Womanism

The word womanism was adapted from Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker's use of the term in her book In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose. In her book, Walker used the word to describe the perspective and experiences of "women of color".

Although most Womanist scholarship centers on the African American woman's experience, other non-white theorists identify themselves with this term.

How Womanism developed

See also: Womanist theology

The roots of theological womanism grew out of the theology of Jacquelyn Grant, Delores Williams, and James Hal Cone^{[citation needed]}.

Grant responded by claiming that Cone did not attend to the fullness of black experience — specifically that of black women. She argued that the oppression of black women is different from that of black men. She believes that Jesus is a “divine co-sufferer” who suffered in his time like black women today.

Delores Williams took the work of theologians such as Cone and Grant and expanded upon them^{[citation needed]}. In her book Sisters in the Wilderness, she defines womanism in the following way:

“Womanist theology is a prophetic voice concerned about the well-being of the entire African American community, male and female, adults and children. Womanist theology attempts to help black women see, affirm, and have confidence in the importance of their experience and faith for determining the character of the Christian religion in the African American community. Womanist theology challenges all oppressive forces impeding black women's struggle for survival and for the development of a positive, productive quality of life conducive to women’s and the family’s freedom and well-being. Womanist theology opposes all oppression based on race, sex, class, sexual preference, physical ability, and caste” (67).

Womanism in education

Some examples of educational institutions that incorporate womanism in their graduate coursework are Interdenominational Theological Seminary, ITC in Atlanta, Georgia (where Dr. Jacquelyn Grant is a professor), Eden Theological Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri, Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.^{[citation needed]}

Womanism and feminism

Womanism is a term commonly used in the context of academic theological studies. Some authors use womanism and black feminism almost interchangeably, as they have much overlap and share heroines and foremothers. Other experts make a distinction based on the prioritization of men. Both black and white feminists are primarily concerned with women, in contrast to women's roles in what they consider as male-centred society.^{[citation needed]}

Womanists are black women who are, in a traditional communal sense, concerned very much with both black women and black men. Men, and their welfare, are sometimes claimed to be a higher priority to womanists than to feminists.^{[citation needed]} Some feminists consider this a subversion of the feminist critique of androcentrism and corrective/constructive focus on women.^{[citation needed]}

"White" feminism (as it is sometimes referred to by Womanists) is also called upon to remember that black women (and all women of minority race/ethnicity and/or low socio-economic status) were ignored and silenced by "white" feminism through its second wave.

Womanists have argued that the gains of second wave feminism and beyond were largely built around the lifestyles and options of highly educated, upper-middle class white women. Some womanists have also argued that negative unintended consequences resulting from feminist reforms have fallen heavily upon women of color - specifically in regard to the structure of the black family unit.

Bibliography

• King, Toni C. and Ferguson, S. Alease. Black Womanist Leadership: Tracing the Motherline, State University of New York Press, 2011.
• Gillman, Laura. Unassimilable Feminisms: Reappraising Feminist, Womanist, and Mestiza Identity Politics (Breaking Feminist Waves), Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
• Eaton, Kalenda C. Womanism, Literature, and the Transformation of the Black Community, 19651980 (Studies in African American History and Culture), Routledge, 2007.
• Phillips, Layli. The Womanist Reader: The First Quarter Century of Womanist Thought, Routledge, 2006.
• Floyd-Thomas, Stacey. Deeper Shades of Purple: Womanism in Religion and Society (Religion, Race, and Ethnicity), NYU Press, 2006.
• Silva-Wayne, Susan. Feminisms and Womanisms: A Women's Studies Reader, Women's Press, Ltd., 2003.
• Walker, Alice. In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose, Mariner Books, 2003.
• Douglas, Kelly Brown. Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective, Orbis Books, 1999.
• Cannon, Katie Geneva. Katie's Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community, Continuum, 1998.
• Cannon, Katie G. Black Womanist Ethics (Aar Academy Series), An American Academy of Religion Book, 1988.

See also

• Katie Geneva Cannon
• Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas
• Salsa Soul Sisters

• Africana womanism
• Triple oppression
• Womanist Party of India

External links

• Womanist Theology
• Alice Walker Poetry (archive link, was dead)
• Barack Obama Wins the Sojourner Truth Vote
• Womanist Musings - Womanist blog