Reginald Reese
July 8, 2013
Boys II Men
Early Life
Father Divine was an African American leader during the Harlem Renaissance. This was a period when Harlem, New York was hit with black culture so quickly in such a short period of time. Not much was known about his early life, but some claimed to found that his original name was George Baker. In about his 20’s he was later joined by Father Jehovia and John Hickerson to preach about God. However, Father Jehovia would claim to be God due to his faith in God. The trio would eventually split up because of this issue. Later on, there accounts of him to create the idea of supernatural theories.
Adult Life
When 1933 came, Divine left Georgia and went to Harlem, New York. While there he opened the first of his Heavens. While it was opened it reached its height during the Great Depression. While he preached, the basis of his preaching was on Americanism, brotherhood, Christianity, democracy, and Judaism. Due to his teachings, when 1936 came the “Righteous Government Platform” called an end to segregation, lynching, and capital punishment. The residents of the Depression could still keep their dignity because of the Heavens and that it cost $0.15 cents for meals and $1.00 to sleep there.

Divine never advocated the virtues of poverty and or the lower class. When he preached, Divine combined fanatical faith with adherence to American life. Divine was also big on business, and knew the dangers of borrowing money. He also thought that economic independence was a way to towards racial equality. Divine had hatred to racial