Prosperity-gospel churches replaced prophetic spaces in black Christendom.

Evidence

Since those lofty days, Bishop Long has fallen to remarkable lows. In 2010, two young men filed lawsuits accusing him of using his position to coerce them into sexual relationships. Bernice King has left the church. Long is no longer considered (as if he ever was) the heir to Dr. King’s legacy. But the fall of Bishop Long should not be seen as an isolated instance of a corrupt and hypocritical preacher. The theology and business model of New Birth wasn’t unique to him. It has spread like a virus throughout black Christendom, transforming the role and function of black churches from the prophetic spaces we associate with the civil rights movement, which provided resources for the most vulnerable in our communities and helped challenge white supremacy, to profit centers in the name of God. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 383

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the chapter’s broader theme: institutions (newspapers, HBCUs, churches) that once anchored black communal life are being hollowed out or repurposed under the value gap.
• SHARE: For someone studying the decline of the Black Church as a civic institution — the ‘prophetic to profit centers’ transformation framing is a clean formulation.