Wilmore is one of the leading figures in the scholarly study of African American religion in the United States as well as an early proponent of Black Theology. His experiences in the Italian campaign during World War II prompted him to become a minister as a means to address human cruelty. Wilmore has conducted extensive research on social ethics, African Americans in the Presbyterian Church, and ecumenism. His first book was The Secular Relevance of the Church (Westminster 1962). In his now-classic Black Religion and Black Radicalism: An Interpretation of the Religious History of Afro-American People (Orbis, second edition, 1983).
Wilmore explores the historical struggle for freedom in African American religion during the antebellum and post-Civil War eras, the "DE radicalization" of the black church during the first half of the twentieth century, and the rejuvenation of social activism in African American religion as part of the civil right and Black Power movements. His book provides a moving chronicle, celebration, and critique of black religion in its variegated forms. According to Wilmore, African American …show more content…
Wilmore was born on Dec. 20, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother was a domestic worker and his father, a Word War I veteran, was an office. His parents were active in the community where he grew up, and his father founded the first Black American Legion Post in Pennsylvania. He attended Central High School later renamed Benjamin Franklin where he was active in the drama club and wrote for the student newspaper. In 1937 Wilmore, just a junior in high school won a citywide contest for an essay he had written on Benjamin Franklin. He was also a member of the Young Communist League; he left the organization several years later after he discovered he would not be allowed to think for himself. He received his high school diploma in 1938. After high school, his studies at Lincoln University were interrupted when he was drafted into the
Wilmore explores the historical struggle for freedom in African American religion during the antebellum and post-Civil War eras, the "DE radicalization" of the black church during the first half of the twentieth century, and the rejuvenation of social activism in African American religion as part of the civil right and Black Power movements. His book provides a moving chronicle, celebration, and critique of black religion in its variegated forms. According to Wilmore, African American …show more content…
Wilmore was born on Dec. 20, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother was a domestic worker and his father, a Word War I veteran, was an office. His parents were active in the community where he grew up, and his father founded the first Black American Legion Post in Pennsylvania. He attended Central High School later renamed Benjamin Franklin where he was active in the drama club and wrote for the student newspaper. In 1937 Wilmore, just a junior in high school won a citywide contest for an essay he had written on Benjamin Franklin. He was also a member of the Young Communist League; he left the organization several years later after he discovered he would not be allowed to think for himself. He received his high school diploma in 1938. After high school, his studies at Lincoln University were interrupted when he was drafted into the