Unbow Your Heads, Sistahs: Leveraging Strength from the Margins

“Without community, there is no liberation.” – Audre Lorde

We had our first seminar! We want to extend our sincere thanks to the respondents and to all those who attended.

Our first seminar was on March 14th, from 6-7 pm, British Standard Time. (Please note that the US changed to Daylight Savings Time but Britain doesn’t switch until March 28th.) We had an exciting round table discussion regarding a pilot program to support our independent scholars. By focusing on independent scholars, we believe we can go a long way to ending the financial precarity of Black women as religious academics.

This potentially benefits us all. Whatever country you are in, we hope you have identified: universities, colleges, schools, research institutes, and grant makers. These resources can be streamlined here for us to share. For those in Religious Leadership, we are looking to explore opportunities for your mentorship through instructors where you seek your degrees, and by creating a network of Black women clergy to support one another. Your work in activism may well be an outgrowth of your work in academia or in parish ministry. However, your work as an activist may be very separate, dealing with housing, voting rights or various forms of economic justice. Please get in touch via email, or leave comments for us here regarding the impediments you believe you have faced, and how we can assist.

Whatever your struggle, we will stand in the gap with you. The paper today was, “Unbow Your Head Sistah: Leveraging Strength from the Margins.” We need additional meetings together to expand the pilot program for 2023. Please share your thoughts. For everyone who attended, thank you so much! Thank you, once again, to our wonderful discussants. (Their bio’s are listed below.)

Dr. CL Nash

Please see the enclosed agenda.

Agenda

• Welcome and Introduction (5 minutes)

• Introduction of the Plenary Paper (2 minutes)  

• Plenary Paper Presentation (15 minutes)

• Discussant Papers (7 minutes/each)

• Discussion with Attendees (15 minutes)

• Publishing Opportunity (5 minutes)

• Wrap up and Closing Remarks (5 minutes)

Our discussants are Dr. Masaiti-Mukuka and Rev. Deche.  You may read their biographies below.

Dr. Bridget Nonde Masaiti-Mukuka

Dr. Bridget Nonde Masaiti Mukuka was born in Zambia. She worked as a personal assistant to the Presbytery Bishop in the United Church of Zambia. She joined the Circle of Concerned African women theologians in 2002. She studied theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She obtained a postgraduate certificate in education from the University of South Africa. She worked as a lecturer/researcher 12 years at Zakhe Agricultural College in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Bridget received her doctorate degree from Stellenbosch University in South Africa in 2017. In her research, she examined how some Bemba women respond to the male dominated church policy. She is currently the Research Associate in the Department of Practical Theology and Missiology, Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University. She is also the programs’ officer and researcher in the Make-Way Circle Zambia Program.

Rev. Annie Deche

I am an ordained minister at the Kenya Methodist Church for the last 14 years. I must say God ordained my journey to be in Taunton Deanne and South Sedgemoor circuit in September 2022. It’s now six months and ministry has been very impactful as I go around the different churches bonding, making friendships above all ministering to God’s wonderful people. My passion for ministry goes a long way from actual pulpit ministry to people one-on-one which is proving so precious as we touch on lives. My prayer is to journey on and see how God is expounding our territories as we have a good opportunity to grow spiritually and God leading us to see others coming to join us. I am also particularly intrigued by the vision of Prof Nash who holds Black women in Theology at heart!