In her 2016 publication Painting the Gospel: Black Public Art and Religion in Chicago, art historian Kymberly Pinder provides a fascinating survey of some of the stunning religious iconography central to black belief, worship, and resistance. Beginning with images of black-Christ in key Chicago churches, Pinder explores murals, sculpture, and even t-shirts, including works by William Walker, Richard Hunt, and Damon Lamar Reed. Along the way she uncovers how and why African-American faith communities have remade religion in their own images.

Here Pinder is recorded speaking about the key research and themes of her publication during a lecture presented on November 11, 2017 as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival’s Fallfest: Belief.