If It Wasn't for the Women... : Black Women's Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community

Introduction: Community, Churchwork, Culture, and Crisis Toward a Sociology of Indispensable Black Women 1(14) PART 1 THE COMMUNITY CONNECTION ``If It Wasn't for the Women...'' Community Work and Social Change 15(13) Exploring the Community Connection Race, Class, and Women's Agency 28(15) PART 2 CHURCH WOMEN AND THEIR WORK ``Together and in Harness'' Women's Traditions in the Sanctified Church 43(18) The Roles of Church and Community Mothers Ambivalent American Sexism or Fragmented African Familyhood? 61(15) The Role of Women in the Sanctified Church 76(136) The Politics of ``Silence'' Dual-Sex Political Systems and Women's Traditions of Conflict 92(29) PART 3 WOMANIST CULTURE ``Some Mother's Son and Some Father's Daughter'' Issues of Gender, Biblical Language, and Worship 121(21) ``Sisters Who Can Lift a Community'' Nannie Helen Burroughs, ``The Slabtown District Convention,'' and the Cultural Production of Community and Social Change 142(19) PART 4 CRISES, CONFRONTATIONS, AND CONFLICTS ``Liberated to Work Like Dogs!'' Labeling Black Women and Their Work 161(20) The ``Loves'' and ``Troubles'' of African-American Women's Bodies The Womanist Challenge to Cultural Humiliation and Community Ambivalence 181(15) Ministry to Women Hearing and Empowering ``Poor'' Black Women 196(16) Notes 212(33) Acknowledgments 245(2) Publication History 247(2) Index 249