hidden histories This page intentionally left blank Hidden Histories Faith and Black Lesbian Leadership monique moultrie duke university press Durham and London 2023 © 2023 duke university press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of Amer i ca on acid- free paper ∞ Proj ect editor: Bird Williams Designed by A. Mattson Gallagher Typeset in Adobe Text Pro by Westchester Publishing Services Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Moultrie, Monique Nicole, [date] author. Title: Hidden histories : faith and Black lesbian leadership / Monique Moultrie. Description: Durham : Duke University Press, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2022040850 (print) lccn 2022040851 (ebook) isbn 9781478019114 (paperback) isbn 9781478016472 (hardcover) isbn 9781478023746 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: African American women clergy—Interviews. | African American lesbians— Interviews. | Womanism—Religious aspects. | Leadership—Moral and ethical aspects—United States. | Sexual orientation—Religious aspects. | bisac: social science / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies | social science / lgbtq Studies / General | lcgft: Oral histories. Classification: lcc bt83.9 . m67 2023 (print) | lcc bt83.9 (ebook) | ddc 230.082—dc23/ eng/20221228 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022040850 lc ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022040851 Cover art: (top to bottom, left to right) Dr. Pamela “Ayo” Yetunde (photo by Miriam Phields); Reverend Dr. Deborah Johnson; Reverend Dr. Cari Jackson; Bishop Tonyia Rawls; Reverend Naomi Washington-Leapheart (photo by Zamani Feelings Photography); Elder Darlene Garner; Dr. Sylvia Rhue. All photographs courtesy of their subjects. To the memory of my grand mother, Mildred Crews Car ter To the memory of my husband, Rev. Eugene James Se’Bree I am forever changed because you both loved me. This page intentionally left blank contents Acknowl edgments ix Introduction 1 That Their Living Will Not Be in Vain 1 Shattering Stained- Glass Ceilings 17 African American Queer Storytelling 2 Going to Hell for My Authenticity 38 Existence as Re sis tance 3 Justice Is Spiritual 68 Interrogating Spiritual Activism 4 Mighty Causes Are Calling Us 103 Expanding Womanist Spiritualities 5 Doing the Work Their Souls Must Have 126 Cultivating Womanist Ethical Leadership Conclusion 168 Leading from the Margins Epilogue 182 Online Archives Appendix: Interview Guide 187 Notes 189 Bibliography 203 Index 217 This page intentionally left blank acknowl edgments This book has many origin points, such as my cultivated love of women’s storytelling passed down to me by my m other and my maternal grandm other. My mother, Tommie Crews, was the first in our immediate family to earn a college degree, and she and my aunts recounted tales from college and their adventures in the workforce to a precocious womanish girl who hung on their every words. My grandm other, Mildred Car ter, raised me to appreciate a good story and to recognize the value that our stories had in educating us about how our past, pre sent, and f uture w ere intertwined. I learned from the women in my family that our stories tell the world that we were here and that we mattered. Because of this awareness, when I was asked in 2009 by Mark Bowman, executive director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Religious Archives Network (lgbtq- ran), to conduct a few interviews for its website, I leapt at the opportunity to conduct oral histories and hear p eople’s life narratives. Little did I know that a task I took as a gradua te student would captivate me so many years later. Honestly, it took me a while to appreciate the gift that I had been given— access to t hese w omen’s life stories— and to feel comfortable enough that I should be the one to amplify them via a book-l ength study. I will forever remain grateful that during a lunch with Dr. Rosetta Ross, she asked me what new research I could pre sent to the Spelman College community, and I mentioned that I had conducted a few r eally int er est ing interviews that I would love to share. This was the first time that I tried weaving their stories together into a cohesive narrative for o thers, and the community was gracious toward my nascent theorizing, which propelled me to conduct further research. Further research required further funding, and I am ever grateful for the numerous funders’ financial support for this proj ect over the years. The