WEBVTT - The House That Daddy Built 0:00:01.200 --> 0:00:02.400 Oh God, here we go. 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:07.920 Nonam tom thumb thumb thumb. 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:20.120 Sweet yes, Sweet Daddy Grace, wool sweete, sweet yeah, Sweet 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:21.160 Daddy Grace. 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:24.680 Hey, ain't in a shame. That's his name. 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:29.200 It's not a shame, Daddy Grace. He comes in the morning, 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.080 comes afternoon, comes in the d to get this fool. 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:37.760 Sweet yeah, Sweet Daddy Grace. 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.960 Hallelu yak ain't his name, He's got a name, Sweete. 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.519 That's the voice of a civil rights activist in legend 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:48.559 who for many years has lived in my hometown of 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:52.200 New Bedford, Massachusetts. You may know him by the name 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:53.840 he was given at his birth. 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:59.240 My name is Jabriel Kazan, but my birth name is 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.560 Ezelanda Blair Junior. 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:04.520 As is is al Blair Junior. 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.080 He was one of the four young black men known 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:10.840 as the Greensboro for who in nineteen sixty walked into 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:14.200 a Woolworths in the Jim Crow South and sat down 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.760 at the lunch counter. Their sit in was a direct 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:21.560 action protest of the store's policy of segregation in North 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:26.319 Carolina and more largely the Deep South. This sit in 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.840 is widely considered one of the mile markers of the 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:34.240 movement for civil rights. I talked with Jabriel not only 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:37.759 because of his legacy, but because of his own stories 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:38.800 about Daddy Grace. 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:44.240 Coreen. My mother was a country girl from southa the City, 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:48.520 North Carolina. Mom gradu from high school, came to Greensboro. 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:54.440 She live with a lady who attended Daddy Grace's church. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.320 So my mom went to see Daddy Grace at the church. 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.040 So what was he like, Mama? She said, he was 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:04.720 a very handsome man, plus that he could dress himmacreately, 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.520 three piece soup like he was God. Men hold him 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.799 on his shoulders and took him in. Wow. And then 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.519 she said, Then I walked in the church and gets 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:17.079 what I saw? 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:17.280 What? 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:17.560 Mom? 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.919 She said, five ten, twenty dollars bills on the floor 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.520 and people were walking on to get the Daddy Grace step. 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.080 I said, WHOA come talk to me? 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:28.600 Oh what? 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.280 Thousands of dollars on that floor. And the people took 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.280 off his shoes and walked down that aisle the way. 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:37.360 They took the money up and they put more money 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:39.600 in the basket. That's Daddy Grace. 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:43.240 But when other folks spoke about Daddy Grace and the 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:47.200 money he and his churches raked in they weren't always 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:51.720 so laudatory, so supportive. In fact, of all the things 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:55.040 Daddy Grace was criticized for, the one that really seemed 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:59.200 to bother people, including money in my family, was his 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:04.000 and his church's relationship with money, because there appeared to 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.839 be a lot of it, so much in fact, that 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.640 the church was able to purchase an expansive real estate empire, 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.240 much of which they still hold on to today. In 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.720 the nineteen forties and fifties, this was unheard of for 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.519 most Black Americans, and although he was primarily a man 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.840 of God, I have to admit that what Daddy Grace 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:27.840 did with real estate has always impressed me. 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:29.960 Daddy Grace didn't. 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:32.440 Come to America to be poor. He came to spread 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.360 the word of God. It just so happened that he 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.560 also found the word of God paid very well. I'm 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:43.400 Marcy Depina and from iHeart Podcasts, Enforce and Media group. 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:45.680 This is sweet Daddy Grace. 0:03:47.360 --> 0:05:12.680 Glad to be happy. 0:03:55.280 --> 0:04:41.920 All right. So the parade is over and I am 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:47.080 walking down the street. I am seeing that a lot 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:48.640 of the people that were. 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:52.160 In the various bands are here. I am in Washington, 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:52.480 d C. 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:56.640 For the United House of prayers, annual Memorial Day celebration 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.560 and parade. Making my way to the national head quarters, 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:01.560 the main. 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.640 Church to the faithful. 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:07.760 It's called God's White House. And it's not lost on 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.640 me that Daddy Grace chose the nation's capital for the 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:13.840 headquarters of the United House of Prayer. 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:16.880 Oh this church is she. 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:24.720 Oh Wow, has a five pointed star at the top 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:29.640 a gold dome. This church is truly notable. It's a 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:34.200 building meant to cause a sensation. It's monumental. It's an 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:38.240 impressive piece of real estate. Inside is home to an 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:41.720 extensive public archive of the United House of Prayer history. 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:46.680 There are countless photos of Daddy Grace, newspaper clippings, letters 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.400 he wrote to the congregation, preserved copies of Grace magazine. 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.039 It's like a museum. But the other piece of real 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.920 estate I was struck by during my trip was right 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:03.520 on Logan Circle, eleven Logan Circle to be exact. It's 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.039 in the historically black Shaw neighborhood, which has been home 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:13.920 to many prominent Black attorneys, judges, architects, politicians, and musicians, 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:19.080 including Duke Ellington. Eleven Logan Circle is a majestic house 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:24.480 boasting seven bedrooms and five bathrooms. It's currently estimated to 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.680 be worth three point five million dollars, and it too 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.719 is owned by the United House of Prayer starting in 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:36.400 the nineteen thirties. It was where Daddy Gray stayed whenever 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.080 he was in town. I cannot describe the feeling of 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.160 pride that I felt when walking along with the parade, 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.200 we rounded the corner and I first saw the house. 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.880 The neighborhood is gentrified now and Daddy Grace's home is 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.520 one of the few black owned properties in the circle, 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.520 one of the last reminders of the prosperous black neighborhood 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:01.880 that once was here. Smith the church opens it up 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.520 to the public, they also know it something to show off. 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.400 Eleven Logan Circle would be an impressive property for anyone. 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.160 But here's the thing, both in Daddy Grace's time and 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.800 for the House of Prayer today, it's just one of 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:21.160 many real estate holdings, one parcel in a vast empire. 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.680 This was very much on purpose. Daddy Grace's vision for 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:29.040 his church was to make sure it could and would 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.960 always keep growing, and he knew that meant money. Daddy 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.960 Grace deeply understood that one of the best ways to 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:39.160 build wealth in America was by owning real estate. 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:41.680 Alvicente, who was born in. 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:45.800 Kabovid and has also studied Daddy Grace, spoke directly to 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:46.360 this point. 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:48.360 He bought. 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:56.720 Huge complex in Manhattan that didn't rent the Negroes, and 0:07:56.800 --> 0:08:01.880 he bought it through you know, channels at that time, 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.080 was one of the big purchases in Manhattan. 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.880 The fact that Daddie Grace was able to purchase properties 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:11.040 that would not even rent to black tenants, never mind 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:15.320 sell to them, was remarkable. He hired white real estate 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:19.480 agents and attorneys to make the arrangements for him. This 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:23.560 sprawling business empire he built with church funds and donations. 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:27.440 It wasn't just here in America, it was also an 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:29.760 international empire of real estate. 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.199 He had a coffee farm in Brazil and egg farm 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:40.040 in Cuba, so he was pretty dynamic. He was a bright, 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.719 bright guy and an astute businessman. 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.880 This was all the more impressive when you consider the 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:51.480 world he was operating in a black man in the 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.079 nineteen thirties, forties and fifties. 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:58.160 As a black person in America, he does not have 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:02.000 the access to credit and capital that white people have. 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:07.000 Doctor Hassan Jeffries is an associate professor of history at 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:10.800 the Ohio State University, where he teaches courses on the 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.880 civil rights and Black power movements. He's also of cathe 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:15.760 Verdian descent. 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.360 He's not being given access to credit. 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:24.640 Line for the most part, mortgages are not really available, 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.160 and so a lot of what he's having to leverage 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:28.679 is just cash. 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:29.120 Right. 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:32.600 So this is where so the cash coming in by 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:38.400 the church becomes really important, because you're buying stuff outright, and. 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:41.360 The properties Daddy Grace wanted to buy, they were often 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:44.880 expensive and big in wealthy areas. 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:48.600 And so how did a black person do that? 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.800 It wasn't enough just to have the money, right, You 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:55.200 then have to negotiate, and not one on one negotiate, 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:57.120 I'm saying, negotiate the color line. 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.640 In order to actually do. 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.160 The thing that allow you to purchase, you got to 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.720 have some white bankers. You got to have some white 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:08.480 front people, right who were willing to do these negotiations 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:09.600 on your behalf. 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.200 Because a lot of these not. 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:14.840 Just real estate brokers, but homeowners, business owners would not 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:18.679 sell to an African American period the Rockefellers, they had 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.000 to worry about that, like if they had the money, 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.400 they just showed up. They got better deals than anybody else. 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:27.560 Right because of the name. That doesn't hold for black folk, 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:29.840 that doesn't hold for Daddy Grays. 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:33.839 But Daddy Grace seemed to thrive in this environment, buying 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:37.320 up the property of rivals like Father Divine and Harlem 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:41.320 and Prophet Jones in Detroit right from under them. He 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:46.240 bought a theater in Newark, mansions in New Bedford, Montclair Bridgeport, 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.600 the sort of places that require staff to take care 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:53.640 of them, the sort of places where white neighbors complained 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:54.760 when they found out. 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:58.959 Who the new owner was. And in nineteen. 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:02.439 Fifty three he bought the crown jewel of his achievement, 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:07.120 the El Dorado, an Art Deco apartment building right on 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.079 Central Park in New York City. At the time, it 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.920 was called the tallest apartment building in the world, some 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:19.960 thirty stories high with two pinnacled towers, It's an iconic 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:24.080 structure part of the backdrop of the park. Daddy Grace 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:27.679 claimed it was one of the largest real estate transactions 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.800 of its kind on record. The El Dorado had thirteen 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.920 manual elevators and a lobby full of murals statues and 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:41.200 fourteen carrot gold decorations. It housed more than two hundred apartments, 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.160 and as Daddy Grace well knew, all of his renters 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.720 were white. As he told the press, the income from 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.920 the property would be used as an investment for the 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:56.760 betterment and welfare of his congregation. Daddy Grace knew how 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:00.280 to take care of his people, and the congregation was 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:05.480 proud their church. Daddy Grace's church owned one of the 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:09.000 grandest buildings in one of the most famous cities in 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:12.280 the world. It was such a point of pride that 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:16.040 many of the United House of Prayer churches, not just 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:20.119 in New York but around the country, had framed photos 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.600 of the El Dorado at the altar right next to 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.640 the picture of Daddy Grace himself. Daddy Grace seemed to 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:31.400 be untouched by the cold hand of faith by economic ruin. 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:36.920 He and his church endured. If anything, they prospered. But 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.080 although preachers like Daddy Grace seemed to be getting rich, 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.600 much of their congregations were just trying to hold. 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:44.400 On to what they had. 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:49.960 Meanwhile, Daddy Grace wore fancy suits, custom hats, and expensive jewelry. 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:53.680 He drove or had others drive him around in a 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:58.600 brand new car. In Daddy Grace's view, the Bible clearly 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:01.600 says that the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven should 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:05.480 be found on earth too. But it wasn't just that 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:08.800 he was rich and lived well. There was also much 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:12.120 talk about the spectacles of money to be seen inside 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:16.600 the church. For instance, the dollar bills all stacked up 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.480 in the shape of a house or a full size 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:23.480 money well that his follower's bill and presented to Bishop 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:26.400 Grace as a love offering when he was in town. 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.800 None of this was ever mentioned in the Bible. Yet 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:34.720 there was Daddy Grace telling his faithful congregants during services 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.280 that he didn't want to hear the sound of jingling 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:41.080 coins being dropped into the donation basket. He wanted to 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.840 hear the sound of paper. People outside the church would 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.280 sometimes ask Daddy Grace about this, about the money they 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:52.160 figured that he had. He said personally that he didn't 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:55.720 care about money, that he only had a small salary 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.240 or none at all. It was enough of a sticking 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:03.040 point that he'd even sometimes address it in his sermons. 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.000 How he wasn't there because of any financial incentive. 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:11.960 I'm the only poor man going and charge these people 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:21.720 a dying I ask him, man, see why chide, I'm 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:22.840 gonna die? 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:27.320 And he repeated over and over that the money collected 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:31.480 from the congregation belonged to the United House of Prayer, which, 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:35.600 of course was technically true, And it was equally true 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.480 that as the head of the church, under the church's bylaws, 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:46.320 the bishop was given funds for personal use, funds for travel, food, housing, clothing, 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:51.080 and servants. All of that to say, Daddy Grace's lavish 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:58.120 lifestyle was all above board, But was it out of line? 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.920 There is a cultural discription and that needs to be clarified. 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.800 For many people of faith in America, it might seem 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.840 obscene for a religious leader to spend church funds on 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:15.000 a luxurious lifestyle. Many Christians would not recognize a holy 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:20.480 expression in Daddy Grace's chauffeured cars and expensive manicures, But 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:24.760 among the faithful in Black America, this isn't always the case. 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:28.200 We often expect our religious leaders. 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:28.720 To be doing well. 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:33.280 If anything, it was a sign of God's blessing to 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:36.560 speak to this truth of life in the black faith communities. 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:40.520 I spoke with someone who knows the criticisms and the rationale. 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:42.840 Bishop Talbert Swan. 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.880 The preacher is often caught in a catch twenty two. 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:55.400 If the preacher is lacking in resources and destitute, it 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:59.920 has to seek help himself to support his own life 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:04.840 style in his family. Then he's mocked and the question 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.680 is asked, what kind of God do you serve when 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:09.320 you can't even take care of yourself. 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:13.960 Bishop Swan is the prelate and the Bishop of the 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:18.600 Church of God in Christ in Springfield, Massachusetts. He's also 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:22.400 an activist, an author, and the president of the local 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:27.680 NAACP chapter. His own style is more understated, but he 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:32.040 recognized the internal dilemma a man like Bishop Grace might 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:35.400 have faced the ways Daddy Grace made much of his 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:39.160 money often rubbed people the wrong way. He had a 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.840 whole product line blessed by his touch and bearing his 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:47.960 name Daddy Grace, soap, Daddy Greces, toothpaste, hair creams, face powder, 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:54.240 and cookies, emblems, badges, buttons, banners. This capitalistic promotion of 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:57.480 himself for a lot of people didn't seem right. For 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:01.080 a man of God, it seemed the opposite. But it's 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:05.760 important here to recall Daddy Grace's Catholic roots the Catholic 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:12.760 Church has stacked cash for centuries, growing rich by selling rosaries, handkerchiefs. 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.639 Photos of the Pope, statues. 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.480 Of saints, any and all blessed by the Pope, and 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:20.200 for sale in the gift shops and at the Vatican. 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.560 So I can see the criticisms of Daddy Grace. I 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.960 see how he presented himself. I understand how his way 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:30.120 could be offensive to someone. But I also see someone 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:34.200 who was attempting to create a lifestyle really an entire 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:39.000 faith based ecosystem, one that operated pretty similarly to the 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.439 Catholic Church, with the same kind of money. 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:43.200 And so for Daddy. 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.160 Grace, just like for the Pope, if you asked him, 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:49.439 there was no doubt he was a man of God 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:53.840 and just speaking to our modern moment, Daddy Grace should 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:57.960 rightly be considered one of the forefathers of contemporary megachurches, 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:03.399 the religious movement best exemplified by Bishop td Jakes craftlow Dollar, 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:09.080 and Joel Ostein these prosperity gospel evangelists have all built 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:13.680 large followings as well as political power and of course, 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:19.240 multimillion dollar business verticals. While Bishop Swan isn't part of 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:23.520 this group of prosperity Gospel ministers. He understands why Daddy 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:25.280 Grace may have chosen this path. 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.120 He was the prosperity preacher before it was such a thing. 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:33.720 And I believe that the preacher ought to be an 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.680 example of what they're preaching to the people. So if 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:39.159 I'm telling you that you need to get into a 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:43.280 position where you're debt free, or you need to conduct 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.840 your life in such a way that you can secure 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:48.800 a future for your family and pass on generational wealth, 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:50.840 well I've got to be the first example of that. 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.680 And for some reason, folks think that the preacher should 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.639 teach those things, but then not be the example of 0:18:57.680 --> 0:18:59.280 those things that he or she teaches. 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.760 It's inarguably true that sweet Daddy Grace didn't mind a 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:08.080 little bit of flash or a flare of style, and yes, 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:12.720 he certainly had that swagger and bravado. He clearly took 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:15.840 great care in terms of how he presented himself to 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.520 the world and to his congregants. But what also made 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.359 him special was the little things that set him apart 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:26.080 from his followers. Like he insisted that no one in 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:29.600 the church could grow fingernails as long as his or 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:32.280 there were the big things that set him apart, like 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.760 the boasts that he spoke twenty eight languages, or his 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:40.440 far more incredible boasts like that he alone ended World 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:44.879 War Two. You have to understand Daddy Grace had to 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:49.479 constantly contend and combat how other people, especially the press, 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:53.159 doubted him. The press, when they did write about him, 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:57.360 would often put his title bishop and quote, or would 0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:00.080 focus far more on the money he raised than and 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:04.399 what he actually preached from the pulpit. Even Ebony Magazine 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:08.520 was guilty of this mistreatment. The magazine made for black readers, 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.520 It too, seemed to believe some of the rumors. In 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:15.000 one article, the journalist wrote that Grace is not his 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:19.760 real name, but serves a symbolic purpose. This is something 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:22.639 that was said a lot about Daddy Grace, that he 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:26.119 made up the name to sound more legit, but it 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:30.480 just wasn't true. Grace was the Anglicized version of Daddy 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:35.080 Grace's cap Verdian birth name, the Grassa. It was also 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:38.720 the name he'd been using way before he started his church. 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.240 But the notion that he'd changed his name to sound 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:46.520 more godly it definitely helped perpetuate the myth that Daddy 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:49.480 Grace was a con man or worse. 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:50.520 A joke. 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:54.720 It is not a surprise nor a coincidence that we're 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:58.400 talking about the depression era, and the depression doesn't begin 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:01.240 just in early thirties people African Americans. 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:03.280 We see it through the twenties and lasting through the 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:04.120 nineteen forties. 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.440 That's Professor Jeffries again. 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:10.280 And so people are searching for something and they're finding 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:14.440 a bit of salvation here on earth. But for white 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.800 people to look at that, that's particularly troubling. If white 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:24.720 people can dismiss Daddy Grace, if they can dismiss him 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:30.200 as a charlatan, then they can dismiss all of the 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:33.280 other things that he's actually doing. When we think about 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:37.560 the big personalities with large followings during the first couple 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.680 of decades of the twentieth century, you know, I think 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:42.760 we have to put it into the sort of broader 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:48.400 context of the power of performance, the power of the 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:49.240 big ego. 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:56.040 This is something far more common now. We almost expect 0:21:56.040 --> 0:22:00.440 the big ego to be highly visible and the sccessful 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:04.080 black man. In that era, you most certainly had to 0:22:04.119 --> 0:22:06.879 have a big ego, and you had to put it 0:22:06.920 --> 0:22:10.879 on display where it could cost you your life or 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:13.320 at the very least your livelihood. 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.120 I mean, we saw the same thing with Marcus Garvey. Right. 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:20.560 If you can convince people not to take the person 0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:24.080 who is speaking seriously, then you can dismiss the people 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:27.600 who'll find resonance in the message that is being offered. 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:33.359 Marcus Garvey, the Jamaican immigrant and political activists, advocated for 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:39.440 black self determination and unity between the African diaspora and Africa. 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:44.639 He championed ideas like Black pride and Black nationalism, and 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:49.800 like Daddy Grace, he was also charismatic and a polarizing figure. 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:55.040 But not everyone, including those in his own community, approved 0:22:55.080 --> 0:22:58.600 of his approach and his focus on the needs of 0:22:58.680 --> 0:22:59.920 the everyday black. 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:04.800 And yet Garvey says, the people need it, the people 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:08.280 need the celebration, and there's something to be said when 0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:13.200 we go back to the history of enslaved folk having parades, right, 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:17.520 having these ceremonial elections, right, which of course draw on 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:21.640 West African traditions. I think we're too quick sometimes to say, 0:23:21.680 --> 0:23:24.240 oh that this was just a play the ego, Like no, 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:27.359 I mean, there was a value and understanding of the 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:33.200 power of this kind of performative rhetoric and performative action 0:23:33.800 --> 0:23:38.720 in the service of religion and community building. That wasn't 0:23:38.960 --> 0:23:42.560 just oh, you know, I'm playing a role. This is 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:48.000 a way of communication that is resonating because my people. 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:49.840 See the value in this. 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:55.240 Especially, I would add at a time when black folk 0:23:55.760 --> 0:23:59.760 people of color are told to be seen and not 0:23:59.800 --> 0:24:02.920 her having a. 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:07.200 Big ego, it was an act of strength and rebellion. 0:24:08.240 --> 0:24:11.639 The louder you were, the more attention you drew, the 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:14.119 more danger you drew. Because the most dangerous place to 0:24:14.119 --> 0:24:16.119 be for a person of color was in the presence 0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:19.479 of white people. So we are conditioning ourselves and our 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:23.880 children to survive, to be silent, to be unseen. And 0:24:23.920 --> 0:24:26.000 here you have somebody who was standing up like. 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:27.399 No, you are going to see me. 0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:30.840 And by people, that is an attraction in and of 0:24:30.880 --> 0:24:34.240 itself because they're like, boy, that's daring, that's bold, that's 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:37.000 the vine, and that's what we like because we don't 0:24:37.000 --> 0:24:37.680 get enough of it. 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:43.240 The thing is, despite all this controversy surrounding him, theologically, 0:24:43.520 --> 0:24:46.960 the United House of Prayer fit pretty soundly into other 0:24:47.040 --> 0:24:51.919 Black Pentecostal and Apostolic churches, and Daddy Grace knew his 0:24:52.000 --> 0:24:56.840 Bible as well as any preacher, maybe even better. Those 0:24:56.920 --> 0:24:59.760 long fingernails he had, he said it was proof that 0:24:59.800 --> 0:25:03.520 he he was a prophet, referencing an obscure Bible verse 0:25:03.800 --> 0:25:06.119 about a prophet with horns growing. 0:25:05.880 --> 0:25:06.680 Out of his hands. 0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:10.560 And the name of his church was taken directly from 0:25:10.640 --> 0:25:14.600 Isaiah fifty six to seven, from my house shall be 0:25:14.720 --> 0:25:15.880 called a house of. 0:25:15.840 --> 0:25:17.639 Prayer for all peoples. 0:25:18.440 --> 0:25:23.199 He impressed people by how often he quoted scripture verbatim, 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:27.800 But maybe even more impressive were the connections he fostered 0:25:27.840 --> 0:25:31.800 within his church. As is common in the Black faith communities, 0:25:32.200 --> 0:25:35.520