O.C.'s Black Catholic men have forged a community

A Knights of Peter Claver chapter gives marginalized believers a gathering place.

- GUSTAVO ARELLANO COLUMNIST

Jim Crow infested all parts of Prince Powe's life when he was growing up in Mobile, Ala., in the 1950s — even the realm of God.

The city was a historic center for Black Catholics and the birthplace of the Knights of Peter Claver, founded in 1909 as one of the first Catholic fraternal orders in the country for Black men, at a time when other lay groups wouldn't accept them.

Powe's relatives belonged to the Knights, named for a 17th century Spanish Jesuit who ministered to enslaved people in Colombia and is the country's patron saint. He attended Catholic school and remembers an active community in Mobile filled with baptisms, weddings and First Communions.

He also remembers the reality of segregation. Black Catholics had their parishes, and white Catholics had nicer ones. When he asked about joining the local chapter of the Knights of Columbus, the largest Catholic men’s group in the U.S., he was told that Black members were not allowed.

Powe joined the Army, eventually serving two tours in Vietnam. In 1985, he found a job with Xerox and moved to a place not exactly known for its Black community: Orange County.

Of the nation's 25 biggest metropolitan areas, O.C. is the only one with a Black population of less than 5%.

At 2.6%, it's a slight gain over the 2.1% recorded in the 1990, 2000 and 2010 U.S. censuses.

Yet Powe found the region welcoming and stayed. He became active in church life and was finally able to become a Knight of Columbus.

But Powe felt something was missing in his spiritual life. In the wake of George Floyd's murder, he and other men in the Diocese of Orange formed their own Knights of Peter Claver chapter in 2021.

"I'm so happy we could do this," said Powe, who looks far younger than his 85 years. "We're able to show everyone in Orange County who we are." I met him in a busy coffee shop in Tustin on a weekday afternoon, along with three other officers of the O.C.