Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church and the Transformation of America

C.L. (Clarence LaVaughn) Franklin was probably one of the mostinfluential black preachers of the civil rights era and undoubtedlyone of the most famous black preachers of his generation. Asthe pastor of New Bethel Church in Detroit from 1946 to 1979,he was a key figure in the northern freedom struggle, an advisorto a young Martin Luther King, Jr., and a mentor to Jesse Jackson.He was an immensely popular gospel singer on par with the legendaryMahalia Jackson and Clara Ward, with whom he