“And she had nothing to fall back; not maleness, not whiteness, not ladyhood, not anything. And out of the profound desolation of her reality, she may well have invented herself.”-Toni Morrison, Sula.
The quote taken from the novel Sula by Toni Morrison depicts the inexpressible pain that most women of color shoulder daily. Because of the absence of safety within the traditional societal constructs, which protect their peers, women of color have had to name and invent themselves in a culture where their presence remains relatively invisible. To this end, it is no wonder that so much theological scholarship has been written about Hagar by African-American female scholars. Hagar, a desert matriarch, symbolizes a freedom birthed in oppression and the reward of obedience to an unseen God. Read more
