The history of oppression in the quest for the liberation of black South African women in the 21st century : a black womanist reading

Abstract

This dissertation revisits the history of black and church women through the lenses of Black Theology of Liberation and Womanist Theology. Revisiting history is pivotal in the liberation struggle as much can be learned from it, more particularly in countries such as South Africa, where the scars of the past remain evident and continue to impact society in the post-1994 era. The study revisits the history of oppression and the liberation struggle to show that black women have been silenced, omitted and distorted in history by dominant Western epistemologies. It also critiques Black Consciousness and Black Theology of Liberation for neglecting black women’s experiences and for using androcentric language as their approach. The study further demonstrates how slavery, colonialism and apartheid contributed to muting and oppressing black women. The focus goes beyond the critique on lack of agency but extends to describing the significant impact of black and church women in the liberation struggle. The experiences of Charlotte Maxeke, Motlalepula Chabaku and Brigalia Bam are be explored as case studies. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the same Christianity that was used to oppress also had the potential to liberate. These women were inspired by their Christian beliefs to fight against systems of oppression. The objectives of the research are, therefore, to show that South African history neglected the participation of black and church women in the liberation struggle; to demonstrate that Christian beliefs held by black and church women influenced their participation in the liberation struggle; and to extract lessons from reading the history of black and church women through Black Theology of Liberation (BTL) and womanist lenses in the quest for the liberation of black South African women that are relevant in the 21st century.