This research project in theological anthropology focuses on ideation and racial identity construction in the formation of beliefs about human existence. Assuming that black religion is the subject matter proper of black theology, the project utilizes Charles H. Long’s definition of black religion as black people’s assertion of subjectivity through their claims about transcendence, continuity, and entanglement. My intent is to examine, explain, and critique multiple cultural beliefs and practices that overlap and intersect with this manifestation of black religion as well as scrutinize black religion’s organizational expression and interactions with other social institutions in the United States. Most studies of black religion focus on defense and legitimation of black religion as an African-influenced religious tradition that tends towards radicalism — the quest for economic, social, and political change. In addition to radicalism, other aspects of social and cultural life that I am exploring in connection to black religion include: cultural memory, autonomous individualism, constructions of black racial identity, secularization, entrepreneurialism, popular culture, and utopianism. This project aims to enrich understanding of the dynamics of Western culture, as witnessed from “the underside”, foster a healthy dialectic between black religion and Christian theology, and call attention to African Americans’ contributions to the human pursuit of meaningful existence.