I found God in myself and I loved her loved her fiercely.
Ntozake Shange

A Womanist understanding of Christ must confirm that Christ is a "whole" liberator, it must point to Christ's commitment to liberate black men and black women from their social oppression..Following the lead of black women's witness to Jesus, as well as the synoptic gospels' testimonies about Jesus, womanist theology must articulate that Jesus' significance as Christ is tied not to biological characteristics, but to sustaining and liberating activity on behalf of the oppressed.
Kelly D. Brown

...because slave life had "busted her legs, back, head, eyes, hands, kidneys, womb and tongue," she had nothing left to make a living with but her heart--which she put to work at once. Accepting no title of honor before her name, but allowing a small caress after it, she became an unchurched preacher, one who visited pulpits and opened her great heart to those who could use it.
Toni Morrison

Austin, Deborah A. "In the Middle of Everyday Life: The Spaces Black Clergywomen Create." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

Baker-Fletcher, Karen. My Sister, My Brother: Womanistand Xodus God-Talk. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997.

          . Singing Something: Womanist Reflections on Anna Julia Cooper. New York: Crossroads, 1994.

          . Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit: Womanist Wordings on God and Creation. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1998.

          . "Womanism, Afro-Centrism, and the Reconstruction of Black Womanhood." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

Bostic, Joy. "It's a Jazz Thang: Interdisciplinary and Critical Imaginig in the Construction of a Womanist Theological Method." In Women's Studies in Transition: the Pursuit of Interdisciplinarity, eds. Kate Conway-Turner, Suzanne Cherrin, Jessica Schiffman, and Kathleen Doherty Turkel. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1998.

Brooks, Evelyn. "The Feminist Theology of the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1900 (1980)." In Class, Race, and Sex: The Dynamics of Control, eds. Amy Swerdlow and Hanna Lessinger. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1983.

          . "Religion, Politics, and Gender: The Leadership of Nannie Helen Burroughs." Journal of Religious Thought 44, no. 2 (1988): 7-22.

Brown, Kelly Delaine. "God Is As Christ Does: Toward a Womanist Theology." Journal of Religious Thought 46, no. 1 (1989): 7-16.

          . "Teaching Womanist Theology." In Living in the Intersection:Womanism and Afrocentrism in Theology, ed. Cheryl Anne Sanders. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995.

          . "To Reflect the Image of God: A Womanist Perspective on Right Relationship." In Living in the Intersection:Womanism and Afrocentrism in Theology, ed. Cheryl Anne Sanders. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995.

Calhoun-Brown, Allison. "No Respect of Persons? Religion, Churches and Gender Issues in the African American Community." Women and Politics 20, no. 3 (Summer 1999): 27-44.

Cannon, Katie G. Black Womanist Ethics. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988.

          . "The Emergence of a Black Feminist Consciousness." In Feminist Interpretations of the Bible, ed. Lett M. Russell. Philadelphia: Westminister Press, 1985.

          . Katie's Cannon:Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community. New York: Continuum, 1996.

          . "Remembering What We Never Knew." Soul to Soul: Women, Religion & the 21st Century, Conference Proceedings of the Center for Women and Religion. Journal of Women and Religion 16 (1998): 167.

          . "When the Minister is a Black Woman." Church Woman 44 (November 1978): 37.

Carr-Hamilton, Jacqueline D. "Notes on the Black Womanist Dilemma." Journal of Religious Thought. 45, no. 1 (1988): 67-69.

Chireau, Yvonne Patricia. "Hidden Traditions: Black Religion, Magic and Alternative Spiritual Beliefs in Womanist Perspective." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

Cole, Johnetta B. "Jesus is a Sister." In My Soul is a Witness: African American Women's Spirituality, ed. Gloria Wade-Gayles. Boston: Beacon, 1995.

Cole Johnnetta Betsch and Beverly Guy-Sheftall. "The Black Church: What's the Word?" In Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities. New York: One World Ballantine Books, 2003.

Collier-Thomas, Bettye. Daughters of Thunder: Black Women Preachers and Their Sermons, 1850-1979. San Francisco: Josse-Bass Publishers, 1998.

Cone, James. "Black Theology, Black Churches, and Black Women." In Out of the Revolution: The Development of Africana Studies, eds. Delores P. Aldridge and Carlene Young. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2000.

Cummings, Lorine L. " A Womanist Response to the Afrocentric Idea: Jarena Lee, Womanist Preacher." In Living in the Intersection:Womanism and Afrocentrism in Theology, ed. Cheryl Anne Sanders. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995.

Dodson, Jualynne E. "Power and Surrogate Leadership:Black Women and Organized Religion." Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women 5, no. 2 (1988): 37-41.

Douglas, Kelly Brown. Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999.

Estes-Hicks, Onita. "Henriette Delille: Free Woman of Color, Candidate for Roman

Catholic Sainthood, Early Womanist." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

Eugene, Toinette M. "Black Women Contribute Strong Alternate Images." National Catholic Reporter 13 April 1984.

          . "'How Can We forget': An Ethic of Care for AIDS, the African American Family, and the Black Church." In Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation, and Transformation, ed. Emilie Maureen Townes. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997.

          . "'If You Get There Before I Do!': A Womanist Ethical Response to Sexual Violence and Abuse." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

          . "Moral Values and Black Womanists." Journal of Religious Thought 44, no. 2 (1988): 23-24.

Gilkes, Cheryl Townsend. "If it Wasn't for the Women...": Black Women's Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001.

          . "Mother to the Motherless, Father to the Fatherless: Power, Gender and Community in an Afro-Centric Biblical Tradition." Semeia 47 (1989).

          . "'Plenty Good Room…' in a Changing Black Church." In Our Nation Under God?: Religion and American Culture, eds. Marjorie Garber and Rebecca L Walkowitz. New York: Routledge, 1999.

          . "The Role of Women in the Sanctified Church." Journal of Religious Thought 43, no. 1 (1986): 24-41.

          . "'Together in the Harness': Women's Traditions in the Sanctified Church." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 10, no. 4 (1985): 678-99. Reprinted in Black Women in America: Social Science Perspectives, ed. Micheline R. et al (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).

          . We Have a Beautiful Mother: Womanist Musings on the Afrocentric Idea." In Living in the Intersection:Womanism and Afrocentrism in Theology, ed. Cheryl Anne Sanders. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995.

Grant, Jacquelyn. "A Black Response to Feminist Theology ." In Women's Spirit Bonding, eds. Janet Kalven and Mary Buckley. New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1984.

          . "Black Theology and the Black Woman." In Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought, ed. Beverly Guy-Sheftall.New York: New Press, 1995. Originally published in Black Theology: A Documentary History, 1966-1979, eds.S. Welmore and J. Cone (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1979).

          . White Women's Christ and Black Women's Jesus: Feminist Christology and Womanist Response. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1989.

Grant, Jacquelyn, ed. Perspectives on Womanist Theology. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

Grasso, Linda M. "Maria Stewart's Inspired Wrath." In The Artistry of Anger: : Black and White Women's Literature in America, 1820-1860. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002

Haney, LaVerne. "Praying Through the Spiritual Narrative of Mother E.J. Dabney." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

Hayes, Diana L. Hagar's Daughters: Womansit Ways of Being in the World. Mahwah, NY: Paulist Press, 1995.

Henderson, Mae G. "Writing the Work and Working the Rites." In Feminism and Institutions: Dialogues on Feminist Theory.Cambridge: Blackwell, 1989.

Hollies, Linda H. Bodacious Womanist Wisdom. Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2003

Jackson-Brewer, Karla. "Spiritual Attainment in a Secular World." In Skin Deep: Women Writing on Color, Culture and Identity, ed. Elena Featherston. Freedom , CA:The Crossing Press, 1994.

Jacques, Michele. "Testimony and Shaming the Devil." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

Jones, Darice. "Falling Off the Tightrope onto a Bed of Feathers." In Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism, eds. Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman. New York: Seal Press, 2002.

Kamitsuka, Margaret D. "Reading the Raced and Sexed Body in The Color Purple: Patterning White Feminist and Womanist Theological Hermeneutics." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. 19, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 45-66.

Kirk-Duggan, Cheryl A. Exocizing Evil: A Womanist Perspective on the Spirituals. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997.

          . "Justified, Santified, and Redeemed: Blessed Expectation in Black Women's Blues and Gospels." In Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation, and Transformation, ed. Emilie Maureen Townes.Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997.

Martin, Joan. "Church Women and the Women's Movement: Speaking Out From a Black Perspective." The Church Woman November 1978, 11-13.

          . "The Notion of Difference for Emerging Womanist Ethics: The Writings of Audre Lorde and bell hooks." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 9, nos 1-2 (Spring-Fall 1993): 39-51.

Mitchell, Mozelle G. "Women at the Well: Mahalia Jackson and the Inner and Outer Spiritual Transformation." In Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation, and Transformation, ed. Emilie Maureen Townes. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997.

Mitchem, Stephnie Y. Introducing Womanist Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002.

Moody, Joycelyn. "Professions of Faith: A Teacher Reflects on Women, Race, Church, and Spirit." In Oral Narrative Research With Black Women, ed. Kim Marie Vaz. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997.

Murray, Pauli. "Black Theology and Feminist Theology." In Black Theology: A Documentary History, eds. Gayraud S. Wilmore and James H. Cone. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979.

          . "Why Negro Girls Stay Single." Negro Digest, July 1947, 4-8.

Paris, Peter J. "From Womanist Thought to Womanist Action." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 9, nos. 1-2 (1993): 115-125.

Riggs, Marcia Y. "Answering God's Call in the Academe." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

          . Awake, Arise, & Act: A Womanist Call for Black Liberation. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 1994.

Robinson, Joyce Russell. "Defiance and Hope: The Christian Temperment in Nineteenth-Century African American Women's Narrative." In Perspectives on Womanist Theology, ed. Jacquelyn Grant. Atlanta: ITC Press, 1995.

Ruether, Rosemary. "Crisis in Sex and Race: Black Theology vs. Feminist Theology." Christianity and Crisis 34 (1974): 67-73

Sanders, Cheryl J., ed. Living the Intersection: Womanism and Afrocentrism in Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortess Press, 1995.

Sanders, Cheryl J. "Afrocentrism and Womanism in the Seminary." Christianity and Crisis 52, no. 5-6 (April 13, 1992): 123-126.

Sheppard, Phillis. "A Dark Goodness Created in the Image of God: Womanist Notes Toward a Practical Theology of Black Women's Embodiment." The Covenant Quarterly 62, no. 3 (August 2003): 5-28.

Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks. Sex, Race, and God: Christian Feminism in Black and White. New York: Crossroad, 1989.

Thomas, Linda E. "Womanist-Theology, Epistemology, and a New Anthropological Paradigm." Cross Currents. 48, no. 4 (Winter 1998): 488-499.

Townes, Emile M., ed. Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope Salavation, and Transformation. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997.

          . In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995.

          . Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering. New York: Orbis, 1993.

          . Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993.

Weems, Renita. Just a Sister Away: A Womanist Vision of Women's Relationships in the Bible. San Diego: Lura Media, 1988.

Weisenfeld, Judith and Richard Newman. This Far by Faith: Readings in African-American Women's Religious Biography. New York: Routledge, 1996.

West, Traci C. Wounds of the Spirit: Black Women, Violence and Resistance Ethics. New York: New York University Press, 1999.

Williams, Delores S. "Afrocentrism and Male-Female Relations in Church and Society." In Living in the Intersection:Womanism and Afrocentrism in Theology, ed. Cheryl Anne Sanders. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995.

          . "The Color of Feminism or Speaking the Black Woman's Tongue." Journal of Religious Thought 43, no. 1(1986): 42-58.

          . Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk. New York: Orbis Books, 1993.

          . "Visions, Inner Voices, Apparitions, and Defiance in Nineteenth-Century Black Women's Narratives." Women's Studies Quarterly 21, nos. 1-2 (1993): 81-89.

          . "Womanist/Feminist Dialogue: Problems and Possibilities." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 9, nos. 1-2 (Spring-Fall 1993): 67-73.

- click here to return to the top of page and menu -