God Is a Black Woman

In this timely, much-needed book—a blend of theology and spiritual memoir—theologian, social psychologist, and activist Christena Cleveland recounts her personal journey to dismantle the cultural "whitemalegod" and uncover the Sacred Black Feminine, introducing a Black Female God who imbues us with hope, healing, and liberating presence.

For years, Christena Cleveland spoke about racial reconciliation to congregations, justice organizations, and colleges. But she increasingly felt she could no longer trust in the God she’d been implicitly taught to worship—a white male God who preferentially empowered white men despite his claim to love all people. A God who clearly did not relate to, advocate for, or affirm a Black woman like Christena. 

Her crisis of faith sent her on an intellectual and spiritual journey through history and across France, on a 400-mile walking pilgrimage to the ancient shrines of Black Madonnas to find healing in the Sacred Black Feminine. God Is a Black Woman is the chronicle of her liberating transformation and a critique of a society shaped  by white patriarchal Christianity and culture. Christena reveals how America’s collective idea of God as a white man has perpetuated hurt, hopelessness, and racial and gender oppression. Integrating her powerful personal story, womanist ideology, as well as theological, historical, and social science research, she invites us to take seriously the truth that God is not white nor male and gives us a new and hopeful path for connecting with the divine and honoring the sacredness of all Black people.

Why is the image of a white male God so damaging—and what does it take to find a divine presence that truly liberates?
Deconstructing Faith: Follow the author’s wrenching crisis of faith as she confronts a God who preferentially empowers white men and leaves Black women behind.Pilgrimage as Healing: Journey across France on a 400-mile walking pilgrimage to the ancient shrines of Black Madonnas, uncovering a divine presence that offers profound healing.A Critique of White Patriarchy: Examine how the collective idea of a white male God has perpetuated hurt and oppression, integrating theological, historical, and social science research.Black Liberation Theology: Discover a new, hopeful path for honoring the sacredness of all Black people and connecting with a God who stands with the marginalized.