Birthing Freedom: Mary, Enslaved Women, and Spiritual Authority

What does it mean to birth freedom? To me, it means creating possibility for oneself and for others. The New Testament Mary, in birthing Jesus, is just such a person. By creating a freedom from the snare of disconnection, she births freedom and possibility for the world. She is not the only one who does this. Our ancestors birthed freedom - both in the people who were brought to this world (like Jarena Lee, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth). Still, in more contemporary times, we see people like Toni Morrison who loosed the constraints of a closed canon with her lyrical and insightful writings. The list can go on ... and likely, it includes you! This article considers what it means to see Mary as someone who birthed freedom. What methodologies have you used to birth freedom? We hope you enjoy this and share with others.

The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2024

Introduction

When the angel Gabriel arrives with news of Mary’s divinely ordained pregnancy (Luke 1:26-38), she anchors herself not in limitation but conviction, surrendering to purpose larger than herself. Womanist scholar Delores Williams names this “redemptive self-sacrifice,” contrasting submission demanded by oppressors with the agency of following an inward call (Williams, 1993, p. 160). This article will explore how Mary and African descended foremothers modeled the Kwanzaa principle of Kujichagulia – self-determination – with lessons for Black women still vulnerable to attacks on our dignity today.

Kujichagulia and Self-Definition

Kujichagulia is the second principle of Kwanzaa, focused on defining and empowering one’s identity even within constraining systems. The holiday of Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga to celebrate Black heritage, values, and possibilities. As Karenga explains, Kujichagulia entails “reaffirming we are who we say we are, defining and naming ourselves rather than being defined and named by others” (Karenga, 2008, p. 107). This principle equips Black people targeted by dehumanization to authorize our own personhood.

Mary’s Self-Determination

In birthing the Jesus narrative central to Christianity, the teenaged Mary models three vital facets of self-definition despite threats as an unwed pregnant woman (Luke 1:26-56). She accepts her purpose, she reclaims community, she enlarges in body and spirit.

First, Mary Accepts Her Unexpected Purpose

By accepting rather than refusing the Holy Spirit’s calling, despite understandable fears, Mary anchors herself not in limitation but surrender to meaning bigger than herself (Luke 1:38). Part of our self determination, is coming to terms with the extraordinary gifts that we each have. Why were you created? What unique gifts do you offer to the world? What perspectives do you provide in your scholarship, your activism or in your religious leadership? Consider the moments, even the smallest moments, where you helped facilitate transformation for someone else.

Second, Mary Reclaims Community

In seeking her cousin Elizabeth’s nurturance (Luke 1:39-45), rather than pridefully isolating, Mary seeds solidarity essential for her dangerous pregnancy. Because of her fears (she could have been ridiculed or injured), isolation may have seemed a good option. Yet, isolation can never provide the support and safety of community. Whether you feel vulnerable as a church leader or as a scholar, it is essential that you locate your “squad” or your community. Within the protection of community, you receive validation and tools for survival (Elizabeth proclaims that Mary is the mother of “our Lord”).

Third, Mary Enlarges in Body and Spirit

Mary stays with Elizabeth during her first trimester – when the “gift” she has is most vulnerable. When she returns home, she body and her vision of God’s gift in her life are both expanded.

Jennifer Hudson recently played the role of Aretha Franklin in the biopic about her life. When Hudson was asked to examine some of the primary differences between the way Franklin moved in her life as a young singer compared with herself, Hudson said, “I automatically take up space. Aretha lived in a time period where women didn’t take up space.” It is in the presence of her older cousin that Mary gathers up the courage to take up space as she returns to her skeptical hometown. Mary celebrates rather than hides her reality (Luke 1:46-55). She privileges spiritual above social authority.

Jarena Lee’s Self-Determination

The principle of Kujichagulia is an important one for women to contemplate the way we move through the world. How do we becomes authors of our own stories? If we feel particularly oppressed by racism, patriarchy or homophobia – what are the tools we can use to combat these social ills?

One example is the pioneering 19th century preacher Jarena Lee. Her demonstration of Kujichagulia is initiated through her startling vision from God. This vision led her to heed God’s call on her life despite ongoing exclusion from church leadership as a Black woman (Smith M. J., 2011, pp. 26-27).

By cultivating her gift of prophecy and gathering seekers eager for her preaching rather than waiting for human permission, Lee nurtured collective freedom. She determined for herself the validity of her calling apart from others’ approbation.

Reclaiming Our Authority

African American women are indeed targeted by ongoing attacks to our dignity. We consistently see ourselves underpaid, overworked and undervalued. Yet, the heritage of Mary the other of Jesus, Jarena Lee and our enslaved ancestors, demonstrate the way women secretly practiced their faith and maintained their unique giftedness despite restrains imposed upon them. In their self definition, they were able to birth promise.

Poet Gwendolyn Brooks captures this in writing, “live not for battles won/but the beauty bequeathed upon us” (Brooks, 1960, p. 28). When we nurture the gifts the Spirit has entrusted to us, rather than diminishing ourselves for the oppressors’ comfort, we authorize sacred purpose within us. No law can regulate the holy births wanting to come through us.

Conclusion

What might be dreamt into being if we dare to dig past shame and smallness? What gifts ache to flourish were we to claim confidence rooted not in accolades but ancestral wisdom blooming inherently through us? Sisters, our power awaits activation. Like Mary and so many before us, will we choose to nurture promise rather than restraint? Will we authorize ourselves to birth and nurture ?

Our call to embrace the courage to walk away from internalized constriction into radical self-love undergirded by the sacred. We are invited to take on board the profound words of Ntozake Shange: “I found God in myself, and I loved her fiercely!”

Dr. CL Nash, The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2024

References

Brooks, Gwendolyn (1960). The Bean Eaters. Harper & Brothers.

Karenga, M. (2008). Kwanzaa: A celebration of family, community and culture. University of Sankore Press.

Smith M. J., Mitzi J. (2011). Womanist sass and talk back: Woman of color responds to crazy ex-girlfriends, catty chick flicks, and other dehumanization that vex us. Cascade Books.

Williams, Delores (1993). Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God Talk. Orbis Books.

Further Reading

Baker-Fletcher, Karen (2006). Introducing Womanist Theology. Orbis Books.

Townes, Emilie M. (2011). Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil. Palgrave Macmillan.

Walker-Barnes, Chanequa (2014). Too Heavy a Yoke: Black Women and the Burden of Strength. Wipf and Stock Publishers.