In my quest to find an answer to the main question of this essay, which I will introduce later, I found myself at Candice Marie Benbow’s Red Lip Theology symposium sponsored by the University of San Diego Copley Library and the San Diego Public Library. There Ms. Benbow, Candice, introduced us to the history of what led her to write her book, Red Lip Theology. She spoke on her history and how the church was an integral part of her upbringing but later turned into a place where she no longer felt welcome and safe. Ms. Benbow introduced us to the fact that black women are among the most religious groups in America but are constantly being pushed out of religious spaces. She emphasized the duality of her life and the church. She was raised by a single mother in the church, but that same single mother was condemned by the church for her choice to have a child out of wedlock, and they wanted her to apologize for it but she refused. Ms. Benbow was raised in a house of faith and feminism which is different from many aspects of some modern-day black churches. This made it difficult for her in her later years to continue with the church as the experience of black womanhood is a unique struggle and it couldn’t be masked with “hyperreligiosity.” She points to the church still in admiration for being a formational center, but with that how the church in her growing years also tried to force her into complacency and silence. Thus, she had to leave the church. Her writing in Red Lip Theology speaks to this, her refinding and redefining her relationship with God and her religious beliefs outside the church. Emphasizing real black feminism and individualism. At many times in her talk she called out the misogynistic methods of the black church; blaming women’s infertility on their faith and sermons of that nature. She stated that “Black women deserve sermons that care about us, that like us, and are invested for our care.” She highlighted in her end how still now she has love and always will for the black church but that if they don’t catch up with modern times they will continue to push their young women out which she believes would be very unfortunate due to the amount of community in the church. 

What I noticed throughout Ms. Benbow’s talk was her dichotomy between the church’s teachings of religiosity that are anti-women and the importance of the church as a whole which is integral to many black children’s development. The Black church has been indispensable to the black community since the 18th century during the midst of slavery when their white counterparts were trying to shame and forbid their gatherings. This is where I began to consider the central question: “Why are the narratives and themes of the program significant to our understanding of African American History?”

The black community and the black freedom struggle started in churches and many spaces in its likeness. The black church itself represents one of the first spaces, granted or not, of black freedom. Here black people came together to rejoice, and raise children, and was the first real center of black education. Ms. Benbow speaks to that in her talk on Red Lip Theology and how she was raised in the church, which points to why she still believes in its importance. The contention comes from the advancements of modern society and the advancements of the black church. Because of its rich history, the black church is still very rooted in traditionalism, teachings, and value. This is difficult because of the amount of progress that has come to black women in defining their intersectional feminism. Ms. Benbow’s talk on Red Lip Theology highlights an important discussion on the interplay of the history of the black church and the progressivism of modern times and how/if both can exist for the black church to remain to be a place of black freedom and uplift for all in its community. 

In order to understand the connection between the black church and Red Lip Theology, first we must understand the origins of the black church. The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is one of the oldest black churches founded in 1794 Pennsylvania. Before this black people would still worship but may be in segregated white churches or meet in spaces outdoors etc. (White, Deborah G, et al). AME was the first church designated for black people and black practices. This led to many more black churches being founded. In Chapter 5 of Freedom on my mind, Slavery and Freedom in the New Republic expressed the purposes of the black church: “Early black churches hosted mutual aid society meetings, public lectures, protest meetings, and other gatherings and served the needs of newly freed men and women who came in search of educational opportunities and economic assistance as well as Sunday services. Virtually all early black churches also served as schools at various points in their history”(306). As time went on the church became a vital component of the freedom struggle. This continued up until and through the civil rights movement with many religious leaders also doubling as civil rights activists(i.e. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy). The church was a central space for the black community. The change began as the civil rights movement continued and more activists and leaders belonged to different faiths. The major change came during the new generation of 21st-century black people. At this time the formation of the megachurch arose and “The new black megachurch departed from the social justice model […] most black megachurches encouraged individual internal reflection and promoted an individualistic theology of self-empowerment” (White, Deborah G, et al). This new generation of churches separated themselves from their blackness in a way; the preaching of hard work with prayer leading to success became the new model. They kept some aspects of culture, but because of the politics and class status of black people changing it greatly impacted the black church. 

The article A Genderded Spirit: Race, Class, and Sex in the African American Church highlights some of the key reasons for black women’s neglect in the church in the modern day: “African Americans churches problematic relationship with women continues in part because few of the denominations have undertaken the task of thoroughly examining the doctrines of their institutions. These doctrines are often based on the cultural norms of the first century”(Green, TeResa). I am connecting this idea with information from the last section. In the history of the black church, I mentioned civil rights centrality. During those times black women were a large proponent of the movement. Black women have always been at the forefront of all of their respective movements. Black women were some of the first feminists turned intersectional feminists as they were fighting for women’s rights and racial rights. That connects back to this quote because the black church eventually turned to deprioritize social justice; but never remodeled or redistributed the misogynistic sexist traditions. The church de-emphasized civil rights and put higher urgency on tradition which carries patriarchy and misogyny which just continuously got re-fortified in the church. The article goes on to explain that until the black church can self-assess its doctrine and scripture they will be unable to fully understand and acknowledge the struggle for freedom of black women. Under this philosophy, we can note how African-American churches came from the racism that they typically experienced from the white churches of the earlier ages, but there has yet to be a domination within the black church that has investigated the traditionally held beliefs that tend to support other forms of oppression(Green, TeResa). 

All the ideas I’ve introduced prior are connected. Ms. Benbow’s, Red Lip theology, highlights her modern-day struggle with the black church and feminism. The key to understanding this relationship was in understanding the shift of the black church throughout history. This was needed for an understanding of its modern problematic nature. Black women’s safety in the black church is conditional, which Ms. Benbow highlighted. These conditions have been made from traditional doctrines that have never been reexamined during the shift of the black church. This left black women under attack in the one place where they historically are supposed to be safe. The key to addressing the concern of black women in the church is in conjunction with what the article stated. Until what is preached is as thoroughly examined as the racial ideologies of its history that inspired social justice, black women in the church will always feel othered if they’re anything less than “ the standard.” This connects to Ms. Benbow’s point where she stated that if this continues it will drive more women thus families away from the black church which is supposed to be a center of community. 

Now in reference to the original question: Why are narratives and themes of this program significant to our understanding of African-American history? It is because this program and all that was talked about in it is a direct reflection and continuation of African-American history going back as far as abolitionism up to and through the modern age. The alienation of black women in the church throughout history contributes to the discontinuity and separation of the modern-day black community. If the black community has the capacity to refocus their efforts back on social justice and equal rights I would see the rights for black women to follow along with that ideology, but if this pivot Is not feasible due to the current focuses of scripture then the church may estrange their community in the process. 

References 

White, Deborah G, et al. Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans with Documents. 3rd ed., Bedford/St. Martins Macmillan Learning, 2021. 

Green, TeResa. “A Gendered Spirit: Race, Class, and Sex in the African American Church.” Race, Gender & Class, vol. 10, no. 1, 2003, pp. 115–28. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41675063.