“God is a Black Woman”
So – what’s your reaction to that book title? Our reaction to the title is telling in itself!
Trust me - this book is a must-read for any leader in a religious community, any Judeo-Christian seminarian, anyone who is or loves a woman… and anyone who is or loves a Black person!
Dr. Christena Cleveland wrote this autobiographical spiritual journey. Having been raised in a devout Christian home, Dr. Cleveland seeks to understand the “whitemalegod” and its impact on her life and our greater society. Whether or not we like to admit it, Christianity has shaped culture through the millennia. At the core is the central belief of an all-powerful “whitemalegod.” This concept of god has had significant repercussions for people who are not white and for people who do not identify as male. It has affected the role of women in society, the power or lack thereof of women and our images of the perfect female body. It has affected how we see and treat Black people with heart-wrenching results. Dr. Cleveland helps us uncover the “Sacred Black Feminine” as she makes a pilgrimage to statues of Black Madonnas throughout France. I found that Dr. Cleveland beautifully weaves her expertise in social psychology, race and religion throughout the chapters.
This book echoed what I’ve learned in my own journey and expanded it immensely. I was reminded of my college chaplains who introduced me to the idea that God is female, not just male. In the seminaries, I learned that both Judaism and the early Christian Church understood God to be both mother and father and that through the centuries, many of those Divine Feminine images have been erased. I also learned how as The Church clamped down on women and the Divine Feminine, devotion to Mary, Jesus’ mother, rose, in part to keep the Sacred Feminine alive. I was reminded of the mystics like Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen and John of the Cross who taught about God as Mother. Ultimately through Dr. Cleveland’s profound sharing, I was able to go deeper into the Divine Feminine and rest in Her motherly love and creative life.
The book helped me more fully realize the connection between Christianity and racism. Truthfully, after reading the book, I was led me to apologize to the Black women in my life for what I have done and failed to do which may have caused them harm – and for what my people have done to cause harm through the generations. I was encouraged to pray anew for racial healing as well as the wisdom and courage to do what I can to bring about God’s kin-dom of love so that all people – including women and Black people – have the freedom to be who they were Divinely created to be!
“God is a Black Woman” is a journey of the mind and heart – with ups and downs, joys and pains that ultimately can lead us to more freedom in our spirit and more Divine power to affect change in our world.
May it be so.