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“Published at the close of the twentieth century, Kelly Brown Douglas’ Sexuality and the Black Church was a groundbreaking text that reshaped the field of Black Church Studies and sparked two and a half decades of scholarly discourse at the intersection of race, gender, theology, and sexuality. . . . May the God of our mothers perpetually bless Kelly Brown Douglas for being a companion to our minds, a mentor to our souls, and a trusted theological interlocutor to our Black flesh and spirits.” –From the Foreword by Brandon Thomas Crowley
This book, first published in 1999, tackled the “taboo” subject of sexuality that had long been avoided by the Black church and community. Douglas argued that this view of Black sexuality was interfering with constructive responses to the AIDS crisis, fostering intolerance, and frustrating healthy male/female relationships. In her new introduction she reflects on how these ongoing challenges address the situation today, arguing that the Black church, “if it is to live into that legacy of the faith born from the hush harbors of slavery, must be in the forefront of partnering with God to create a world, a society, a community, a church where all of God’s people can be free to show forth the image of God that they are.”
The Rev. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas is a Visiting Professor at Harvard Divinity School, and the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral. Previously, she served as Dean of of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary, NYC. She is considered a leader in the field of womanist theology, racial reconciliation, and sexuality and the black church. Her Orbis books include The Black Christ, What’s Faith Got to Do with It? and Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion.
