God Sees Me: A Testament To Women’s History Month

Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children… 3Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife… “Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her…7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness,...11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Now you have conceived and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for the Lord, has given heed to your affliction.” Genesis 16:1, 3, 6-7, 11

In 1963, Mahalia Jackson, the great American gospel songstress of African descent, sang these words in the song “Somebody Bigge r Than You and I”: (God) He lights the way

When the road is long

He keeps you company

With his love to guide you

He walks beside you

Just like he walks with me

This song is a testimony of African women and women of African descent who have survived and thrived despite gender and racial discrimination. In 2015, Bread for the World’s Annual Hunger Report pointed to the continuing inequity that women face:

“Discrimination against women is a major cause of persistent hunger. Discrimination is reprehensible and makes the effort to end global hunger much more difficult. In developing countries, most women work in subsistence farming, the backbone of local food security. Discrimination is why women farmers labor with fewer productive resources than their male counterparts, why women in all sectors the /imago dei/. And if there is any body of people keeping the hope of that history alive, it is the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. After two years of prayerdemic and virtual conference gatherings, the organization declared that “the streetlights are on, and it’s time to return home.” A home that, according to Jamar Boyd, senior manager of organizational impact, “has, since its inception, sought to reclaim the Afro-canity and centricity of Christianity and the gospel. Engaging the global epicenters of equity, economics, and communal experiences through education, advocacy, and activism, we aim to create sustainable futures for people of African descent.” of the economy earn less than men, and girls are pulled out of school to work or to marry.”

The conference convened in person in Atlanta, Georgia, from February 20-23, 2023, for the first time since February 2020. And as it has for the last 20 years, some of the most prolific voices of our generation called out to faith leaders across the nation and diaspora to gather around the table for the leading clergy and lay leadership conference of the Black Church. For so many, “this served as a sort of reunion and opportunity to witness how we’ve all morphed, transitioned (some have literally made gender-affirming transitions), and become,” noted Racquel Gill.

Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate the resilience, resistance, and resolve of women like Hagar, an African woman whom Sarai and Abram enslaved. During her enslavement, Sarai demanded that Hagar become pregnant by Abram—without Hagar’s consent. This demand was also normative for black women in the United States and the Caribbean during the enslavement and sharecropping periods.

But despite the sexual assaults by their enslavers—who did not see the humanity and dignity of Hagar and other black women— these women were often courageous and found opportunities to exercise their agency. Hagar left her enslavers and lived in the wilderness. Women of African descent, like Harriet Tubman, did the same. But oral traditions and the Bible tell us the angel of the Lord still found them! Like Hagar, many could and do say: “I

Across generations, hundreds of attendees gathered for the opening worship service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock is the pastor. In true Black Church nature, protocols were established by a roster of honorable guests, and a two-and-ahalf-hour celebration that set the tone for spiritual renewal was underway. The centering word from the tag-team duo of the Reverend Dr. Teresa Fry-Brown and the Reverend Dr. Brandon Crowley emphasized the necessity of intergenerational relationships, mentorship, and succession planning if our churches and communities are “to be” in the future. The subsequent workshops and meditation moments provided resources, networks, and practical tools for living, growing, and thriving in our being.

Each day began with an 8 am dining at the table of meditation, complete with spirited praise and worship and a sermonic moment upon which to hang our meditative reflections. The first sermon preached by the Rev. Joshua Mitchell built upon the theme “Where Future Meets Legacy,” encouraging listeners to “confront the terrifying truths” of our calling and purpose, even if it must be a path not laid by those before us. Similarly, each evening ended with a tag-team sermon that have now seen the One who sees me.” not only called us home to the self and to our communal roots but also called us to create a world of healing, safety, and protection for the most vulnerable members of our community. The Reverend Dr. Gina Stewart preached the final word of celebration, encouraging listeners to “Thank God for the midwives who have worked behind the scene to ensure that we live beyond it.” This is our legacy, “celebrate with me that every day something has tried to kill me–racism, sexism, classism, ableism, etc., and has failed.” The offered sessions comprehensively aligned with the overarching theme and were categorized as follows: Ableism, African spirituality, gender, theoethics, tech, Afrofuturism, health, and womanism. Diverse panels of the best and brightest voices in their respective field led the panels. One of whom, a leading pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, encouraged listeners to enter into stillness and “ask the future what it might be teaching us, even as we remember that if we want a future, we must tend to the soil of our history.” For the Reverend Dr. Heber Brown of Baltimore, Maryland, it is our moral and livelihood imperative to “find a way back to the soil because who controls our food

So, who are the angels today? Do we see the women described in the Hunger Report? Do we see pregnant women of Africa and African descent who have some of the highest mortality rates today? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says black women consistently have the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States. In 2020, the rate rose from 44 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019 to 55.3, the second biggest increase of any racial or ethnic group, behind Hispanic women.

Bread for the World does see women of Africa and of African descent. Our lens of nutrition, equity, and sustainability promotes life with and for black women. One mechanism for achieving this is through the farm bill, which is up for reauthorization this year. Please visit Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters web page to learn more about advocating for the farm bill. Angelique Walker-Smith is a senior associate for Pan-African and Orthodox Church engagement at Bread for the World.