March 26, 2020
During her lecture, “Good Trouble: Black Spirituality as Resistance and Resilience,” C. Vanessa White, D. Min., Associate Professor of Spirituality and Ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, IL, asserted that African American spirituality has been instrumental in giving Black people the spiritual and cultural elements to “liberate themselves from those internal and external tyrannies that sequester the soul and destroy the mind.”
Dr. White also serves as Associate Director for the Master of Theology degree program at Xavier University’s Institute for Black Catholic Studies. Her March 22 online presentation was sponsored by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies.
The lives and legacies of six African American Catholics whose cause for sainthood has been approved by the Vatican were also the focus of Dr. White’s lecture. They include Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, Venerable Henriette Delille, Venerable Augustus Tolton, Julia Greeley, O.F.S., and Sister Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A.
“We can draw strength from the prayers and the example of the six holy men and women Dr. White lifted up for us,” said Christopher P. Vogt, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chairperson, Department of Theology and Religious Studies. “Hearing their stories helps us situate the previously marginalized voices and accomplishments of Black Catholics to their rightful place in the history of Catholicism in the United States.”
Dr. White noted that the lives of these six individuals embody Black spirituality, as well as a phenomenon known as double consciousness, which she defined as feeling as though one’s identity is divided into two parts, making it difficult or almost impossible to have one unified identity. “This is particularly exhibited in people from oppressed communities,” she noted.
In order to understand Black spirituality, Dr. White explained, one needs to understand the history of African Americans in the United States, including their kidnapping and enslavement, Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, the terrorism of lynching, segregation, racism, the Civil Rights movement, and the Black Lives Matter movement, among others.
“This spirituality was one of resistance to the forces that continually oppressed the bodies, minds, and spirits of African Americans,” Dr. White said, adding it is also one of resilience, giving African Americans strength and hope in times that continue to be devastating.
The six holy men and women Dr. White discussed survived because of their spirituality, which was rooted in that of their African ancestors and shaped by their cultural context. “It was contemplative, holistic, and spirit-filled. That spirit propelled them and gave them the strength to continue, and also gave them joy in the midst of suffering.”
Community- and person-focused, this spirituality gave these men and women a sense of belonging and moved them to fight for justice and freedom. Dr. White stressed that it resisted the forces that dehumanize the black body and gave persons of African descent what they needed to survive and thrive in their journey against tremendous odds.
She added that these people also faced institutional racism from within the Catholic Church. For example, no seminary in the United States would accept a Black candidate, so Augustus Tolton was forced to leave the country and study for the priesthood in Rome, Italy. Henriette Delille founded a small order named the Sisters of the Presentation, the first interracial religious community, but it was initially refused endorsement by civil and ecclesial authorities.
Dr. White noted that she comes from an ecumenical and interreligious family. “I choose every day to be Catholic. I was born Black, but my identity is an integration of both.”