The Richard Allen legacy covers racial consciousness, church establishment, and educational emphasis

The name Richard Allen stands out in Black American history. He is one of the few Black heroes who stood out even during the Jim Crow days when there was only Negro History Week that was celebrated in the Black public schools, newspapers, and churches. 

Younger people learned Richard Allen, along with Absalon Jones and others, walked out of St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church of Philadelphia in 1787 because of its oppressive racial practices against the Black members in the congregation. That walk unerringly led to the establishment of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816. Those facts alone, as important as they were, however, do not encompass the totality of Allen’s legacy and impact of history. 

Seven years after Allen and his cohorts exited St. George’s, they established the Free African Society on June 10, 1794. This was a non-denominational mutual aid society that was especially devoted to assisting people having escaped enslavement and migrants from the south. The manner in which Allen and his fellow workers expressed their oneness with enslaved and recently freed Black people was more than noble. It was also an embracing of Africanness and Black solidarity. 

These actions, furthermore, were precursors of the work of the Urban League and the preachings of others like Marcus Garvey and Stokely Carmichael. 

The spirit of the Free African Society lives on to remind people of Allen’s advice to the free Blacks of Philadelphia to never turn their backs on their enslaved sisters and brothers. That aspect of Allen’s legacy should not be overlooked.

A second part of the Allen legacy, the one most noted, is the establishment and continued existence of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was its first bishop, serving from 1816 until his death in 1831. 

The African Methodist Episcopal Church stands today as an institution of between 2.5 and 3.5 million members, the second largest Black Christian denomination in America. (It also has members throughout the African diaspora.) There are also some 1.2 million members in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, established in 1870 and 1.4 million members in the African Methodist Church Zion Church, established in 1821. Both of those Methodist bodies derive from the early break and efforts of Allen. 

The half million African Americans affiliated with the United Methodist Church, however, represent the Black Methodists who did not break from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1787.

A third part of the Allen legacy is the emphasis on educating Black people. From the church’s beginning, Black Methodist leaders have emphasized the importance of establishing schools and colleges for the education of the Black population. (They were able to establish Wilberforce University in 1856.) 

In many communities the reputation of Methodists emphasizing education led to many family decisions about church membership. 

By the time of Reconstruction’s end, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) had helped establish Allen University, J. P. Campbell College, Morris Brown College, Paul Quinn College, Wilberforce University, Edward Waters College, Kittrell College, and Shorter College. 

The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) had helped establish Lane College, Miles College, Paine College, Texas Christian College, and Rust College. 

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ) had helped establish Clinton College in South Carolina, Livingstone College, and Tuskegee University. That is no small legacy to consider.

The name Richard Allen must never be forgotten. The things he did cannot afford to be taught only in Methodist churches and colleges. His genius, dedication, and example can and must be used to inspire generations yet unborn.