In this talk, Ms. Mango-Ambrose will discuss two ways that African-American leaders interpreted Christianity in their attempts to gain freedom and equality in antebellum America. Northern black theologians argued that the Gospels showed that freedom would come non-violently through emigration or through the courts. Southern slave revolt leaders argued that the Gospels commanded slaves to overturn slavery through violent resistance. While they advanced two contrasting views, both sets of leaders believed that they were fulfilling their duty as Christians, by not only fighting against racial oppression, but fighting against evil itself.

Cheryl E. Mango-Ambrose is a native of DeRidder, Louisiana. She is a 2009 undergraduate of Grambling State University, where she holds degrees in History and Political Science. She is currently a History master’s degree candidate at Louisiana Tech University, where she is in the final stages of writing her master’s thesis titled “African-American Religious Resistance and the Politicization of God: From Slavery Through the Black Power Movement.” Her research interests include African-American religion and the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Following her graduation from Tech, she plans to pursue a doctoral degree in African-American history at Morgan State University.