Editing African Americans (section)

===Religion===
{{Pie chart
| thumb = right
| caption = Religious affiliation of African Americans in 2007<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/|title=A Religious Portrait of African-Americans|date=January 30, 2009|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=November 2, 2019|archive-date=July 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721132557/https://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| label1 = [[Black Protestant]]
| value1 = 59
| color1 = DodgerBlue
| label2 = [[Evangelical Protestant]]
| value2 = 15
| color2 = Blue
| label3 = [[Mainline Protestant]]
| value3 = 4
| color3 = DeepSkyBlue
| label4 = [[Roman Catholic]]
| value4 = 5
| color4 = Indigo
| label5 = [[Jehovah's Witness]]
| value5 = 1
| color5 = DarkBlue
| label6 = Other Christian
| value6 = 1
| color6 = LightBlue
| label7 = Muslim
| value7 = 1
| color7 = Green
| label8 = Other religion
| value8 = 1
| color8 = Black
| label9 = Unaffiliated
| value9 = 11
| color9 = Honeydew
| label10 = Atheist or agnostic
| value10 = 2
| color10 = gray
}}
{{Main|Religion of Black Americans}}
{{Further|Black church|Hoodoo (folk magic)|Louisiana Voodoo}}
[[File:Mount Zion United Methodist Church - facade.JPG|thumb|[[Mount Zion United Methodist Church (Washington, D.C.)|Mount Zion United Methodist Church]] is the oldest African American congregation in Washington, D.C.]]
[[File:Malcolm Shabazz Mosque.jpg|thumb|[[Masjid Malcolm Shabazz]] in Harlem, New York City]]

The majority of African Americans are [[Protestant]], many of whom follow the historically Black churches.<ref name="PewForum">[https://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf US Religious Landscape Survey] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423044142/http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf|archive-date=2022-10-09|url-status=live|date=April 23, 2015}} The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (February 2008). Retrieved July 20, 2009.</ref> The term [[Black church]] refers to churches which minister to predominantly African American congregations. Black congregations were first established by freed slaves at the end of the 17th century, and later when slavery was abolished more African Americans were allowed to create a unique form of Christianity that was culturally influenced by African spiritual traditions.<ref>Charyn D. Sutton, [https://www.energizeinc.com/art/apas.html "The Black Church"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010002126/http://www.energizeinc.com/art/apas.html|date=October 10, 2014}}. Energize Inc. Retrieved November 18, 2009.</ref> One of these early African American Christian cultural traditions in the Black Church is the [[Watchnight service]], also called Freedom's Eve, where African American congregations all over the nation come together on New Year's Eve through New Years morning in remembrance of the eve and New Year of their emancipation, sharing testimonies, being baptized and partaking in praise and worship.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Historical Legacy of Watch Night |url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-watch-night |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209203550/https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-watch-night |archive-date=December 9, 2023 |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=National Museum of African American History and Culture |language=en}}</ref>

According to a 2007 survey, more than half of the African American population are part of the historically Black churches.<ref name="religions">{{cite web |date=January 30, 2009 |title=A Religious Portrait of African-Americans |url=https://pewforum.org/A-Religious-Portrait-of-African-Americans.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425171741/http://www.pewforum.org/A-Religious-Portrait-of-African-Americans.aspx |archive-date=April 25, 2012 |access-date=April 20, 2012 |publisher=Pewforum.org}}</ref> The largest Protestant denomination among African Americans are the [[Baptists]],<ref>[[Bill J. Leonard]] (2007), ''[[iarchive:baptistsinameric0000leon/page/34/mode/2up|Baptists in America]]'', Columbia University Press, p. 34. {{ISBN|0-231-12703-0}}.</ref> distributed mainly in four denominations, the largest being the [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.|National Baptist Convention, USA]] and the [[National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.|National Baptist Convention of America]].<ref name="church">[https://www.ncccusa.org/news/080215yearbook1.html The NCC's 2008 Yearbook of Churches reports a wide range of health care ministries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519163031/http://www.ncccusa.org/news/080215yearbook1.html|date=May 19, 2019}} National Council of Churches USA. February 14, 2008. Retrieved June 22, 2009.</ref> The second largest are the [[Methodist]]s,<ref name="doindrugs">William Henry James, Stephen Lloyd Johnson (1997). ''Doin' drugs: patterns of African American addiction''. University of Texas Press. p. 135. {{ISBN|0-292-74041-7}}.</ref> the largest denominations are the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]] and the [[African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church]].<ref name="church" /><ref>Roger Finke, Rodney Stark (2005). ''The Churching of America, 1776–2005: Winners and Losers in our Religious Economy''. Rutgers University Press, p. 235.</ref>

[[Pentecostalism|Pentecostals]] are distributed among several different religious bodies, with the [[Church of God in Christ]] as the largest among them by far.<ref name="church" /> About 16% of African American Christians are members of White Protestant communions,<ref name="doindrugs" /> these denominations (which include the [[United Church of Christ]]) mostly have a 2 to 3% African American membership.<ref>Alfred Abioseh Jarrett (2000). ''The Impact of Macro Social Systems on Ethnic Minorities in the United States'', Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 235. {{ISBN|0-275-93880-8}}.</ref> There are also large numbers of [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], constituting 5% of the African American population.<ref name="religions" /> Of the total number of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], 22% are Black.<ref name="PewForum" />

Some African Americans follow [[Islam]]. Historically, between 15 and 30% of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas were [[Muslim]]s, but most of these Africans were converted to Christianity during the era of American slavery.<ref>Samuel S. Hill, Charles H. Lippy, Charles Reagan Wilson. ''Encyclopedia of religion in the South''. Mercer University Press (2005), p. 394. {{ISBN|978-0-86554-758-2}}.</ref> During the twentieth century, some African Americans converted to Islam, mainly through the influence of [[Black nationalism|Black nationalist]] groups that preached with distinctive Islamic practices; including the [[Moorish Science Temple of America]], and the largest organization, the [[Nation of Islam]], founded in the 1930s, which attracted at least 20,000 people by 1963.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lomax |title=When the Word Is Given |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-313-21002-0 |pages=15–16 |quote=Estimates of Black Muslim membership vary from a quarter of a million down to fifty thousand. Available evidence indicates that about one hundred thousand Negroes have joined the movement at one time or another, but few objective observers believe that the Black Muslims can muster more than twenty or twenty-five thousand active temple people.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Clegg |first=Claude Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nva1ULVYh3QC |title=An Original Man: The Life and Times of Elijah Muhammad |publisher=Macmillan |year=1998 |isbn=9780312181536 |page=115 |quote=The common response of Malcolm X to questions about numbers—'Those who know aren't saying, and those who say don't know'—was typical of the attitude of the leadership. |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107113203/https://books.google.com/books?id=nva1ULVYh3QC |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |url-status=live |authorlink=Claude Clegg}}</ref> Prominent members included activist [[Malcolm X]] and boxer [[Muhammad Ali]].<ref>Jacob Neusner, ''World Religions in America: An Introduction'', Westminster John Knox Press (2003), pp. 180–181. {{ISBN|978-0-664-22475-2}}.</ref>

[[File:Muhammad Ali NYWTS.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Muhammad Ali]] converted to Islam in 1964]]
Malcolm&nbsp;X is considered the first person to start the movement among African Americans towards mainstream Islam, after he left the Nation and made the [[Hajj|pilgrimage to Mecca]].<ref>William W. Sales (1994). ''From Civil Rights to Black Liberation: Malcolm X and the Organization of Afro-American Unity''. South End Press, p. 37. {{ISBN|978-0-89608-480-3}}.</ref> In 1975, [[Warith Deen Mohammed]], the son of [[Elijah Muhammad]] took control of the Nation after his father's death and guided the majority of its members to [[Sunni Islam|orthodox Islam]].<ref>Uzra Zeya (1990–01) [https://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0190/9001042.htm Islam in America: The Growing Presence of American Converts to Islam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724183609/http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0190/9001042.htm|date=July 24, 2008}} Washington Report on Middle East Reports. Retrieved November 16, 2009.</ref>

[[African-American Muslims|African American Muslims]] constitute 20% of the total [[Islam in the United States|US Muslim population]],<ref name="PewMuslim">{{cite tech report |url=https://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americans |title=Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream |date=May 22, 2007 |access-date=November 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121125081805/http://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americans |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 25, 2012 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]}}</ref> the majority are [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] or orthodox Muslims, some of these identify under the community of [[W. Deen Mohammed]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Sacirbey |first=Omar |date=September 11, 2001 |title=When Unity is Long Overdue |url=https://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2006/05/When-Unity-Is-Long-Overdue.aspx |access-date=April 20, 2012 |publisher=Beliefnet.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Terry |first=Don |date=May 3, 1993 |title=Black Muslims Enter Islamic Mainstream |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/03/us/black-muslims-enter-islamic-mainstream.html |access-date=April 20, 2012 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The Nation of Islam led by [[Louis Farrakhan]] has a membership ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 members.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 6, 2011 |title=Farrakhan Set to Give Final Address at Nation of Islam's Birthplace |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/farrakhan-set-to-give-final-address-at-nation-of-islams-birthplace |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411224021/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,254507,00.html |archive-date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=April 20, 2012 |publisher=Fox News Channel}}</ref>

There is also a small but growing group of [[African-American Jews|African American Jews]], making up less than 0.5% of African Americans or about 2% of the [[American Jews|Jewish population in the United States]]. The majority of African-American Jews are [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]], while smaller numbers identify as [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardi]], [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]], or other.<ref name=":0a">{{cite web |date=May 11, 2021 |title=JEWISH AMERICANS IN 2020: 9. Race, ethnicity, heritage and immigration among U.S. Jews |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/race-ethnicity-heritage-and-immigration-among-u-s-jews/ |website=Pew Research Center}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Racial and ethnic composition among Jews |url=https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/religious-tradition/jewish/ |access-date=August 22, 2021 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center|The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Gelbwasser |first=Michael |date=April 10, 1998 |title=Organization for black Jews claims 200,000 in U.S |url=https://www.jweekly.com/article/full/8029/organization-for-black-jews-claims-200-000-in-u-s/ |access-date=August 2, 2010 |website=[[J. The Jewish News of Northern California]]}}</ref> Many African-American Jews are affiliated with denominations such as the [[Reform Judaism|Reform]], [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]], [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]], or [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] branches of Judaism, but the majority identify as "Jews of no religion", commonly known as secular Jews. A significant number of people who identify themselves as "Black Jews" are affiliated with [[religious syncretism|syncretic]] religious groups, largely the [[Black Hebrew Israelites]], whose beliefs include the claim that African Americans are descended from the Biblical [[Israelites]].<ref name="northstar">{{cite journal |last=Angell |first=Stephen W. |date=May 2001 |title=Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism |url=https://northstar.vassar.edu/volume4/chireau_deutsch.html |url-status=dead |journal=The North Star |volume=4 |issue=2 |issn=1094-902X |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020040655/https://northstar.vassar.edu/volume4/chireau_deutsch.html |archive-date=October 20, 2007 |access-date=October 19, 2007}}</ref> Jews of all races typically do not accept Black Hebrew Israelites as Jews, in part because they are usually not Jewish [[who is a Jew|according to Jewish law]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Washington |first1=Robin |date=December 18, 2019 |title=Who Black Hebrew Israelites Are—And Who They Are Not |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/2019/12/18/who-black-hebrew-israelites-are-and-who-they-are-not/ |access-date=16 August 2022 |website=My Jewish Learning |publisher=70 Faces media}}</ref> and in part because these groups are sometimes associated with antisemitism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hwang |first1=Janice |date=December 12, 2019 |title=Explainer: Who Are The Black Hebrew Israelites? |url=https://www.jta.org/2019/12/12/ny/explainer-who-are-the-black-hebrew-israelites |access-date=16 August 2022 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |agency=New York Jewish Week}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Musodza |first1=Masimba |date=September 21, 2019 |title=The Hebrew Israelites Are A Real Threat |url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-hebrew-israelites-are-a-real-threat/ |access-date=16 August 2022 |work=The Times of Israel}}</ref> African-American Jews have criticized the Black Hebrew Israelites, regarding the movement as primarily composed of Black non-Jews who have appropriated Black-Jewish identity.<ref>{{cite web |date=August 16, 2020 |title=A Case of Mistaken Identity: Black Jews & Hebrew Israelites |url=https://tribeherald.com/a-case-of-mistaken-identity-black-jews-hebrew-israelites/ |accessdate=2023-05-13 |newspaper=Tribe Herald}}</ref>

Confirmed [[Atheism|atheists]] are less than one half of one percent, similar to numbers for [[Hispanic]]s.<ref>[https://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/ ''A Religious Portrait of African Americans''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721132557/https://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/|date=July 21, 2018}} Pew Research 2009</ref><ref>Sikivu Hutchinson, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/06/16/blacks-are-even-discriminated-against-by-atheists/ "Atheism has a race problem"], ''The Washington Post'', June 16, 2014.</ref><ref>Emily Brennan, [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/fashion/african-american-atheists.html "The Unbelievers"], ''The New York Times'', November 27, 2011.</ref>