These original essays by Andrew Prevot focus on the relationship between Black life and Christian spirituality. He draws on sources of African American spirituality, including the Spirituals, as well as other sources of Christian prayer, mysticism, and asceticism, including Angela of Foligno, John of the Cross, and Ignatius Loyola.

The central thesis of this learned and original work: Black people are made to be loved. This is God's unambiguous will, and anything that contravenes it is incompatible with true Christian spirituality.