Historian Gayraud Wilmore in Black Religion and Black Radicalism (Orbis, 1983, pp. 141–143) once described the institutional black church as an evolving spectacle that adapted its identity to serve the nuances of freedom. Research has made clear that black social experiences were not even keel, and opportunities sometimes varied based on communal demographics. These particular variations established complex hermeneutics and brought complications to any and all research methods attempting to generalize black society as a monolith. Yet, one historical consistency in African American postemancipation has been the development and need for an institutionalized black church. This institution became a force in the development of black culture, as it provided a preservation guide for ethnicity in the midst of acculturation and naturalization in the United States. Nicole Myers Turner's Soul Liberty advances this argument, as her research exposes black religiosity's relationship to communal power dynamics alongside the nurturing for an evolving political consciousness.

In similar fashion to Joe Richardson's African Americans In the Reconstruction of Florida, 1865–1877 (University of Alabama Press, 2008), Turner provides reason, research, and exploration of black political agency begot within the black church. Her research provides historical examples without overlooking the complexities of her subjects. Chapters are easy to follow, and they are topically cultivated around paradigms. These models include windows into early church politics, the formation of secular and religious political partnerships, and the bartering of black autonomy for white philanthropy.

Some chapters are more theoretical whereas some provide windows into the dangers of black acculturation. A strong example can be found in chapter 4, where the author describes a risk-reward analysis often exercised by the institutional black church (83). When deciding between losing institutional autonomy in exchange for a sanctioned school, the Zion Union Apostolic (ZUA) Church of Virginia interpreted its ethnic identity as a redeeming quality beyond reproach (92). This particular dilemma faced by the ZUA Church exposes what the author describes as “a cacophony of racial ideas rooted in a sense of black inferiority and white dominance” (95). By refusing to sell the sociological control of its community to the Anglican Church, the ZUA Church exposed a self-assessed value of autonomy that appeared near incalculable.

Turner's research truly aides the historiography of black religious socialization in the third chapter's discussion on race and gender. In line with Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham in Righteous Discontent (Harvard University Press, 1994), women are described as advancing themselves socially and communally through the Baptist Church. And yet, the teaching and leadership opportunities experienced in Virginian congregations were often outweighed by the paternalistic limitations ushered in by Victorian theological education. Church meetings and regional church conferences are depicted as training grounds for theological and social development, which includes an implicit intake of gender power formation. Black clergymen, especially those formally educated in seminary, are described as adopting morality compasses based on European ideals, creating social structures in the black community that mirrored Protestant norms. Some of these actions included the policing of women's sexuality, blocking women from voting in church courtrooms, and creating ceilings on leadership with paternalistic “Sunday Schools.” All these experiences expose a unique perspective into the development of black political identity.

Turner has advanced the narrative of how African Americans evolved their political consciousness postemancipation. This particular manuscript provides a structured and inclusive catalog, exposing the black church's historical accountability for developing gender roles and political trajectories. Hopefully Turner's work can inspire additional research on the unique political impact that black religiosity has had on its community in the midst of racial accommodation.