Religion, Women of Color, and the Suffrage Movement: The Journey to Holistic Freedom

by SimonMary Asese A. Aihiokhai (Editor), SimonMary Asese A. Aihiokhai (Contribution by), Christin Lee Hancock (Contribution by), Anita R. Gooding (Contribution by), Lara-Zuzan Golesorkhi (Contribution by)

Overview

The year 2020 marks the centenary of the passing of the 19th Amendment that allowed for women in the United States to vote. The strategic struggle of women demanding equal dignity and the right to vote in the United States helped to shed light on the systemic evils that have plagued the collective history of the country. Ideologies of racism, genderism, classism, and many more were and continue to be used to deny women their dignities both in the United States and in other parts of the world. This work sheds light on the intersectionality of religion, class, gender, philosophy, theology, and culture as they shape the experiences of women, especially women of color. A fundamental question that this volume aims to address is: What does it mean to be a woman of color in a world where systems of erasure dominate? The title of this volume is meant to showcase a deliberate engagement with the uncelebrated insights and perspectives of women of color in a world where systemic discrimination persists, and to articulate new strategies and paradigms for recognizing their contributions to the broader struggles for freedom and equity of women in our world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781793627704
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	04/08/2024
Series:	Feminist Studies and Sacred Texts
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	386
File size:	595 KB

About the Author

SimonMary Asese A. Aihiokhai is associate professor of systematic theology at the University of Portland and a fellow at the Westar Institute.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

SimonMary Asese A. Aihiokhai

Part One: Struggles for Freedom from the Margins

1. Black Women and Suffrage: A History of Political Freedom and Race in the United States

Christin Lee Hancock

2: National Association of Colored Women Clubs and the Fight for Freedom

Anita R. Gooding

3: Struggles from the Margins, Advocacy at Intersections: Muslim women’s advocacy in Europe, Canada, and the United States

Lara-Zuzan Golesorkhi

4: Oppression, Resistance, and Reform: Revisiting the Catholic Discussion on Women’s Ordination

Carol J. Dempsey, OP

Part Two: Undoing Dualism: Towards an Anthropology of Wholeness

5:The Evolution of Male and Female Anthropology Accommodation, Resistance, and Transformation

Christina Astorga

6: Does Christian Catechesis Have a Gender Problem? Towards A Catechesis of Wholeness

Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley

7: Gender, Race, God: A Case for a Pragmatic Theological Anthropology

Anthonia Bolanle Ojo, SSMA

8: Recovering an Ecologically Embodied Humanity: Insights from Native American Women’s Experiences

Lisa Ann Dellinger

Part Three: Towards a Hermeneutic of Liberation

9: The Human Person as A Polyphonic Being: Giving Voice to the Experiences of Black Women

SimonMary Asese A. Aihiokhai

10: Religion, African American Women, and the Suffrage Movement: The Journey to Holistic Freedom

Kathleen Dorsey Bellow

11: Deep Down in My Soul: Black Women and the Spirituality of Freedom: Reading the Signs of the Times

C. Vanessa White

12: A Theology of Women’s Rights: Bridge-Building Between Individual Rights and Communal Rights – Insights From Africa

Camillus O. Njoku

Part Four: Towards Pedagogies of Wholeness

13: Towards the Flourishing of Women of Color through the Lens of Intersectionality and Neuropsychology

Sarina Saturn

14: Defining the Contours of Pedagogies for Holistic Anthropologies

Dawn Michele Whitehead

15:Discursive Interventions toward Gender Justice.The Academic Study of the Bible in the Neoliberal Age

Susanne Scholz

16: Slouching, together, after Pentecost. Towards a post-traumatic pedagogy of (de)formation, discomfort, and difference

Brandy Daniels

About the Contributors

Editorial Reviews

This anthology is unique in its presentation of voices from throughout the US to memorialize the centenary of the nineteenth Amendment and its impact on US society and women themselves. It provides a polyphonic narrative of women’s lives, experiences, ambitions, work, and desires. Thus, it includes Christian, both Protestant and Catholic, Muslim, African, and Native American voices as well as LGBTQIA+. It particularly highlights the voices, experiences, and insights of women of color, especially African American women whose stories of their roles in the US suffrage struggle are still little known. It should be very successful in helping to dismantle the persisting structures of racism and sexism by encouraging critical and inclusive ‘dialogues of life.’

Diana L. Hayes

The overturn of Roe v. Wade disproportionately affects women of color. This pathfinding book provides hope and inspiration by documenting women of color’s long struggle for their rights in the US and beyond. Grounded in inclusive theological anthropology, it galvanizes women and men to continue the fights our foremothers began. I highly recommend it to scholars, activists, and anyone who cares for women’s well-being.

Kwok Pui-lan

The essays contained in this work address important considerations using an intersectional framework that unpacks complex ideas that are excitingly fresh and informative. The works included range from critiquing the validity of arguments in sacred texts to exploring how one might utilize or understand the texts in diverse contexts and places. The insights provided are necessary for any scholar or student seeking a deeper understanding of the integral role of women in theological and religious debates.

Shirley A. Jackson