Many people think they know the story of the hymn,"Amazing Grace." The commonly accepted narrative presents its composer, John Newton, a young English captain of a late 18th-century slave ship, as a ...

Born on August 4, 1725, Newton grew up without any specific religious convictions. Forced into the naval service at age 18, he attempted to desert his ship. After being severely beaten on board, at ...

After a life on the seas, he was ordained in 1764 and appointed a curate in Olney, where he collaborated with poet William Cowper to publish The Olney Hymns in 1779. It was in this volume that his ...

Sign up for our Daily eBlast to get coverage on Black communities from the media company who has been doing it right for over 133 years. Sign up It was 1972 when ...

Why John Newton’s famous hymn is still so powerful after so long. In 2016, Coldplay began the encore of a headlining set at Glastonbury Festival with a sample of “Amazing Grace” sung by Barack Obama ...

President Obama spoke of the black church as the bulwark of the people, of gun violence and racism. But he wove it all in to a meditation on God's grace. "If we can find that grace, anything is ...

What do Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday, Woodstock, a Barack Obama speech, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Fannie Lou Hamer’s civil rights marches, The Grand Ole Opry, and American churches have in common? It’s ...

I put this list together as I was listening to some of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s music in anticipation of their Detroit appearance Feb. 19 at the Magic Bag. Their version of “Amazing Grace” is so ...

People are being encouraged to sing Amazing Grace on New Year's Day to mark the 250th anniversary of the day its words were first delivered. How did the famous hymn come to be written in a ...