Womanist
Lens & Teachings

Womanism centers Black women’s lived experiences as a path toward dismantling all forms of oppression and achieving collective thriving.¹ This is the starting point—but also the hardest for individuals, institutions, and society at large to even contemplate, let alone implement. After all, how do we adopt a lens that directly challenges the foundation of American empire, imperialism, and fascism? Where does one begin?

The Four Tenets of Womanism

While these tenets are innate to Black women, they aren’t easily codified or applied in traditional systems—even in spaces led by Black women

Radical Subjectivity

The idea that Black women’s experiences, thoughts, and viewpoints are extremely personal and possibly incomprehensible to non-Black women or other persons. It highlights the experiences of Black women as distinctive and significant. Affirming their subjective reality means that Black women understand that because of their intersectional identities, they have a unique inner world that may be difficult to understand or communicate with others.

Traditional Communalism

A way of life that supports and affirms the Zulu concept of Ubuntu whereby people coexist closely and share tasks, responsibilities, and decision-making. It places a strong emphasis on the common good and promotes community members’ collaboration and solidarity. Ubuntu emphasizes the connectivity of all people and the value of community. It is the conviction that each person belongs to a broader community and that their well-being is intertwined with everyone else’s. Ubuntu is exemplified in Zulu culture by virtues like kindness, empathy, respect, and charity toward others. Additionally, it highlights the value of resource sharing and the idea that a person’s achievement is a result of both their own work and the contributions of their community.

Redemptive Self-Love

Describes Black Womanists’ acts of loving and accepting themselves with kindness, understanding, and forgiveness, which promotes personal development and healing. For Black women, the goal of self-compassion is to develop a kind and nourishing relationship with herself to encourage recovery, reclaim her worthy self, resist internalizing white supremacy, and promote her overall well-being.

Critical Engagement

Black womanists carefully and proactively investigate, challenge, and assess relationships, concepts, data, and/or circumstances. Critical engagement invites questioning and requires careful thought and a readiness to confront biases and assumptions. Black womanists use their intellectual and cognitive abilities to engage with and critically evaluate information, concepts, or circumstances to draw well-founded conclusions and make wise judgments. Enables Black women to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the world around them, cultivate intellectual growth, and foster creativity and innovation.

¹(Layli Phillips, The Womanist Reader “Womanism allows everyone to move toward the same place along different paths." xxxvi) This the beginning of the work ahead.

Our Blueprint for a Liberated South

A liberated South is one where Black women are not just surviving, but thriving, leading with vision, holding institutional power, living in safety, and shaping narratives rooted in truth. It looks like our people cared for, our voices respected, and our communities resourced. This blueprint is both a declaration and a roadmap, born from our lived experiences, spiritual wisdom, and generational dreams.

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