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The word womanism was adapted from Pulitzer Prize winning author, Alice Walker. In her book In Search of Our Mother’s Garden: Womanist Prose, Walker used the word to describe the perspective and experiences of "women of color". Although most Womanist scholarship centers on the African American woman's experience, other non-white theorists identify themselves with this term.
How Womanism Developed
The roots of theological womanism grew out of the theology of Jacquelyn Grant, Delores Williams, and James Hal Cone[citation needed][original research?].
In Cones' book A Black Theology of Liberation, Cone argued that “God is black” in an effort to demonstrate that God identifies with oppressed people.
Grant argued that Cone did not attend to the fullness of black experience — specifically that of black women. She argued that the oppression of black women is different from that of black men. She believes that Jesus is a “divine co-sufferer” who suffered in his time like black women today.
Delores Williams took the work of theologians such as Cone and Grant and expanded upon them[citation needed]. In her book Sisters in the Wilderness, she defines womanism in the following way:
“Womanist theology is a prophetic voice concerned about the well-being of the entire African American community, male and female, adults and children. Womanist theology attempts to help black women see, affirm, and have confidence in the importance of their experience and faith for determining the character of the Christian religion in the African American community. Womanist theology challenges all oppressive forces impeding black women’s struggle for survival and for the development of a positive, productive quality of life conducive to women’s and the family’s freedom and well-being. Womanist theology opposes all oppression based on race, sex, class, sexual preference, physical ability, and caste” (67).
Womanism in education
Two examples of educational institutions that incorporate womanism in their graduate coursework are Eden Theological Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri and Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee.[citation needed]
