It is a measure of the potency of Charles White's images that long after his death, they continue to be used on the covers of books, the subjects of which strike a variety of chords with While's art and his own biography.

Typical in this regard was the 2006 publication, Allan Dwight Callahan, The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible, published by Yale University Press.

From the book's rear cover:

The Talking Book casts the Bible as the central character in a vivid portrait of black America, tracing the origins of African-American culture from slavery’s secluded forest prayer meetings to the bright lights and bold style of today’s hip-hop artists.

The Bible has profoundly influenced African Americans throughout history. From a variety of perspectives this wide-ranging book is the first to explore the Bible’s role in the triumph of the black experience. Using the Bible as a foundation, African Americans shared religious beliefs, created their own music, and shaped the ultimate key to their freedom—literacy. Allen Callahan highlights the intersection of biblical images with African-American music, politics, religion, art, and literature.


The author tells a moving story of a biblically informed African-American culture, identifying four major biblical images—Exile, Exodus, Ethiopia, and Emmanuel. He brings these themes to life in a unique African-American history that grows from the harsh experience of slavery into a rich culture that endures as one of the most important forces of twenty-first-century America.

Allen Dwight Callahan is director of the Instituto Martin Luther King, Jr. in Salvador, Brazil

The work by Charles White used on the cover was The Preacher, 1952. 

As well as gracing the cover of the book, a detail of the preacher (showing his hands clutching his bible) adorns the back inside flap of the dust jacket.