The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Examines the symbols of the cross and the lynching tree in African Americans’ daily life, spiritual life, and history.

• Winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion
• “One of the Top 11 Religion Books of the Year,” The Huffington Post
• First Place Winner in Theology, Catholic Press Association
• Gold Medal Winner, Independent Book Publishers Book Awards

The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful new work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk. Both the cross and the lynching tree represent the worst in human beings and at the same time a thirst for life that refuses to let the worst determine our final meaning. While the lynching tree symbolized white power and black death, the cross symbolizes divine power and black life God overcoming the power of sin and death. For African Americans, the image of Jesus, hung on a tree to die, powerfully grounded their faith that God was with them, even in the suffering of the lynching era.