“God Meant I Should Be Free”: Historical Black Women Teachers and the Womanist Theo-Ethical Imperative of Abolition

Abstract

Historical Black women teachers actively participated in the fight to abolish slavery while simultaneously, struggling for educational equity. This paper departs to address what inspired them to engage in these radical actions during the era of enslavement and its immediate afterlives. Drawing on close analysis of archival documents, this paper reclaims the radical faith of historical Black women teachers that allowed them to move from intimate, inward yearnings of freedom to outward expressions of sociopolitical action. What is revealed is an intersectional, transcendent, lived womanist theo-ethic of abolition that responded to their existential and material realities, and informed their notions of education, freedom, gender equality and justice, constituting a very particular form of resistance. I suggest that in order to enact radical transformation within the field of education, and beyond, contemporary teachers must first interrogate the interior and embody an abolitionist ethic. Gratefully, historical Black women teachers have provided a prophetic witness on how to do so.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).