"The Black God Trope is the apogee of rhetorical examinations regarding Black nationalism and religion, particularly how the divine is used as ethos, authority, and resistance. Collins incisively synthesizes centuries of Black rhetorical tradition in the United States - from early orators in the pulpit and at the lyceum to contemporary literary geniuses - as he concomitantly analyzes the nuances of such texts. This volume demonstrates not just the power of the divine as a rhetorical trope for resistance, but it also centers its dynamism as an epistemology for living - for community, for agency, for survival. In the same way liberation theologists have contributed to a deeper, more reflexive understanding of religion, so too does Collins provide a vigorous and fresh mapping of Black nationalism for rhetorical studies." -- Jason Edward Black, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
