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    Women of Color Pray: Voices of Strength, Faith, Healing, Hope and Courage
    Women of Color Pray: Voices of Strength, Faith, Healing, Hope and Courage
    Women of Color Pray: Voices of Strength, Faith, Healing, Hope and Courage
    Ebook151 pages1 hour

    Women of Color Pray: Voices of Strength, Faith, Healing, Hope and Courage

    By Teresa Palomo Acosta, Yolanda Adams, Rabi'a Al-Adawiyya and

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    About this ebook

    A celebration of the voices of women of color in prayer

    Women of color pray and have prayed out of necessity for survival, out of love for the Divine and because we believe in the power of prayer. Prayer has been the prevailing force behind the education of our children, protection and courage for our men, hope for our daughters and the balm that heals sorrows.
    —from the Introduction

    Prayers by women around the world—from China and Japan, to Syria and Ghana—to African American, Asian American, Native American and Hispanic women in the United States including:

    Teresa Palomo Acosta Yolanda Adams Rabi’a Al-Adawiyya Paula Gunn Allen Savitri Bess Mary McLeod Bethune Irene I. Blea Sandra Cisneros Marian Wright Edelman Rachelle Ferrell Monique Greenwood Joy Harjo Linda Hogan Patricia Locke Janice Mirikitani Toni Morrison Naomi Quinonez Della Reese Cathy Song Susan L. Taylor Sojourner Truth Harriet Tubman Iyanla Vanzant Phillis Wheatley CeCe Winans Empress Yamatohime ... and many others

    This beautiful collection of prayers will take you on a journey into the spiritual walk of women of color around the world—including Asia, the Middle East and Africa—as well as Native American, African American, Asian American and Hispanic women in the United States. Through these prayers, poetry, lyrics, meditations and affirmations, you will share in the strong and undeniable connection that women of color share with God. As you delve into the words of unwavering faith, perseverance, resistance, celebration and communion with God and family that fill each page, you will find your ideas about prayer challenged and your own prayer life inspired and renewed.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTurner Publishing Company
    Release dateApr 19, 2012
    ISBN9781594734410
    Women of Color Pray: Voices of Strength, Faith, Healing, Hope and Courage

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      Book preview

      Women of Color Pray - Teresa Palomo Acosta

      In memory of my aunt

      Lee Sister Potts

      May 11, 1943–February 26, 2003

      I truly miss you, but I’m grateful for every memory

      In memory of my great aunts

      Corrine Aunt Teen Virginia Eggleston Marshall

      October 15, 1909–March 22, 2003

      and

      Priscilla Stewart

      December 22, 1914–December 22, 1993

      That which you instilled in my mother has blessed me

      In honor of my mother

      Bobbie W. Jackson

      Your prayers have covered and guided me through dangers

      seen and unseen, and I’m eternally grateful

      With love for my aunts

      Helena Jones, Eddie Mae Jackson, and Gladys Neal

      With hope for my beloved nieces and nephew

      Essence, Jalisa, and Joshua Jackson

      I pray that you will grow to live lives that glorify God

      Contents

      Introduction

      1   ♦   Faith

      2   ♦   Strength

      3   ♦   Hope

      4   ♦   Healing

      5   ♦   Courage

      About the Contributors

      Credits

      Acknowledgments

      Index of First Lines

      About the Editor

      Copyright

      Also Available

      About SkyLight Paths

      Introduction

      When I was four years old, my mother taught me the Lord’s Prayer. At that age I could not articulate the way I felt, but I knew that praying was a different experience, an important element in my development. It was sweet as she knelt beside me. As we clasped our hands, I knew that this was serious. Little did I know then that this bedtime ritual would be the force that defines my life and impacts those around me as well. Women of color pray and have prayed out of necessity for survival, out of love for the Divine, and because we believe in the power of prayer. Prayer has been the prevailing force behind the education of our children, protection and courage for our men, hope for our daughters, and the balm that heals sorrows. Many times I have been taken hostage by prayer and forced into submission to pray for others and even to cry out on my own behalf. Prayer is invisible, yet it’s so invincible.

      Historically, women of color from all around the world share one very similar and distinct characteristic—we possess an unusual sense of spirituality. No matter what our faith tradition, we are fully cognizant of the fact that there is something greater than ourselves that exists, and this power is the final authority in our lives. This desire for God is fostered by the environment that shapes our world. Our environment is not always positive and affirming, so we are forced to create a hallowed space for ourselves and our loved ones.

      It is the impact of our environment that often determines where and how we express our love of God. Societal and cultural implications are often the gatekeepers of our faith. The collection of pieces in this book reflect this reality. Women of color from different faiths and experiences express through words their perception of God in defining who we are as women.

      As I put this book together, I was intrigued by the collective diversity of women of color. Although the pieces chronologically cover many generations, each woman’s words are relevant for today. Harriet Tubman and Phillis Wheatley represent an era in American history when women of color were suffering under the hand of slavery. Their work is powerful because they speak of God in a way that, even in the midst of suffering, forces us to renew our faith and believe in the impossible. It challenges women of all walks of life not to settle for second best. Contemporary poet Akasha Gloria Hull gives voice to spiritual power as a form of resistance. As we resist the presence of evil in the world, we make room for God. This sentiment is echoed throughout the works of Native American and Asian women as well. Native American women pray out of a situation of displacement that is different from that of African American women. African Americans are displaced because their ancestors were brought to this country against their will. Native Americans are in their home country, but have been displaced to reservations. They have great reverence for the natural elements of the earth, which they feel connects them even more to God. Linda Hogan and Geraldine Kudaka give voice to the strength of their mothers. Our mothers are the teachers and keepers of the faith. Sandra Cisneros gives voice to the power of culture through which we show our love for family and our interconnectedness throughout generations. It is nearly impossible for women of color to see ourselves outside of our cultures. To ask us to choose between faith and culture creates an inner conflict that causes a great deal of turmoil.

      These women, like all of the wonderfully gifted women in this collection, are creative and powerful. As you journey through the pages you will also witness the voices of jazz vocalist Rachelle Ferrell and gospel sensations Yolanda Adams and CeCe Winans. Each of them brings a different sense of the power of prayer. Other women, members of a spiritual group who call themselves the Universal Foundation for Better Living, have collaborated to reinterpret the traditional Christian Lord’s Prayer from various perspectives of women and children of color, and you’ll find those prayers appearing in several sections of this book.

      In a post-9/11 society, prayer has been validated. Women of color all around the globe are praying that terror, which has been a unique part of their past, will not destroy the future of our

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