[1][2][3] He was the author of several books, including sociological works such as The Black Church Since Frazier (1974) and Race, Religion and the Continuing American Dilemma (1984), as well as fiction and poetry.
[4] At the age of 13, he picked cotton to support his family and to buy books for his studies.
[1][2] He received a BA in sociology and philosophy from LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1947.
[1] In 1956, he received a Bachelor of Divinity from the University of Chicago, and in 1957 he was ordained as a Methodist minister.
[1] He went on to earn a master's degree in education, and in 1960 he received a PhD in Social Ethics from Boston University.