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No Crystal Stair: Womanist Spirituality
In this collection of essays, prayers, and meditations, Diana Hayes lays the foundation for womanist spirituality in the lived faith and struggles of African American women. This spirituality, as she observes, "flows from their lived encounters with God, nurtured and sustained with sweat, tears, and blood as they worked the fields, worked in the homes of white families, worked in factories and wherever else they could to support their families and build their communities.…It is a spirituality which arises from a deep and abiding faith in a God of love, a wonder-working God who walked and talked with them, giving them the strength to persevere."
Beginning with the story of her own spiritual journey -- her upbringing in the AME Zion Church where she encountered "a God who loved me into life," her training as a lawyer, conversion to Catholicism, and determination to become a theologian --Hayes offers a moving, inspiring, and challenging window on the lived faith of African American women today.
Beginning with the story of her own spiritual journey -- her upbringing in the AME Zion Church where she encountered "a God who loved me into life," her training as a lawyer, conversion to Catholicism, and determination to become a theologian --Hayes offers a moving, inspiring, and challenging window on the lived faith of African American women today.
- GenresSpiritualityRaceTheology
176 pages, Paperback
Published July 28, 2016
13 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Diana L. Hayes
20 books7 followersDiana L. Hayes is a Professor of Systematic Theology in the Department of Theology at Georgetown. Her areas of specialization are Womanist Theology, Black Theology, U.S.Liberation Theologies, Contextual Theologies, Religion and Public Life, and African American and Womanist Spirituality. Her courses include Black Liberation Theology, Womanist Theology, American Liberation Theology, Race, Class, Gender and Religion, (all of which she has also taught at the graduate level, Religion and Liberation (a Theology majors seminar) and the required intro course, The Problem of God (from a comparative world religions in the US perspective). Dr. Hayes is the first African American woman to receive the Pontifical Doctor of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.D.) from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) and has also received three honorary doctorates. She is the author of 6 books and over 50 articles.
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June 26, 2024
A MARVELOUS COMPILATION OF HAYES’ WRITINGS ON WOMANIST SPIRITUALITY
Diana L. Hayes is Professor of Systematic Theology at Georgetown University. She has also written Taking Down Our Harps: Black Catholics in the United States,Hagar's Daughters: Womanist Ways of Being in the World,Forged in the Fiery Furnace: African American Spirituality,Were You There?: Stations of the Cross,And Still We Rise: An Introduction to Black Liberation Theology, and Standing in the Shoes My Mother Made: A Womanist Theology.
She wrote in the Introduction to this 2016 book, “This work is a compilation of writings on and about spirituality that I have drafted from my perspective as a womanist over the past twenty-five years. I hope they will reveal the path of my spiritual journeying with God and those around me… I am black. I am Catholic. And by the grace of God, I am here. I invite you to share my journey of self-discovery and faith, and I hope this work will also serve as a source of inspiration and confirmation for you.” (Pg. xxvii-xxviii)
She reveals, “My spirituality, a womanist spirituality, that is, a spirituality forged in the awareness and experience of the multiplicative forms of oppression that are used to limit and restrain black women, has been honed and sharpened by my journey with God throughout my life. I was always aware of God’s presence and trusted that whatever I tried to do, God’s grace and mercy would see me through… Alice Walker’s writings, especially her In Search of Our Mother's Gardens… opened new worlds of possibility and meaning for me as a womanist theologian. I was transformed, as so many other black women in seminaries and theologates were. It was our ‘aha’ moment. I had accepted God’s call to become, first a Catholic and second, a Catholic theologian…” (Pg. xxiii)
She explains, “What is womanist spirituality?... [It] is the encounter of black women and Jesus spelled out in song, poetry, novels, and memoirs that speak of the everlasting struggle as they continue to move themselves and their people one step closer to the Promised Land… Womanist spirituality is lived and experienced in the everydayness of life… As a womanist, I believe that no one is truly free until all are free, whether black or white, rich or poor, straight or LGBTQ. The social constructions that humanity has created, especially Western society, must be pulled down and destroyed using new tools… This cannot be done alone but only in solidarity with all who seek a better world As a Catholic womanist theologian, I ground my faith in the social justice teachings of my church, teachings which, sadly, have and continued to be too often overlooked or ignored.” (Pg. xxvi-xxvii)
She acknowledges, “To be black in America is to live in a state of almost perpetual paranoia, or so it seems, wondering if what you sense and feel and see really exists or is just your imagination, even while you know deep down… that yes, it is the reality. You are not paranoid; you are simply black. Yet you are also an American because you were born and raised in the United States…. Still, there is always that question on people’s faces when first they meet you: not who, but what you are…” (Pg. 2)
She observes, “I have felt, many times, like giving up because of the callous insensitivity of those of my own faith and too often my own race, who are unable to see beyond their own limited experiences to the gift of difference that I can offer… There have also been times, however, when I rejoice at the light of understanding breaking forth on the faces of those with whom I am engaged in dialogue about the need for systemic changes to take place in this church which we love, changes that go to the very core of what it means to be truly Catholic. I believe that is why I see myself as a liberation theologian… who helps others to realize that that ground is not so new but is at the very foundation of our Catholic and Christian faith… My experience in the Roman Catholic Church has been that of a woman who is an enigma, even a threat, to some because they cannot label me… Instead, I am about the business of constantly re-inventing myself as the subject of my own, not someone else’s history.” (Pg. 8)
She recalls, “I became a roman Catholic for one reason only, in response to what I believed then, and still believe today, to be a direct and insistent call from God. It was not a call that I initially wanted to answer because I knew it would totally disrupt the comfortable life I had become accustomed to. But it was a call that I could neither ignore nor deny and still remain the person I thought I was. To my consternation… I, an independent (some would say ‘uppity’) black woman, found God in the Roman Catholic Church, a church not known particularly for its welcoming attitude toward either blacks or women. Yet I felt nurtured, loved, and desired by God within that church and by the people I was led to who helped me become part of that church…” (Pg. 41)
She states, “I am a child of God, whether black, brown, yellow, red, or white, because race does not exist in God. Nor do other divisions exist in God, not those of Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu, or other, because God is God for all of humanity, however God is named… Why am I here on this earth at this time and place? To help bring about God’s ‘kin-dom’ by recognizing and, more importantly, by affirming my co-createdness with all of humanity and thus the presence of God in all with whom I come into contact. I am called, as all are called, to contribute to the rebuilding of community, a community in which all are welcome, receiving according to their needs and offering according to their abilities.” (Pg. 77)
She explains, “To be womanist is to be black; to be black is to be womanist, at least as the term has become not simply defined but developed and deepened by black female Christian theologians such as Delores Williams, Jacqueline Grant, and Kelly Brown Douglas among others. A critical response to the absent voice of women of color in both feminist (normatively white) and black (normatively male) liberation theologies, womanist theology seeks to bring the presence and activity of black women to the forefront, rather than the background, of the church’s awareness and dialogue.” (Pg. 107)
She suggests, “These three women, Eve, Mary of Magdala, and Mary, the Mother of God, are only a few of the women in sacred scripture who speak words of feminist wisdom and dare to become other than what they have bene told they should be… They are sisters in solidarity, rather than opposition, who speak words of black wisdom and live lives of black hope, courage, and faith in a world that saw them as nothing.” (Pg. 115-116)
She states, “Womanist theologians seek to break the chains of societal ‘isms’ that constrain and restrain women’s rights to work in non-domestic roles, to live independent lives, and to speak for and about themselves in words of their own choosing. They seek to do this… in order to build and rebuild the black community and all communities threatened with destruction due to an onslaught of values that counter those that historically kept us strong…. Womanist theologians seek to speak not for but in solidarity with their black sisters throughout the African diaspora, asking what it means to be a black woman in the twenty-first century, especially a black Christian woman.” (Pg. 125)
The concluding essay says, “Where would Christianity be without the women who led its first humble home churches and passed down the teachings to the children? … Perhaps where it is today, floundering in a morass of shame and denial with the spectacle of the hierarchy scandalizing the faithful rather than allegedly heretical theologians doing so. The motherless children are reclaiming their church and insisting that their presence and contributions be not just welcomed and affirmed but also included in the history, traditions and teachings of the Church today.” (Pg. 138)
This is a wonderful collection of writings, and often a much more “personal” perspective of the thought and feel of Ms. Hayes, that will be “must reading” for anyone interested in Womanism, Black Theology, or contemporary Spirituality.
Diana L. Hayes is Professor of Systematic Theology at Georgetown University. She has also written Taking Down Our Harps: Black Catholics in the United States,Hagar's Daughters: Womanist Ways of Being in the World,Forged in the Fiery Furnace: African American Spirituality,Were You There?: Stations of the Cross,And Still We Rise: An Introduction to Black Liberation Theology, and Standing in the Shoes My Mother Made: A Womanist Theology.
She wrote in the Introduction to this 2016 book, “This work is a compilation of writings on and about spirituality that I have drafted from my perspective as a womanist over the past twenty-five years. I hope they will reveal the path of my spiritual journeying with God and those around me… I am black. I am Catholic. And by the grace of God, I am here. I invite you to share my journey of self-discovery and faith, and I hope this work will also serve as a source of inspiration and confirmation for you.” (Pg. xxvii-xxviii)
She reveals, “My spirituality, a womanist spirituality, that is, a spirituality forged in the awareness and experience of the multiplicative forms of oppression that are used to limit and restrain black women, has been honed and sharpened by my journey with God throughout my life. I was always aware of God’s presence and trusted that whatever I tried to do, God’s grace and mercy would see me through… Alice Walker’s writings, especially her In Search of Our Mother's Gardens… opened new worlds of possibility and meaning for me as a womanist theologian. I was transformed, as so many other black women in seminaries and theologates were. It was our ‘aha’ moment. I had accepted God’s call to become, first a Catholic and second, a Catholic theologian…” (Pg. xxiii)
She explains, “What is womanist spirituality?... [It] is the encounter of black women and Jesus spelled out in song, poetry, novels, and memoirs that speak of the everlasting struggle as they continue to move themselves and their people one step closer to the Promised Land… Womanist spirituality is lived and experienced in the everydayness of life… As a womanist, I believe that no one is truly free until all are free, whether black or white, rich or poor, straight or LGBTQ. The social constructions that humanity has created, especially Western society, must be pulled down and destroyed using new tools… This cannot be done alone but only in solidarity with all who seek a better world As a Catholic womanist theologian, I ground my faith in the social justice teachings of my church, teachings which, sadly, have and continued to be too often overlooked or ignored.” (Pg. xxvi-xxvii)
She acknowledges, “To be black in America is to live in a state of almost perpetual paranoia, or so it seems, wondering if what you sense and feel and see really exists or is just your imagination, even while you know deep down… that yes, it is the reality. You are not paranoid; you are simply black. Yet you are also an American because you were born and raised in the United States…. Still, there is always that question on people’s faces when first they meet you: not who, but what you are…” (Pg. 2)
She observes, “I have felt, many times, like giving up because of the callous insensitivity of those of my own faith and too often my own race, who are unable to see beyond their own limited experiences to the gift of difference that I can offer… There have also been times, however, when I rejoice at the light of understanding breaking forth on the faces of those with whom I am engaged in dialogue about the need for systemic changes to take place in this church which we love, changes that go to the very core of what it means to be truly Catholic. I believe that is why I see myself as a liberation theologian… who helps others to realize that that ground is not so new but is at the very foundation of our Catholic and Christian faith… My experience in the Roman Catholic Church has been that of a woman who is an enigma, even a threat, to some because they cannot label me… Instead, I am about the business of constantly re-inventing myself as the subject of my own, not someone else’s history.” (Pg. 8)
She recalls, “I became a roman Catholic for one reason only, in response to what I believed then, and still believe today, to be a direct and insistent call from God. It was not a call that I initially wanted to answer because I knew it would totally disrupt the comfortable life I had become accustomed to. But it was a call that I could neither ignore nor deny and still remain the person I thought I was. To my consternation… I, an independent (some would say ‘uppity’) black woman, found God in the Roman Catholic Church, a church not known particularly for its welcoming attitude toward either blacks or women. Yet I felt nurtured, loved, and desired by God within that church and by the people I was led to who helped me become part of that church…” (Pg. 41)
She states, “I am a child of God, whether black, brown, yellow, red, or white, because race does not exist in God. Nor do other divisions exist in God, not those of Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu, or other, because God is God for all of humanity, however God is named… Why am I here on this earth at this time and place? To help bring about God’s ‘kin-dom’ by recognizing and, more importantly, by affirming my co-createdness with all of humanity and thus the presence of God in all with whom I come into contact. I am called, as all are called, to contribute to the rebuilding of community, a community in which all are welcome, receiving according to their needs and offering according to their abilities.” (Pg. 77)
She explains, “To be womanist is to be black; to be black is to be womanist, at least as the term has become not simply defined but developed and deepened by black female Christian theologians such as Delores Williams, Jacqueline Grant, and Kelly Brown Douglas among others. A critical response to the absent voice of women of color in both feminist (normatively white) and black (normatively male) liberation theologies, womanist theology seeks to bring the presence and activity of black women to the forefront, rather than the background, of the church’s awareness and dialogue.” (Pg. 107)
She suggests, “These three women, Eve, Mary of Magdala, and Mary, the Mother of God, are only a few of the women in sacred scripture who speak words of feminist wisdom and dare to become other than what they have bene told they should be… They are sisters in solidarity, rather than opposition, who speak words of black wisdom and live lives of black hope, courage, and faith in a world that saw them as nothing.” (Pg. 115-116)
She states, “Womanist theologians seek to break the chains of societal ‘isms’ that constrain and restrain women’s rights to work in non-domestic roles, to live independent lives, and to speak for and about themselves in words of their own choosing. They seek to do this… in order to build and rebuild the black community and all communities threatened with destruction due to an onslaught of values that counter those that historically kept us strong…. Womanist theologians seek to speak not for but in solidarity with their black sisters throughout the African diaspora, asking what it means to be a black woman in the twenty-first century, especially a black Christian woman.” (Pg. 125)
The concluding essay says, “Where would Christianity be without the women who led its first humble home churches and passed down the teachings to the children? … Perhaps where it is today, floundering in a morass of shame and denial with the spectacle of the hierarchy scandalizing the faithful rather than allegedly heretical theologians doing so. The motherless children are reclaiming their church and insisting that their presence and contributions be not just welcomed and affirmed but also included in the history, traditions and teachings of the Church today.” (Pg. 138)
This is a wonderful collection of writings, and often a much more “personal” perspective of the thought and feel of Ms. Hayes, that will be “must reading” for anyone interested in Womanism, Black Theology, or contemporary Spirituality.
September 27, 2020
Affirming. Every black woman must read this book. We are formed and informed by the black women that have come before us and are with us. Dr. Hayes reminds us of that unapologetically.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews