“The black church has been a crucial part of the community for generations. It provided hope, motivation, and a sense of belief in something greater than oneself. During the segregation era, it played a critical role in fostering black solidarity.”

However, as older members pass away, and Generation X moves in membership in the black church is on the decline. According to a study Blacks born in 1996 and beyond, are less likely to have grown up in a black church or feel that religion is important in their lives. That’s not to say that Generation X doesn’t believe in God, I’m just stating that statistics state that fewer of them attend church, and those who do, are less likely to attend an all-black church. This concerns me because if we stay on this path one has to wonder where that leaves the black church in the next 20 or 30 years from now.

I then began to wonder did the crack epidemic played a role in this decline in the black church?, or is it the mere fact that racism in the United States isn’t as blatant as it was during the Jim Crow, segregation era? I feel both play a hand in this situation (amongst other things), but how do we recover from this is the question I wish I had the answer to before it’s too late