
Freedom's Prophet
Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Leonard Dozier
About this listen
Gold Winner of the 2008 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award, Biography Category
Brings to life the inspiring story of one of America's Black Founding Fathers, featured in the documentary The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song
Freedom's Prophet is a long-overdue biography of Richard Allen, founder of the first major African American church and the leading black activist of the early American republic. A tireless minister, abolitionist, and reformer, Allen inaugurated some of the most important institutions in African American history and influenced nearly every black leader of the nineteenth century, from Douglass to Du Bois.
Born a slave in colonial Philadelphia, Allen secured his freedom during the American Revolution, and became one of the nation’s leading black activists before the Civil War. Among his many achievements, Allen helped form the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, co-authored the first copyrighted pamphlet by an African American writer, published the first African American eulogy of George Washington, and convened the first national convention of Black reformers. In a time when most Black men and women were categorized as slave property, Allen was championed as a Black hero.
In this thoroughly engaging and beautifully written book, Newman describes Allen's continually evolving life and thought, setting both in the context of his times. From Allen's early antislavery struggles and belief in interracial harmony to his later reflections on Black democracy and Black emigration, Newman traces Allen's impact on American reform and reformers, on racial attitudes during the years of the early republic, and on the Black struggle for justice in the age of Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Washington. Whether serving as America's first Black bishop, challenging slave-holding statesmen in a nation devoted to liberty, or visiting the President's House (the first Black activist to do so), this important audiobook makes it clear that Allen belongs in the pantheon of Americas great founding figures. Freedom's Prophet reintroduces Allen to today's listeners and restores him to his rightful place in our nation's history.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
African Founders
- How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals
- By: David Hackett Fischer
- Narrated by: Lamarr Gulley
- Length: 35 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
African Founders explores the little-known history of how enslaved people from different regions of Africa interacted with colonists of European origins to create new regional cultures in the colonial United States. The Africans brought with them linguistic skills, novel techniques of animal husbandry and farming, and generations-old ethical principles, among other attributes. This startling history reveals how much our country was shaped by these African influences in its early years, producing a new distinctly American culture.
-
-
faux vocalizations
- By Porter on 08-19-22
-
The Canon of Scripture
- By: F.F. Bruce
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this significant historical study, F. F. Bruce brings the wisdom of a lifetime of reflection and biblical interpretation to bear in answering the questions and clearing away the confusion surrounding the Christian canon of Scripture. Adept in both Old and New Testament studies, he brings a rare comprehensive perspective to his task.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Anonymous on 05-11-23
By: F.F. Bruce
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
Black Theology and Black Power
- By: James H. Cone, Cornel West - introduction
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1969, Black Theology and Black Power is the first systematic presentation of black theology that also introduced the voice of a young theologian who would shake the foundations of American theology. Relating the militant struggle for liberation with the gospel message of salvation, James Cone laid the foundations for an interpretation of Christianity from the perspective of the oppressed that retains its urgency and challenge today.
-
-
Powerful Theologic Warning to the Organized White Church From Black Theologian
- By Carl on 12-29-23
By: James H. Cone, and others
-
The Cross and the Lynching Tree
- By: James H. Cone
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk.
-
-
Great work to listen to on July 4th 2020
- By Jason Como on 07-04-20
By: James H. Cone
-
African Origin of Civilization - The Myth or Reality
- By: Cheikh Anta Diop
- Narrated by: Frank Block
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic presents historical, archaeological, and anthropological evidence to support the theory that ancient Egypt was a black civilization.
-
-
History told from an honest point
- By Lee on 12-19-21
By: Cheikh Anta Diop
-
African Founders
- How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals
- By: David Hackett Fischer
- Narrated by: Lamarr Gulley
- Length: 35 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
African Founders explores the little-known history of how enslaved people from different regions of Africa interacted with colonists of European origins to create new regional cultures in the colonial United States. The Africans brought with them linguistic skills, novel techniques of animal husbandry and farming, and generations-old ethical principles, among other attributes. This startling history reveals how much our country was shaped by these African influences in its early years, producing a new distinctly American culture.
-
-
faux vocalizations
- By Porter on 08-19-22
-
The Canon of Scripture
- By: F.F. Bruce
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this significant historical study, F. F. Bruce brings the wisdom of a lifetime of reflection and biblical interpretation to bear in answering the questions and clearing away the confusion surrounding the Christian canon of Scripture. Adept in both Old and New Testament studies, he brings a rare comprehensive perspective to his task.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Anonymous on 05-11-23
By: F.F. Bruce
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
Black Theology and Black Power
- By: James H. Cone, Cornel West - introduction
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1969, Black Theology and Black Power is the first systematic presentation of black theology that also introduced the voice of a young theologian who would shake the foundations of American theology. Relating the militant struggle for liberation with the gospel message of salvation, James Cone laid the foundations for an interpretation of Christianity from the perspective of the oppressed that retains its urgency and challenge today.
-
-
Powerful Theologic Warning to the Organized White Church From Black Theologian
- By Carl on 12-29-23
By: James H. Cone, and others
-
The Cross and the Lynching Tree
- By: James H. Cone
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk.
-
-
Great work to listen to on July 4th 2020
- By Jason Como on 07-04-20
By: James H. Cone
-
African Origin of Civilization - The Myth or Reality
- By: Cheikh Anta Diop
- Narrated by: Frank Block
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic presents historical, archaeological, and anthropological evidence to support the theory that ancient Egypt was a black civilization.
-
-
History told from an honest point
- By Lee on 12-19-21
By: Cheikh Anta Diop
-
White Fear
- How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds
- By: Roland S. Martin
- Narrated by: Roland S. Martin
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For two centuries, the deep-seated fear that many White people feel—of losing power, of losing economic standing, of losing a particular “way of life”—has been the driving force behind American politics and culture. And as we approach a future where White people will become a racial minority in the US, something estimated to occur as early as 2043, that fear is only intensifying, festering, and becoming more visible. Are we destined for a violent clash? What can we do to step into our country’s inevitable future, without tearing ourselves apart in the process?
-
-
an interesting and informative lesson
- By Mo Shaabazz on 09-14-22
By: Roland S. Martin
-
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
- Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution
- By: Carl R. Trueman
- Narrated by: Carl R. Trueman, Rod Dreher
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision in 2015, sexual identity has dominated both public discourse and cultural trends — yet no historical phenomenon is its own cause. From Augustine to Marx, various views and perspectives have contributed to the modern understanding of the self.
-
-
Best book I read in 2021 by far
- By Jfree on 12-18-21
By: Carl R. Trueman
-
The Spook Who Sat by the Door
- By: Sam Greenlee, Natiki Hope Pressley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, Natiki Hope Pressley
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Continuously available in print since 1968, this novel has become embedded in progressive anti-racist culture with wide circulation of the book and hotly debated film. A literary classic, The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a strong comment on entrenched racial inequities in the United States in the late 1960s. With its focus on the “militancy” that characterized the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, this is the story of one man’s reaction to ruling-class hypocrisy.
-
-
The Book that Threatened the White Establishment
- By Kerr on 06-22-20
By: Sam Greenlee, and others
-
Soul Care in African American Practice
- By: Barbara Peacock
- Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the midst of our hectic, overscheduled lives, caring for the soul is imperative. Now, more than ever, we need to pause - intentionally - and encounter the Divine. Soul care director Barbara Peacock illustrates a journey of prayer, spiritual direction, and soul care from an African American perspective. She reflects on how these disciplines are woven into the African American culture and lived out in the rich heritage of its faith community.
-
-
Soul Care
- By Ruby Elizabeth Carson on 11-10-23
By: Barbara Peacock
-
The Souls of Black Folk
- By: W. E. B. Du Bois
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line,” writes Du Bois, in one of the most prophetic works in all of American literature. First published in 1903, this collection of 15 essays dared to describe the racism that prevailed at that time in America—and to demand an end to it. Du Bois’ writing draws on his early experiences, from teaching in the hills of Tennessee, to the death of his infant son, to his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.
-
-
Essays of 'life and love and strife and failure'
- By ESK on 02-08-13
By: W. E. B. Du Bois
-
The Black Church
- This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
- By: Henry Louis Gates Jr.
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author of Stony the Road and one of our most important voices on the African-American experience, a powerful new history of the Black church in America as the Black community's abiding rock and its fortress.
-
-
A must read for all Christians
- By Carol Hamilton on 02-16-21
-
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- By: Clayborne Carson - editor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Narrated by: Levar Burton
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was a husband, a father, a preacher - and the preeminent leader of a movement that continues to transform America and the world. Now, in a special program commissioned and authorized by his family, here is the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr. Featuring King's I Have a Dream Speech.
-
-
A Fascinating Slice of History
- By John-Mark Stensvaag on 08-05-03
By: Clayborne Carson - editor, and others
-
Jesus and the Disinherited
- By: Howard Thurman, Dr. Kelly Douglas Rev.
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this classic theological treatise, the acclaimed theologian and religious leader Howard Thurman (1900-1981) demonstrates how the gospel may be read as a manual of resistance for the poor and disenfranchised. Jesus is a partner in the pain of the oppressed and the example of His life offers a solution to ending the descent into moral nihilism. Hatred does not empower—it decays. Only through self-love and love of one another can God's justice prevail.
-
-
The Architecture for All Liberation Theology
- By salemowalk on 10-27-22
By: Howard Thurman, and others
-
King: A Life
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.—and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. In this revelatory new portrait of the preacher and activist who shook the world, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself.
-
-
My Time
- By Susan on 06-18-23
By: Jonathan Eig
-
Born in Blackness
- Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in Blackness vitally reframes the story of medieval and emerging Africa, demonstrating how the economic ascendancy of Europe, the anchoring of democracy in the West, and the fulfillment of so-called Enlightenment ideals all grew out of Europe's dehumanizing engagement with the "dark" continent. In fact, French reveals, the first impetus for the Age of Discovery was not—as we are so often told, even today—Europe's yearning for ties with Asia, but rather its centuries-old desire to forge a trade in gold with legendarily rich Black societies in the heart of West Africa.
-
-
American History World History Our History
- By Bill on 06-13-22
By: Howard W. French
-
Slave Narratives Mega Collection: 18 of the Most Moving & Telling Memoirs
- Twelve Years a Slave, Up From Slavery, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, The History of Mary Prince, The Life of an American Slave (Fifty Years in Chains), and more
- By: Solomon Northrup, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, and others
- Narrated by: Museum Audiobooks cast
- Length: 115 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This collection contains: Twelve Years a Slave, Up from Slavery, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, The Life of an American Slave (Fifty Years in Chains), The Experience of Rev. Thomas H. Jones, Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave, From Log Cabin to the Pulpit, and many more.
-
-
I wish it was authentic
- By Noni on 03-11-22
By: Solomon Northrup, and others
-
Frederick Douglass
- Prophet of Freedom
- By: David W. Blight
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 36 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a young man, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. He wrote three versions of his autobiography over the course of his lifetime and published his own newspaper. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence, he bore witness to the brutality of slavery.
-
-
The sound of rollerskating in sand
- By Rico X Ludovici on 02-06-19
By: David W. Blight
What listeners say about Freedom's Prophet
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Donald C.
- 07-08-23
Informative and enlightening!
There were so many things that I didn't know about this legend. Growing up in the AME Church, I thought I knew just about everything pertinent there was to know about Richard Allen. He was not only a hero of African Methodism. He was, in all rights, an American hero!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful