Her-stories : hidden histories of women of faith in Africa
"We invite you to come and sit around the campfire with us. Our foremothers, our present mothers and our future mothers are going to tell us stories. These are stories of women of faith in Africa. We have to 'listen' carefully, because out of these stories many truths will be revealed. The most important truth that we will learn is that African women played very important roles in the Christian heritage that Africa has come to own. We will learn of their struggles and their pains in their journeys of faith and in their attempts to articulate their spiritualities... The stories we will 'hear' reveal a clear thread that connects church and society. They reflect the history of the different countries in which the churches operated. These are churches that, in some cases, played a significant role in the national liberation of their countries. We see a link between political activism and the church, and the shifting boundaries between the secular and the sacred. In different ways the women's stories show how the struggles against racism and colonialism, necessary as they were, served to deflect interest in the oppressive gendered realities of African women. While the women may not have acted according to some explicit ideological model, such as feminism, they were all imbued with a need for justice and dignity. In whatever sphere or circumstance, the women were guided by a liberation ethic and consciousness." -- back cover
Print Book, English, 2002
Cluster Publications, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 2002