Examines the religious dimensions of an early twentieth century black power movement, the universal Negro Improvement Association, whose founder, Marcus Garvey, is here regarded as a religious thinker self-consciously endeavoring to construct their historical experience as a people.

"Burkett has convincingly demonstrated that earlier writers...were wrong in their treatment of Garvey's relations with the black clergy and in many of their assumptions about the religious elements of Garveyism...this carefully researched and insightful study is a major contribution to our understanding of the Garvey phenomenon." - American Historical Review