A Womanist’s Poetic, Theo-Ethical Response to Sexual Trauma: Ethics, Theology & Black Women’s Poetry

This paper gestures towards a womanist response to a recent conversation with a friend, indicative of many black women’s experiences of sexual trauma and struggle to reconcile their identity as black women, Christians, and survivors. I put in conversation black feminist writings, womanist ethics and theology, and black women’s poetry to gesture towards a womanist response to sexual trauma. This paper makes three primary claims. First, I assert that womanist theology and ethics provides a firm foundation for Christian responses to sexual trauma. Second, I argue for contemporary womanist ethics as a crucial dialogue partner for sexual trauma survivors. And finally, I posit the moral knowledge gleaned from three black women’s poems as guides for womanist responses to sexual trauma.