Hear Our Voices

Hear Our Voices is a critical collection of essays that bring significant scholarship to light, standing against what one writer referred to as the “renowned syndrome.” Ten African women Christian scholars present biographies of ten other African women theologians. Working with a variety of methodologies, they infuse the spirit of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians into their analyses of Scripture, doctrine, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, and life experiences. This book should be incorporated into any serious study of Christian theology.

-- Stephanie Mitchem

While many commentators bemoan the silencing and/or taciturnity of women’s voices in academic scholarship, Hear Our Voices does something about it matter-of-factly, albeit theologically. Far from an earnest request, this is an imperative plea that compels listening to and learning from. The contributors have broken the loud silence provocatively. This challenges scholars to become involved and engaged in the conversation that begs robust analytical engagement with intersectional issues related to coloniality and the decolonial turn towards ‘all-embracing, life-affirming theologies'. The poignant question is not whether women should speak or be allowed to speak. Rather, it is whether you are ready to listen and comprehend the amplified voices. This book delineates ‘voice(s)’ beyond a simple expression, but intentional action coalescing into participation shaped by interaction. All stakeholders have skin in the game, thereby contributing intellectual footprints towards navigating gendered meaning-making discourses consequential in translational power, relational dynamics; interlocution as co-learners, co-creators and co-innovators; as well as negotiating audibility within contested gendered spaces of religion, spirituality and activism. A must read!

-- Afe Ado