31. Henry McNeal Turner, Bishop, and Black Nationalist
Henry McNeal Turner was the first Southern-born Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Born free in South Carolina, he spent most of his life in Georgia. He was a successful community organizer, creating new congregations for the African Methodist Episcopal Church throughout the south. Angered by the creation of Jim Crow laws under Democratic Party leadership in the South during the late 19th century, Turner became increasingly involved in black Nationalism and supported the emigration of black Americans to Africa.
