Prayer functioned as covert protest that spoke against lynching without open provocation.

Evidence

The Woman’s Convention admitted the resistant politics implicit in their observance of prayer. Nannie Burroughs was quick to agree with a Florida newspaper that labeled the week of prayer against lynching a “clever and mischievous piece of propaganda” that permitted blacks to speak up in ways they would not otherwise dare to do openly. Burroughs explained: “How true! That is why all Christians pray. Their neighbors can or will not help them. God can and will. The Negro is praying because his case must go before the highest court. A just judge presides over it.” — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 1018

Categorization

• XREF: This resonates with James Scott’s notion of hidden transcripts and disguised resistance; also conjures the tradition of spirituals encoding escape plans. — connects to: Lynching crowds voiced praise to God at the moment of death — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 97
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source

Broader Connections

• Lynching crowds voiced praise to God at the moment of death #corroborates (0.80) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 97