@xroadproj.bsky.social staff and fellows have been busy at this year’s annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion. Project Director @judithweisenfeld.com’s book *Black Religion in the Madhouse* was the subject of a round table discussion.

Check out this exhibit at Howard University on Black religious life in Gordon Parks' photography, curated by @xroadproj.bsky.social affiliate Dr. Melanee C. Harvey. It closes on December 1, 2025.

@xroadproj.bsky.social Director @judithweisenfeld.com's book, *Black Religion in the Madhouse: Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake,* will be the subject of a roundtable at #aarsbl2025.

New projects and a teaching resources added to the Crossroads Project's online gallery at SPIRIT HOUSE! Designed by @mpgphd.bsky.social, the site features 37 original projects exploring Black religious histories, communities and cultures. 1/2 Visit the site: www.crossroads-spirithouse.org

New projects and a teaching resources added to the Crossroads Project's online gallery at SPIRIT HOUSE! Designed by @mpgphd.bsky.social, the site features 37 original projects exploring Black religious histories, communities and cultures. 1/2 Visit the site: www.crossroads-spirithouse.org

We are excited to announce the 2025-2026 schedule for the @xroadproj.bsky.social's *Black Religion in the Americas Seminar,* which meets on select Fridays on Zoom. Free and open to faculty, graduate students, and interested members of the public. Registration required.

Congratulations to the Journal of Africana Religions on @ahmadgreene.com's appointment as Managing Editor. The journal and field are fortunate to have such a stellar scholar involved in this work.

Revisit @xroadproj.bsky.social Arts Fellow @ashoncrawley.bsky.social's moving 2023 sound installation on the National Mall as part of an exhibit curated by the Mellon Foundation. You can learn more at our SPIRIT HOUSE site: www.crossroads-spirithouse.org/crawley

As we embark on our exciting journey as a newly established stand-alone center, our primary goal is to secure vital funding of $12,000 within the next three months. r3center1.blogspot.com/p/donate.html

Congratulations to @xroadproj.bsky.social friends @jstuart.bsky.social and Eziaku Nwokocha on being selected for the next cohort of @csraac.bsky.social Young Scholars in American Religion!

There's still time to submit a proposal to share your work in our new seminar. The sessions will be virtual and open to colleagues, students, and interested members of the general public with registration.

For Juneteenth, I published some newly (re)discovered evidence about the very first celebration of the holiday in 1866. Read more …

The Smithsonian Folkways site is a treasure trove of African American, African diaspora, and African religious music. For Juneteenth, Folkways recommends "Spirituals and Shout Songs from the Georgia Coast."

An interview with Kevin Sack about his new book on the history of Charleston's Mother Emanuel AME.

We're so glad to have this video from the Africana Islamic Social Sciences and Humanities Association of the May conference, "In the Shadow of Malcolm X," held in Dakar, Senegal to mark Malcolm's 100th birthday.

Read about the work of @xroadproj.bsky.social Community Stories Fellow KB Dennis Meade's undergraduate research assistant, Atarah Israel. Israel worked with Dennis Meade and Khytie Brown on their documentary *Crossing the Kalunga Line.*

So great to read @mpgphd.bsky.social's conversation with @ahmadgreene.com about his new book, *Underworld Work: Black Atlantic Religion Making in Jim Crow New Orleans,* which is a game-changer. #AfAmReligion

There are lots of #AfAmReligion books available for review on Reading Religion, and grad students are welcome to review. Here are a few: Ahmad Greene-Hayes, *Underworld Work* Kai Parker, *City of Black Souls* Alphonso Saville, *The Gospel of John Marrant* Danielle Boaz, *Voodoo*

A review by Amber Lowe: "Theology Meets Southern Gothic Horror in Ryan Coogler's *Sinners*."

@xroadproj.bsky.social Graduate Fellow Kim Akano has been part of the team working to launch the new journal *Global Black Studies.* Read her interview with the journal’s editor, Keisha Blain.

@xroadproj.bsky.social Media and Technology Consultant, and Religion Dispatches editor @mpgphd.bsky.social has written about MOVE as American religion on this 40th anniversary of the city of Philadelphia's bombing of the group.

@xroadproj.bsky.social Director @judithweisenfeld.com's work is featured in a Religion News Service interview.

Just 1 week until RNS’ free virtual event with Episcopal Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, legal expert Liz Reiner Platt and the Rev. Carlos Malavé! Register now at us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

‘Timestamp on our minds’: Philadelphia marks 1985 Move bombing that killed 11 Police bombing targeting Black liberation group ignited fire that killed 11, including five children, and burned 61 houses www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

OPINION: In his inclusion of hoodoo, writer and director Ryan Coogler expands the spiritual landscape of "Sinners" beyond the Christian context and presents the lived and historical complexity of religious identity in Black America. religionnews.com/2025/05/07/s...

Congratulations to @xroadproj.bsky.social research fellow @ahmadgreene.com on *Underworld Work: Black Atlantic Religion Making in Jim Crow New Orleans,* which will be published by the University of Chicago Press on May 6. The book is shipping now.

CFP: Crossroads Project Black Religion in the Americas Seminar Deadline June 30, 2025 The seminar explores topics in religions and cultures broadly and from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, emphasizing understanding religion in history and society.

In this Q&A with the Black Agenda Report's Book Forum, author Judith Weisenfeld explains how Black religious practices were seen as proof of mental illness by psychiatrists.

If you missed the fantastic @xroadproj.bsky.social webinar on "Materiality and Africana Religions," organized by @antheabutler.bsky.social, you can watch the recording in the project's media library: crossroads.princeton.edu/events/cross...

Check out @xroadproj.bsky.social Media and Technology Consultant @mpgphd.bsky.social’s conversation with Crossroads Fellow Yvonne Chireau about *Sinners.*

Check out my AAIHS interview with Kiana Knight: www.aaihs.org/dominican-cr.... @dukepress.bsky.social @xroadproj.bsky.social #AAIHS #Haiti #DominicanRepublic

Join us for a Webinar on *Materiality and Religion in Africana Religions: Informed Pasts, New Perspectives* With Tracey Hucks, Henry Drewal, Rhon Manigault-Bryant, and Elizabeth Pérez Friday, April 4, 2025 @ 1:30pm ET

Finally, if you can't join us in person, join us for a webinar from three prominent scholars of African and African American religion and Materiality . Registration link below!

Check out the final installment of @mjcressler.bsky.social'. fantastic #BadCatholicsGoodTrouble webcomic, supported by @xroadproj.bsky.social. Can't wait to see what happens!

what a lineup!! honored to be included with so many brilliant thinkers (also if y'all don't know, you need to pick up *Lifeblood of the Parish*, which we just featured on #KeepingIt101, and *Vodou in Vogue*, written by @xroadproj.bsky.social 2025-6 fellow Dr. Eziaku Atuama Nwokocha!!)

Reminder of this week's programming from the @xroadproj.bsky.social in Philadelphia! Join us Thursday in Philadelphia for a screening of Dahomey -documentary on the Benin Bronzes.

If you are in the Philly area next Thursday, join the @xroadproj.bsky.social for a screening of the documentary Dahomey, with discussion and reception after. 5pm Thursday April 3, at Public Trust. Free and open to the public.

In addition to the film screening on April 3, there will be a symposium on Friday, April 4 on *Material Religion in the African Diaspora* at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. You can see the schedule and register for the symposium and/or the webinar here: crossroads.princeton.edu/events/2025/...

Join us for a Webinar on *Materiality and Religion in Africana Religions: Informed Pasts, New Perspectives* With Tracey Hucks, Henry Drewal, Rhon Manigault-Bryant, and Elizabeth Pérez Friday, April 4, 2025 @ 1:30pm ET

Philadelphia area folks: @antheabutler.bsky.social is hosting a screening of the film *Dahomey* as part of an @xroadproj.bsky.social symposium on materiality and Africana religions. Thursday, April 3 @ 5:00pm at Public Trust, 4017 Walnut Street. crossroads.princeton.edu/events/2025/...

Philadelphia area folks: @antheabutler.bsky.social is hosting a screening of the film *Dahomey* as part of an @xroadproj.bsky.social symposium on materiality and Africana religions. Thursday, April 3 @ 5:00pm at Public Trust, 4017 Walnut Street. crossroads.princeton.edu/events/2025/...

Congratulations to Crossroads Community Stories Fellow Fatima Siwaju an @aarweb.bsky.social research grant with Rasul Miller for a project on Islam and the Black Atlantic tradition. aarweb.org/news/2025-lu...

@xroadproj.bsky.social associate director Lerone Martin is featured in this compelling short audio story about Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux.

This exhibit of Black church hats is on display at the wonderful Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, not far from @xroadproj.bsky.social's home base in Princeton.

One of the hats I wear is director of @religiondata.bsky.social (the ARDA). It's the world's largest online religion data archive. One of the cool resources we offer is the Community Profile Builder. Pop in any US zip code, choose a radius, then generate a FREE report f/ any community in seconds.

We are thrilled to announce the 2025-2026 Crossroads Fellows, whose projects -- photography, oral history, fiber arts, music, comics, ecology, mapping, fiction, and more -- will be presented on our SPIRIT HOUSE site. Read about the new fellows here: crossroads.princeton.edu/grant-progra...

We are thrilled to announce the 2025-2026 Crossroads Fellows, whose projects -- photography, oral history, fiber arts, music, comics, ecology, mapping, fiction, and more -- will be presented on our SPIRIT HOUSE site. Read about the new fellows here: crossroads.princeton.edu/grant-progra...

Just arrived. Tyler Davis’s remarkable collection of oral histories with members of Waco’s Black community that started as an @xroadproj.bsky.social research fellowship (check out the project on SPIRIT HOUSE). Available from Baylor University Press. www.baylorpress.com/978148132256...

Check out the trailer for @xroadproj.bsky.social Community Stories Fellow Leonard McKinnis's project, *The Messenger's Residence* about Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. You can learn more about the project on Dr. McKinnis's website: leonardcmckinnisphd.godaddysites.com/the-messenge...