James was at the heart of the Black Liberation Theology. In 1969 he authored “Black Theology & Black Power” considered today to be the founding text of black liberation theology. He graduated from Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, with a bachelor of divinity degree. He received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University in Evanston. He was a professor at New York's Union Theological Seminary for nearly fifty years.
He died, April 2018.