Acknowledgments — Introduction — 1. Nobody Knows de Trouble I See: The Cross and the Lynching Tree in the Black Experience — 2. The Terrible Beauty of the Cross and the Tragedy of the Lynching Tree: A Reflection on Reinhold Niebuhr — 3. Bearing the Cross and Staring Down the Lynching Tree: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Struggle to Redeem the Soul of America — 4. The Recrucified Christ in Black Literary Imagination — 5. Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep — Conclusion: Legacies of the Cross and the Lynching Tree — Notes — Index.

Examines the symbols of the cross and the lynching tree in African Americans daily life, spiritual life and history.

The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful new work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk