In this guide, we offer background, resources, expert sources and related content to help you better report on the religious life of Black Americans.

Matthew Harris is a scholar of African-American religion, popular culture and religion, and black studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He wrote a paper on “self-deification” in hip-hop for 2016’s “Show and Prove” hip-hop studies conference.

Black Methodists for Church Renewal is the Black caucus of the United Methodist Church. It represents more than 2,400 congregations and 500,000 members across the United States. It is based in Atlanta, Ga. Contact Rev. Rita Howard, manager of programs and operations.

M. Shawn Copeland is a professor of theology at Boston College. She researches theological and philosophical anthropology and political theology, as well as African and African-derived religious and cultural experience and African-American intellectual history. She teaches courses on theology and the body, political theology and black theology.

Billy Michael Honor is a minister, theologian, and writer who currently serves as pastor and head of staff of New Life Presbyterian Church in College Park, Georgia. His professional and research focus includes religious criticism, African American religious thought, and public theology. He contributed a “preaching reflection” about the death of Michael Brown to Odyssey Networks.