Throwing light on the narrative of what it’s like to be Black, female and Christian, we highlight two books from authors who share their experiences of living life with faith at the centre.
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
By Austin Channing Brown
Described as a hot new voice in the Christian space, Austin brings us her perspective on race and justice, an eye-opening account of what it’s like to grow up Black, Christian, and female in white America, in this idea-driven memoir about how her determined quest for identity and understanding shows a way forward for us all.
Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert who helps organizations practice genuine inclusion.
In a time when many institutions claim to value “diversity” in their mission statements, I’m Still Here is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words. Austin writes in detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice, in stories that bear witness to the complexity of America’s social fabric.
Buy the book: I’m Still Here
What They Don’t Tell You About Being Single
By Tumi Olaoshun
London-based British Nigerian History teacher, Tumi Olaoshun, has published her first book, an inspirational dating and relationship book titled: What They Don’t Tell You About Being Single. Being a 30-year-old, unmarried Christian, she has a little bit of experience in this area. In her words, “Being single in 2018 is tough, but being Christian and adding Christian values into the mix, is a whole new ball game”. It is with this perspective, that she writes her new book, documenting some of the lessons she has learned along the way.
Marriage and relationships are probably the most talked about topics within Christian circles. Questions ranging from who should I marry? To how do I even go about getting into a relationship with Christian values in 2018? Tumi delves into the areas that she was unaware of as a Christian woman. She believes that there are some issues that are less openly discussed among younger Christian women, like how do you deal with sex before marriage? In the 21st Century, surely I can make the first move, right? These questions and more are floating in the minds of many Christian women, but the answers are not always obvious.
Speaking about her book, Tumi said: “I wrote this book because I was tired of making the same mistakes, when it came to relationships and men. I was even more surprised when I would have conversations with my girlfriends and they would share the same issues. Despite what the world thinks, there is a growing generation who love Jesus and desire to honour him, even with their romantic relationships. Does this book have all the answers? Absolutely not, that’s what the bible is for. But I figured, if I had learnt some of these lessons earlier, perhaps I could have avoided some of the mistakes I made. It is often said that our mistakes and successes are not just for us but for others to learn from.”
Buy the book: What They Don’t Tell You About Being Single
