BHM: Womanism a source of consciousness for Black women

DELMARVA – The term womanism gave Black women a chance to be themselves with consciousness.

Alice Walker coined the term womanism and 47ABC spoke with Delaware State University Professor Dr. A Myrna Nurse. She tells us that the term has four definitions. Including being rooted in the ancestors, calling women more womanish, women loving themselves and others whether it’s sexually or nonsexually, and the association with the moon and the color purple. Dr. Nurse says this theory allows Black women to:

“Remain alive and not ever lose her sense of self-awareness because she was never disconnected from mother consciousness,” Dr. Nurse says.

Many theologians have since embraced the term to advance the perspective of the black woman. Dr. Nurse tells us that Jacquelyn Grant and Dwight Hopkins are some to name of few who have studied the topic more in-depth.

“Black African American womanist theologians who have embrace the term and use it to advance a particular Black women, theologians understanding of the scripture and taking on those biblical stories and sharing them from black women’s perspective,” Dr. Nurse adds.

The professor says it’s important to take into account that the African enslaved woman throughout the Western hemisphere did not lose her sense of consciousness, nor her link to mother Africa, female deities which shaped and sustained her sense of knowing who she was in a hostile environment. Dr. Nurse says we see a lot more black girl magic now and it has a new meaning and a new respect for black women’s knowledge.