iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 9h

Enter the Goodreads Giveaway for a free copy of the book today! www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...

#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 9h

and how these same folks that provided so much joy with their music and gave opportunities for collective praise and worship were shunned moments after, often because they were seen sweating. The exuberance of the Black Church was used against them. Read how in From Infinite World.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 9h

I write about an unkindness too wide in scope to apprehend. And I write about bodies that were in pain as they performed labor for churches—singing the folks into a tizzy, directing the choir until everyone was in a frenzy, playing the organ until the heavens fell—

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 9h

A lot of the supposed saved and sanctified folks were mean, were treacherous, were unkind, betraying their purported holiness in order to be rude and uncaring.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 9h

People were warned not to hug musicians, singers and choir directors, to be hesitant to shake their hands, to greet them from afar, if at all, when possible. They were refused intimacy of connection, of care.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 9h

Sweat became a telltale sign of illness, and because of illness, a telltale sign of queerness. And because of illness and queerness, a “confirmation” of sinfulness and impending death.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 9h

Sweat. A simple word. A simple excretion of the body. During the height of the AIDS crisis experienced in Black churches, sweat took on new meaning. “You know he sweats a lot, right?” This was said dismissively, with disdain—about singers, choir directors and musicians, absolutely.

an image: closeup of a person’s brown hands playing the hammond, an image of a person directing a choir exuberantly with the word SWEAT on top of the images.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Kelley once asked KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, “Honey, why do you hate me?” In From Infinite World, I turn the question back on her and those that laughed with her: Why do you hate us?

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

AIDS ran through COGIC and a lot of other religious groups and organizations too. It exposed the fact of queerness, though there was and remains so much shame.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

If one watches the sermon when the camera pans to the choir, one will see many sissies—many who were gay and musical geniuses simultaneously. And so many of them were sick. And eventually, many of them died.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

But there was laughter when Frances Kelley exclaimed it in 1989. The laughter was menacing. Because what did it feel like for those who were there and targeted by her rhetoric—sissies in the choir—to hear those words?

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

“I get so sick of sissies, I don’t know what to do!” It is a sermon clip that a lot of people, both in the Church of God in Christ, and outside it have heard. So much so it sorta functions as a meme. The shock of its initially being said has worn off—time has a way of doing that.

two images—

on top is a picture of Billie Holiday, Lynne Carter, Frances Burnett and Ziggy Johnson circa 1950s

on bottom is Frances Kelley preaching at COGIC’s annual convocation in 1989

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Where did the idea of the gay flamboyant church musician come from? How does an entire group whose labor is desired and exploited get rendered as disposable? Read From Infinite World to find out. Preorder today! wwnorton.com/books/978132...

wwnorton.com

From Infinite World

An innovative work that explores the relationship between the Black Church, the Hammond organ, and the musicians that bring it to life., From Infinite World, The Sound of the Hammond Organ and the Tra...

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This is not a salacious tell-all. It is an attempt to reckon with the historical forces that produced the violence of homophobia, queer antagonism and the silence around the losses to the AIDS epidemic. This ain’t rumor, this is research.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

The founders of Metropolitan Spiritual Churches of Christ—Leviticus Boswell and William F. Taylor. The founder of Church of Our Prayer in Detroit, James L. Lofton, and his musician Charles A. Craig, II. The “national” musician for Metropolitan, Alfred Bolden and his estranged wife Beulah Conner.

image of Leviticus Boswell wearing a dark suit, white shirt and dark tie seated in front of William Taylor who is standing /wearing a dark suit, white shirt and bowtie—both in a common portraiture display, looking directly at the camera.

two images:
1) james l. lofton wearing a priest’s white robe and black birerra standing in front of a congregation wearing white; the image is taken from a vinyl record label.

2) charles a craig, II, wearing white robe while directing choir. two young children are on either side of him.

two images:

1) high school yearbook image of alfred bolden wearingna dark suit. he looks directly at camera with soft eyes and no smile.

2) high school image of beulah conner wearing glasses, smiling at camera.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

And the stereotype had to come from somewhere. In From Infinite World, I sit with various figures that were, at one time, prominent and known—as much for their musicality as for the rumors and gossip that surrounded them.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I have long marveled at the stereotype of Black Church music as the place where queerness happens, where it is accepted even if simultaneously demeaned and dismissed as impotent and sinful. From where did the stereotype of the gay musician, the gay choir director, the gay singer emerge?

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

What can St. Louis teach us about the intersection of the AIDS crisis and the Black Church? It was truly heartbreaking—Robert’s death, his family’s continued confusion about it. Especially because he was not the only one. Listening to the Hammond organ can help answer this question. How?

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

In 1983, Say Amen, Somebody—the Black Gospel Music documentary—was released to critical acclaim and praise. The question of St. Louis in the history of Black Gospel was prominent.

an image with three images, each from the film “say amen, somebody.” the top is of mother geneva gentry with a white dress and scarf, a black american woman with gray hair and classes in a room with dark red carpet and walls. the second is an open bible on a table with a white tablecloth. the third at the bottom shows three woken praying each with their heads bowed—one with her right hand extended upward, the second with her arms crossed in front of her head, the third with both hands raised.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

November 2, 1987, Peter Jennings reported a story about a boy named Robert who died of AIDS complications in 1969. He was 16 years old. World News Tonight spoke both with Robert’s mother and brother, still living in St. Louis.

top of image is film still from world news tonight of constance rayford, black american woman with a round face, sad eyes wearing a bonnet standing on the porch. the bottom is a film still from world news tonight of bobby rayford, a black american man with a slender face, thick mustache and an afro standing on the porch.

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Feral T. Robot, Oil Swamp Utility Bot #7629 @feralrobots.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Again: This is what a small team could document with the resources available to them. Let's think about all the cases they WERE NOT able to document. I think an order of magnitude is conservative, we should imagine 5,000 cases as our absolute baseline minimum.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

He is remembered for an instrument, absolutely, but the reason people love it is because of a kind of music Laurens hated. Hated. What is the relationship between Laurens and Birth of a Nation, between an electric organ and the picture show?

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Laurens Hammond, the inventor of the electric instrument that bore his name, the word “complicated” could quite precisely describe him. There is so much lore surrounding the history of the Hammond organ, and its inventor. So much of the lore would turn out to be untrue.

an image of laurens hsmmond sitting on the hammond organ on the left and a film still of dw griffith’s “birth of a nation” on the right. the question, “Did Laurens Hammond hate black people?” is written on the image.

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Deacon Blues @kaibutsu.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

This was a banger! I'd hang out at this shop all day. www.youtube.com/shorts/tYw7J...

youtube.com

Brooklyn Coffee Shop Episode 94: Mechanical Pencil visits the shop 🎶✏️🎵

YouTube video by Pooja Tripathi

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NPR @npr.org · 06/10/2026

Jim Bakker, along with his first wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful "The PTL Club" TV show, only to lose it all over a sex scandal and financial crimes. n.pr/3VsAFUV

n.pr

Jim Bakker, who built 'PTL Club' televangelism empire, has died at 86

Jim Bakker, along with his first wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful "The PTL Club" TV show, only to lose it all over a sex scandal and financial crimes.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

My friend sent me the digital “hard” copy of the @publisherswkly.bsky.social conversation, so I’m resharing it (especially if you haven’t read it yet). Enjoy! #FromInfiniteWorld #BlackGospelMusic

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A central theme I pursue in the book is silence and there was so much silence, LOUD silence, between the two of them. What happened between Clarence and Kenneth? Preorder From Infinite World today to find out! It’s…messy. wwnorton.com/books/978132...

wwnorton.com

From Infinite World

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This decision changed the trajectory of Black Gospel Music and, without exaggeration, American music in general. But Clarence and Kenneth barely spoke each other’s name.

the collage image from the previous comment overlaying a muted image of the book cover of from infinite world.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Father Clarence Cobbs was the founder of First Church of Deliverance. In 1937, he met a young Kenneth Morris and immediately made him the minister of music for the church. It was Kenneth’s suggestion that they purchase an electric instrument, still unknown to many, called a Hammond organ.

a collage of three grayscale images. on the top left, an image of a dark skinned black man—clarence cobbs—wearing a white robe standing on a pulpit, speaking to a congregation seated before him. on the top right, an image of a medium light skinned black young man,—kenneth morris—youthful looking, with a manicured thin mustache, a black suit, ehife shift and tie.

on the bottom, an image of the sanctuary of first church of deliverance taken from the back of the church. there is a mural on the pulpit with details that cannot be seen. there is across on the ceiling of the sanctuary.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I was interviewed by Emily Colucci for @publisherswkly.bsky.social about From Infinite World … an hour convo condensed, yes, but I am so grateful for the conversation! Check out the full interview here: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/... Preorder today! wwnorton.com/books/978132...

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Because in this work was art (architectural drawings), fiction (“dear moth…”) and, of course, “otherwise.” Celebrate my book’s ten year anniversary with me? 🎉🙌🏾❤️

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Still grateful. This is my first book baby. And though From Infinite World will be published later this year (preorder today!), I gotta pause and celebrate the one that made everything else (and so much more to come on the horizon) able to be thought, written, dreamed, created.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I felt then the way I felt about the dissertation on which it was based: “I understand what it is I’m trying to say, I hope others will too, but I don’t think anyone will care about Blackpentecostalism in the way I wrote about.” I was astonished the book resonated with others. But mostly grateful.

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

You know what’s wild? Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility is ten years old today! How has time flown so quickly?! I cannot lie—I have been absolutely surprised and amazed and deeply humbled by what this book made possible.

a double image. on the left is the cover of “blackpentecostal breath: the aesthetics of possibility,” with an burnt orange background and people in a church service with their hands raised in praise. on the right side is a picture of the author, brown skinned, smiling with a gray beard, wearing a light gray shirt.

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Megan Goodwin @mpgphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

look I don't even go here anymore but I hope folks are noticing that this shit is happening *exactly* at the same time this administration eliminated loans to study religion

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Today, people barely know these churches existed, and some still exist. But they are also responsible for the popularizing of the Hammond organ in Black churches. Want to know how? Preorder From Infinite World today! wwnorton.com/books/978132...

wwnorton.com

From Infinite World

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

One of the most surprising discoveries for me writing From Infinite World was the place of the Spiritual tradition in Black social life. These churches were as prominent, if not more, than PAW, COGIC and were siphoning folks from those and other mainline churches including Baptist and AME.

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Caroleeena @caroleeena.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Following publication, the Director General of the Islamic Centre of Geneva sent Malcolm X 9 questions about his life, faith, and hope for the future, to which Malcolm wrote incisive and candid responses. The answer to the final question was typed up on the morning he was assassinated, Feb 21, 1965

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Caroleeena @caroleeena.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Malcolm X's last piece of writing was on Zionism. He wrote it after a two day trip to Gaza. It was published in The Egyptian Gazette, Sept. 17, 1964. This is that piece: www.marxists.org/history/etol...

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Noel Healy @drnoelhealy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The assault on US universities didn't start in 2025. Our new paper traces the decades of corporate capture that made it possible, and why climate research is a primary target. Open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This is certainly a different opinion to the Vanderbilt report: “corporate libertarian donor networks, fossil-fuel companies & conservative think tanks intensified campaigns targeting university governance…embedding donor-aligned scholars, building research centers insulated from faculty oversight…”

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A “starred” review of From Infinite World in @publisherswkly.bsky.social! I am so grateful! “This haunting masterwork contends with breathtaking beauty and unspeakable loss.” Click the link for the full review! ❤️ www.publishersweekly.com/9781324036999

publishersweekly.com

From Infinite World: The Sound of the Hammond Organ and the Tragedy of AIDS in the Black Church by Ashon Thomas Crawley

Religious and African American studies scholar Crawley (The Lonely Letters) offers a devastatingly poignant exploration of the e...

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#PettyPendergrass @ashoncrawley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

academic interviews can be so unsettling for so many different reasons. forcing a person to have a meet and greet marathon for a full day (and sometimes a half before and after) is traaaaaaaash

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