Unraveling and Reweaving Sacred Canon in Africana Womanhood

Rosetta E. Ross is professor of religion at Spelman College.Rose Mary Amenga-Etego is senior lecturer in religious studies at the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana, Legon.

Using oral, embodied, and written sacred texts, in this volume, Continental and Diasporan African women unravel, challenge, and resist the violence done on women and girls of African descent in their commitment to reweaving affirming definitions of Africana womanhood, thus assuring readers that the proverbial hen, ‘...indeed also knows it is dawn.’ A must read for all justice-seeking readers.

• Introduction: Continental and Diasporan African Women Engage Each Other and Sacred Texts, Rosetta E. Ross………viiSection I. Reinterpreting, Revising, and Re-Inscribing Oral TextsChapter 1. “Akok?bere nso Nim Adekyee”: Women’s Interpretation of Indigenous Oral Texts, Rose Mary Amenga-Etego………3Chapter 2.Exploring Yoruba Proverbs with Feminine Lexis as a Tool for Reimaging African Womanhood, Helen Adekunbi Labeodan………21Chapter 3. A Critique of Indigenous “Wisdom” as Enshrined in Some Fanti Sayings and Practices on Wife-Beating in Ghana, Agnes Quansah………35Section II. Embodied Texts, the Body as TextChapter 4.When Caged Bodies Testify: African and African-descended Women’s Memoirs as Sacred Texts, Liz Alexander and Melanie C. Jones………51Chapter 5.“You Don’t Have the Right to Keep Us Silent, We Have Reference in Matters of Religion and Law”: Voices of Ghanaian Muslim Women in Dawah, Rabiatu Ammah………69Chapter 6.Considering Violence Perpetrated against Women in Central Africa in the Light of God’s Word: Two Case Studies, Antoinette Yindjara………87Chapter 7. Boko Haram Insurgence, the Chibok Girls’ Abduction and the Implications for the Girl Child in Nigeria, Ruth Oke and Helen Adekunbi Labeodan………93Chapter 8.“Now You Have Struck a Rock”: Rizpah, Black Mama Trauma, and the Power of Shaming in the Face of the Powers, Valerie Bridgeman………107Section III. Written Texts: Interrogating, Unmasking, and Taking ChargeChapter 9.“Those Who Entrusted Their Affairs to a Woman Will not Prosper”: Its Implication in the Ghanaian Muslim Community, Fatimatu Sulemanu………121Chapter 10.Judges 19 and the Virgin Daughter’s Trauma: “Small Voice” Implications for African Women and Girls, Elizabeth Siwo-Okundi………139Chapter 11.Sita’s Story as a Text of Terror: A Motswana Woman’s Impressions, Elizabeth Motswapong………153Chapter 12.Say My Name: Failure to Name, Misnaming, and Renaming as Acts of Violence against Africana Women, NaShieka Knight………167