In Biblical text, African, Caribbean and African American Culture and Womanist writings we can find stories of women gathering at wells, drawing not just water, but wisdom and the empowerment that comes from women in community. We have created a space where we can share the words from our library wells that have helped us hold onto the womanist teachings that sustain us and the communities we are a part of.
At the end of Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat the questions was asked, "Are you Free?" In 2023 at the end of of summer reading series the community came together to create a list of books that helped them to be free spiritually, mentally and emotionally. We would love for you to share the books that helped your liberation journey.
Recommended Reading for Womanist Theology and Thought.
Early Works
Baker-Fletcher, Karen, Sisters of Dust, Sisters of Spirit: Womanist Wordings on God and Creation, Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998.
(Womanist Theology / Nature / Healing)
Floyd-Thomas, Stacey M., (Ed.), Deeper Shades of Purple: Womanism in Religion and Society, New York and London: New York University Press, 2006.
(Womanist Theology)
hooks, bell, Sisters of the Yam: black women and self-recovery, South End Press collective, 1993.
(Afro-American women / Mental Health / Oppression
Self-esteem and Self-Actualization)
Hull, Gloria T., Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith, (Eds.), All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave, Old Westbury, New York: The Feminist Press, 1982.
(Black Feminists and The Combahee River Collective, Boston MA)
Lorde, Audre, The Cancer Journals, San Francisco, CA., Aunt Lute Books, 1980.
(Breast Cancer Personal Journey)
Lorde, Audre, A Burst of Light and Other Essays, Garden City, NY: IXIA Press, 1988.
(“Self-Preservation As an Act of Political Warfare”)
Lorde, Audre, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., 1984, 2007.
(Essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer)
Moraga, Cherrie, Gloria Anzaldua, This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, (Eds.), Watertown, MA: Persephone Press, Inc., 1981.
(Black Feminist Collectives Essays)
Shange, Ntozake, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow Is Enuf, New York, NY: Scribner, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1975.
(A Choreopoem)
Walker, Alice, In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens, New York, NY: Harcourt Publishing Company, 1967.
(Addresses, Essays, Lectures)
Walker, Alice, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness, New York, NY: The New Press, 2006.
(Meditations)
Weems, Renita J., Just A Sister Away: A Womanist Vision of Women’s Relationships in the Bible, San Diego, CA: Lura Media, 1988.
(Women’s Relationships)
Weems, Renita J., I Asked for Intimacy: Stories of Blessings, Betrayals, and Birthings, San Diego, CA: Lura Media, 1993.
(Intimate Relationship and Faith)
Williams, Delores S., Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1993.
(African American Religious Life / Black Theology)
Ethics / Theology
Cannon, Katie G., Black Womanist Ethics, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1988.
Cannon, Katie Geneva, Katie’s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community, New York, NY: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., 1995.
(Womanist Theology, Community Life, Ethics in Literature)
Copeland, M. Shawn, Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being, Second Edition, Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2023.
(Womanist Theological Anthropology / Intersectional Studies)
Gafney, Wilda C., Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel, Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2008.
(Women Prophets / Women in Rabbinical Literature)
Gafney, Wilda C., Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
(Old Testament-Feminist Criticism / Womanist Theology)
Leath, Jennifer Susanne, black, quare & then to where: theories of justice and black sexual ethics, Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2023.
(Religious, Cultural, and Political Expressions of African,
African American, and African Caribbean Traditions)
Lomax, Tamura, Jezebel Unhinged: Loosing the Black Female Body in Religion & Culture, Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2018.
(Black Feminist Religious Thought/ Sexual Behavior /
Black Female Body)
Sheppard, Phillis Isabella, Self, Culture, and Others in Womanist Practical Theology, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 2011.
(Womanist Thought/Social Justice)
Smith, Mitzi J. (Ed.), I Found God in Me: A Womanist Biblical Hermeneutics Reader, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2015.
(Womanist Biblical Interpretation)
Townes, Emilie M. (Ed.), Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation & Transformation, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997.
(The Bishop Henry McNeal Turner / Sojourner Truth Series
in Black Religion, Volume XIII)
Townes, Emilie M., (Ed.), A Troubling In My Soul: Womanist Perspectives On Evil & Suffering, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001.
(The Bishop Henry McNeal Turner Studies
in North American Black Religion Volume VIII)
Townes, Emilie M., Breaking the Fine Rain of Death: African American Health Issues and a Womanist Ethic of Care, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1998.
(Health / Grief / Trauma / Healing)
West, Traci C., Wounds of the Spirit: Black Women, Violence and Resistance Ethics, New York and London: New York University Press, 1999.
(Crimes Against African American Women)
Communal / Mystical / Ritual
Holmes, Barbara A., Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church (2ndedition), Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2017.
(Mystical Spiritual Practices)
Holmes, Barbara A., Crisis Contemplation: Healing the Wounded Village, Albuquerque, NM: CAC Publishing, 2021.
(Spiritual Healing / Crises-Social-Psychological-Communities)
Sheppard, Phillis Isabella, Tilling Sacred Grounds: Interiority, Black Women, and Religious Experience, Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2022.
(Ritual / Sexuality /Gender Studies)
Townes, Emilie M., Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas, Alison P. Gise Johnson, and Angela D. Sims. (Eds.), Walking Through the Valley: Womanist Explorations in the Spirit of Katie Geneva Cannon, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022.
(Justice, Leadership, Embodied Ethics and Sacred Texts)
Wade-Gayles, Gloria (Ed.), My Soul Is A Witness: African-American Women’s Spirituality, Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1995.
(Celebration of the Ancestors / Love of Spirit)
Fiction
Cooper, J. California (1991). Family. New York, NY: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Non-fiction
Bryant, T. (2022). Homecoming: Overcoming fear and trauma to reclaim your whole, authentic self. New York, NY: Penguin Random House, LIC.
Hersey, T. (2022). Rest is resistance: A manifesto. New York: Little, Brown Spark.
Lewis, J. (2021). Fierce love: A bold path to ferocious courage and rule-breaking kindness that can heal the world. New York: Harmony Books.
Walker-Barnes, C. (2014). Too heavy a yoke: Black women and the burden of strength. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
Walker-Barnes, C. (2023). Sacred self-care: Daily practices for nurturing our whole selves. San Francisco, CA: HarperOne.
Non Fiction:
hooks, bell. Communion: The Female Search for Love. Perennial, 2003.
Townes, Emilie M. Womanist. Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006
Terrell, JoAnne Marie. Power In the Blood. Orbis Books: Maryknoll, NY: , 1998
Douglas, Kelly Brown. Sexuality and The Black Church: A Womanist Perspective. Orbis Books: Maryknoll, NY, 1999
Dube, Musa. (1996). READING FOR DECOLONIZATION (JOHN 4:1-42). Semeia. 75. 37-59.
Boyd, Julia. In The Company of My Sisters. Dutton, 1993
Walker, Alice. The Way Forward Is With a Broken Heart. Random House, 2000.
Poetry:
Giovanni, Nikki. A Good Cry: What We Learn From Tears and Laughter. William Morrow, 2017.
Giovanni, Nikki. Love Poems. HarperCollins, 2009
Giovanni, Nikki. The Women and The Men. William Marrow, 1975
Giovanni, Nikki. My House. William Marrow, 1972
Shange, N. (1977). For colored girls who have considered suicide, when the rainbow is enuf: a choreopoem.
Fiction:
Naylor, Gloria. Bailey's Cafe. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992
Meriwether, Louise. Daddy Was a Number Runner. Prentice-Hall, 1970
Cooper, J. California. In Search of Satisfaction. Doubleday, 1994
Cooper, J. California. The Future Has A Past. Doubleday, 2000
Cooper, J. California. Wake of The Wind. Doubleday, 1998
Cooper, J. California. Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime, Doubleday, 1995
Danticat, Edwidge. Krik? Krak!. Vintage Books, 1996
Danticat, Edwidge. Breath, Eyes, Memory. Thorndike Press, 1998
Danticat, Edwidge. Farming of The Bones. Penguin Books, 1999
Yanique, Tiphanie. Land of Love and Drowning. Thorndike Press, 2014
Guy, Rosa. A Measure of Time. Bantam, 1984