

After the Catastrophe, every rule in the world was rewritten. In the Age of Black Iron, steel, iron, steam engines and fighting force became the crux in which human beings depended on to survive. A commoner boy by the name Zhang Tie was selected by the gods of fortune and was gifted a small tree which could constantly produce various marvelous fruits. At the same time, Zhang Tie was thrown into the flames of war, a three-hundred-year war between humans and demons on the vacant continent. Using crystals to tap into the potentials of the human body, one must cultivate to become stronger. The thrilling legends of mysterious clans, secrets of Oriental fantasies, numerous treasures and legacies in the underground world ¡ª All in the Castle of Black Iron! Written by Drunk Tiger, this novel is a prime example of fantasy steampunk. Let us journey through the world of limitless possibilities and inventions together!

Mercenary King Chen Yang returned to the city to protect his comrade's sister, the goddess. In the bustling city, Chen Yang was like a fish in water, carefree and at ease. And to see how the previous generation's soldiers would use their iron fists and wits to build a business empire...

Is the Black Church dying? The picture is mixed and there are many challenges. The church needs spiritual revival. But reviving and strengthening the Black Church will require great wisdom and courage. Reviving the Black Church calls us back to another time, borrowing the wisdom of earlier faithful Christians. But more importantly, it calls us back to the Bible itself. For there we find the divine wisdom needed to see all quarters of the Black Church live again, thriving in the Spirit of God. It’s pastor and church planter Thabiti Anyabwile's humble prayer that this book might be useful to pastors and faithful lay members in reviving at least some quarters of the Black Church, and churches of every ethnicity and context— all for the glory of God.