Conversations with God

Conversations with God is an extraordinary anthology: more than 200 prayers, hymns, poems, and spiritual writings by African Americans spanning from 1760 to 1994, organized into six historical sections that trace faith from slavery through the Civil Rights movement and beyond. Editor James Melvin Washington gathered voices from Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth to W.E.B. Du Bois and Alice Walker. Spirituality and Practice called it 'a profound reflection of the spirit,' and it has remained continuously in print since 1994, earning a 20th-anniversary leather-bound edition. The honest caveat is that the anniversary reissue adds no new editorial content, and the literary and academic tone may feel dense for casual readers. As both a spiritual resource and a primary historical document of American faith, it is indispensable.