Skip to content

Sociologist.

Educator.

Religion Scholar.

Inclusion & Diversity Specialist.

tpratt-bg-r

Tia Noelle Pratt, PhD is a higher education professional, researcher, and inclusion & diversity specialist based in Philadelphia, PA. She received her PhD in sociology from Fordham University in 2010. A sociologist of religion by training, she is an expert in systemic racism with twenty-five years of experience researching and writing about how systemic racism impacts African-American. She is also the President and Director of Research at TNPratt & Associates, LLC.

Latest Book

Black and Catholic

Racism, Identity, and Religion

Black and Catholic documents the exclusion, erasure, and systematic racism faced by Black Catholics, filling an essential gap in both Catholic and Black history. In the storied history of the U.S. Catholic community, there is a long-standing myth held by Catholics and non-Catholics alike that there are no Black Catholics. In this deeply researched and compelling book, Tia Noelle Pratt debunks this myth and brings forward the religious experiences and culture of Black Catholics, filling a void in the literature of both U.S. Catholicism and African American religion.

She identifies the nature and ramifications of systemic racism on American Catholicism and how that marginalization impacts Black Catholic identity. Building on her extensive research, Pratt amplifies the voices and experiences of Black Catholics through original interviews and by sharing the story of St. Peter Claver, Philadelphia’s first Black Catholic church. Black and Catholic also explores the ways that liturgy and music can build community, celebrate individuality, and resist racism.

Black and Catholic is an essential book that centralizes the Black Catholic community, revealing the heartache of racism and discrimination, the comfort drawn from the strength of generations of believers, and the celebration from combining the music and traditions of African American religious experiences with the belief and rituals of Roman Catholicism.

Tia Noelle Pratt, PhD is available for speaking engagements on topics related to Black Catholicism. For inquiries, please click below. is available for speaking engagements on topics related to Black Catholicism. For inquiries, please click below.