Christena Cleveland

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this read, which applies social psychology to the dynamics within the Christian Church – specifically, sub-groups of Christianity and how we relate to one another, often negatively.

Cleveland's humor is subtle and on-point, and I appreciated how humble she was throughout the book, offering many examples of her own failings, as well as a few examples outside of herself.

She does a pretty good job of addressing multiple types of sub-groups; however, there was a greater emphasis on racial and ethnic groups. She included just a few examples of age, gender, and marital status groups and I would have liked to read more of these.

There is a decent amount of repetition in the book, which will annoy some people – I mostly found it helpful to reinforce certain concepts. Some of the ideas in the book are "duh" ones that I think a lot of people are generally aware of, but I think many will benefit from seeing the science (the "why") behind particular thought patterns.

I do wish that she had summarized at the end of each chapter, including some of the main take-aways and offering practical, specific examples of ways to change our behavior. Instead of that, there are questions at the end of each chapter – good for self-reflection or discussion (if you're going through the book with a group), not so much for practical application. This was the greatest weakness of the book.

Overall, I think this read serves as a great reminder for Christians to constantly acknowledge and examine our prejudices and pride and lay them at the cross, while attempting to embrace each other the way Christ embraces each of us.

A quote I liked: "Organizational experts also believe that nondiverse groups find it harder to keep learning because each member is bringing less and less unique information to the table. Similar people share similar experiences and acquire similar knowledge, but diverse people differ in their experiences and acquire diverse knowledge." (p. 40)… (más)

My disappointment was my own fault: I made a cross-stitch of the Polish Black Madonna and posted it on FaceBook. In all humility, it is absolutely stunning, and I received a gazillion comments from friends. One, my mentor from the days of my internship at a retirement community, recommended this book. I thought he said that Cleveland had visited Black Madonnas all around the world. In reality she visited 18 statues in France. Fair enough, but she did not write much about their histories except for the Madonna of the Rock.

One reason why I did not like the book is that she wrote extensively about her anger with, and dissatisfaction with, what she termed the "angry white male God." I gave up my childhood belief in a "male" God, or any other type of human god decades ago. Every time she said this it jerked me back. Another reason was personal sadness about Cleveland herself: she was abused, physically and emotionally, by her parents, perhaps especially by her father. I hope that writing this book helped her heal from this.

I listened, rather than actually read, this book. I would recommend actually reading it: my French is nearly non-existent, and I could not quite catch the names of the villages which house these statues.… (más)

In this timely, much-needed book, theologian, social psychologist, and activist Christena Cleveland recounts her personal journey to dismantle the cultural “whitemalegod” and uncover the Sacred Black Feminine, introducing a Black Female God who imbues us with hope, healing, and liberating presence.

For years, Christena Cleveland spoke about racial reconciliation to congregations, justice organizations, and colleges. But she increasingly felt she could no longer trust in the God she’d been implicitly taught to worship—a white male God who preferentially empowered white men despite his claim to love all people. A God who clearly did not relate to, advocate for, or affirm a Black woman like Christena.

Her crisis of faith sent her on an intellectual and spiritual journey through history and across France, on a 400-mile walking pilgrimage to the ancient shrines of Black Madonnas to find healing in the Sacred Black Feminine. God Is a Black Woman is the chronicle of her liberating transformation and a critique of a society shaped by white patriarchal Christianity and culture. Christena reveals how America’s collective idea of God as a white man has perpetuated hurt, hopelessness, and racial and gender oppression. Integrating her powerful personal story, womanist ideology, as well as theological, historical, and social science research, she invites us to take seriously the truth that God is not white nor male and gives us a new and hopeful path for connecting with the divine and honoring the sacredness of all Black people.… (más)