Tilling Sacred Grounds: Interiority, Black Women, and Religious Experience

Tilling Sacred Grounds explores Black womens interiority and negotiation of race, gender, and sexuality in religious spaces and practices, highlighting the importance of the exchange between interiority and public spaces and refiguring the location of religious experience by retrieving Black womens interiority as religious space.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 184 pages
Publication date: 26 February 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Tilling Sacred Grounds: Exploring Black Women's Interiority and Negotiation of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Religious Spaces and Practices

In her groundbreaking book, Tilling Sacred Grounds: Exploring Black Women's Interiority and Negotiation of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Religious Spaces and Practices, Phillis Isabella Sheppard delves into the complex and multifaceted experiences of Black women within religious contexts. Through a series of insightful essays, Sheppard challenges prevailing narratives and offers a nuanced understanding of the ways in which Black women navigate and shape religious spaces and practices.

One of the key themes of Tilling Sacred Grounds is the exchange between interiority and public spaces. Sheppard argues that while religion is often associated with private and intimate experiences, it also has a significant presence in public spaces, including cyberspace, art, ritual, and street ministry. By examining these diverse contexts, Sheppard highlights the ways in which Black women engage with religion in unique and meaningful ways.

One of the most significant contributions of Tilling Sacred Grounds is Sheppard's refiguring of the location of religious experience. She argues that Black women's interiority is itself a religious space, and that it is essential for understanding their complex and often unconscious relationship with religion. By retrieving Black women's interiority as religious space, Sheppard challenges dominant narratives that often marginalize or erase the experiences of Black women within religious communities.

Throughout the book, Sheppard emphasizes the subjective, intersubjective, conscious, unconscious, and relational dimensions of interiority. She shows how these dimensions are shaped by historical and social contexts and how they influence the ways in which Black women engage with religion. For example, she explores the ways in which Black women's experiences of trauma and oppression have shaped their religious beliefs and practices, and how these experiences have contributed to the development of Black feminist theology.

Tilling Sacred Grounds also challenges the notion that Black women's religious experiences are homogeneous or uniform. Sheppard highlights the diversity of Black women's religious practices and beliefs, and shows how these practices and beliefs are shaped by a range of factors, including race, gender, sexuality, and class. She argues that it is essential to recognize and celebrate the diversity of Black women's religious experiences in order to create a more inclusive and equitable religious community.

In addition to its theoretical contributions, Tilling Sacred Grounds also offers practical insights for those working in religious spaces and practices. Sheppard provides a range of strategies for engaging with Black women's interiority and for creating more inclusive and equitable religious communities. She suggests that religious leaders and practitioners should be more aware of the ways in which their own biases and assumptions can impact the experiences of Black women, and that they should work to create spaces that are welcoming and affirming for all individuals.

Overall, Tilling Sacred Grounds is a vital and timely book that sheds light on the complex and multifaceted experiences of Black women within religious contexts. Through a series of insightful essays, Sheppard challenges prevailing narratives and offers a nuanced understanding of the ways in which Black women navigate and shape religious spaces and practices. By retrieving Black women's interiority as religious space, Sheppard challenges dominant narratives that often marginalize or erase the experiences of Black women within religious communities. Whether you are a scholar, practitioner, or simply interested in the experiences of Black women, Tilling Sacred Grounds is a must-read.

Weight: 286g
Dimension: 228 x 150 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793638649