The City and the Cross (opens in new tab)

"For much of the twentieth century, Black Catholics in Detroit created something remarkable: vibrant, self-made communities that fused Black American culture with Catholic tradition. From the late 1960s on, they trained their own liturgical leaders, brought gospel and jazz music into the sanctuary, and made Detroit the radical center of the national Black Catholic Movement. But in 1989, the Archdiocese of Detroit announced the closing of dozens of churches—unprecedented in U.S. Catholic histo...