the churched black feminist.

I believe that all religion is political. To specify the preceding sentence a bit, I will clarify by saying that the three major monotheistic religions have their origins in political concerns. Before I flesh out this argument a bit, I should note that I consider even every day, ordinary things to be political. I see the political at work in where we live, in the vehicles we drive, in the life partnerships we choose, in the diets we observe, in the way we worship, and in the entertainment we consume. For me, the social and the political are integrally intertwined.

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She Did That! A Women's History Month Series

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In honor of women and all the contributions we make to the world, I will highlight four African American women in my blog posts this month who made contributions to American History. I will call this short series “She Did That!” By no means do these women represent all the black women who have made and are making substantial contributions to American history. I understand that this sort of practice of naming “exemplars” of the race and gender still obscures so many women and their stories. The movie (and book) Hidden Figures which chronicles the lives of three black women who worked for NASA during the mid-twentieth century has aptly named the conundrum of womanhood (and black womanhood in particular). That is, the general public does not recognize our valuable contributions, and sometimes they even go unrecognized by our teammates and coworkers. I hope that in many posts to come, I can celebrate so many of these hidden figures of our past and present.

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"My Own Vineyards I Have Not Kept"

What is it to be a black woman, preparing for a lifetime of married life? What physical changes must occur? What spiritual adjustments must take place? Must the black woman become larger, large enough to keep a home, to keep another’s home and to work in a world that has not yet learned to love her? What are the theological presuppositions, if any, that she brings to her pending union? What are the thoughts and imaginings that trouble her soul during her time of preparation? What are the thoughts and imaginations that make her soul light during her time of preparation? What does her relationship to her pre-married life become? What is the black woman’s process of “becoming married”? To which new vineyards must she tend? Who aids her in attending to her own vineyards?

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