Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle

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Product Details
Price
$35.59
Publisher
Duke University Press
Publish Date
Pages
424
Dimensions
6.13 X 9.25 X 0.86 inches | 1.29 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781478018209

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About the Author
Shannen Dee Williams is Associate Professor of History at the University of Dayton.
Reviews
"Sweeping in its scope, exhaustively researched, and balanced in presentation, Subversive Habits is a seminal history of Black Catholic Nuns and their struggle for equality and justice in the Catholic Church."--Bettye Collier-Thomas, author of "Jesus, Jobs, and Justice: African American Women and Religion"
"Deeply researched, elegantly written, and boldly argued, Subversive Habits is a brilliant excavation of the long political history of Black nuns. This is extraordinary scholarship that is as accessible as it is groundbreaking and illuminating. This timely and essential book widens the frames of Black women's history, of religion and activism, and of Black Catholicism."--Barbara D. Savage, author of "Your Spirits Walk beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion"
"An awe-inspiring history book about Black nuns who fought for freedom and equality. . . . Subversive Habits is a stirring history text about the remarkable faith and conviction of Black nuns in America."--Melissa Wuske "Foreword" (5/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)
(Starred Review) "Informative and often surprising, this should be required reading for scholars of Catholic and African American religious history and will undoubtedly become the standard text on its subject."-- "Publishers Weekly" (2/4/2022 12:00:00 AM)
"The 'uncommon faithfulness' of the nuns in Subversive Habits--taking the church at its word when it teaches that we are all one body--is a model of discipleship from which all Catholics can learn."--Kathleen Manning "U.S. Catholic" (5/6/2022 12:00:00 AM)
"Shannen Williams's book chronicles the bold steps and persistence African-American sisters took to debunk their rejection by white orders that insisted Black women lacked souls and/or virtue suitable to be admitted to them. . . . This outstanding book, Subversive Habits, is well-researched, quite revealing and a set of history and reality lessons of how Black sisters kept the faith and made the Catholic Church change."--Ralph E. Moore, Jr. "The AFRO" (6/4/2022 12:00:00 AM)
"This eye-opening, inspiring and thoroughly researched book unearths a history that few Americans know: the challenges and triumphs of Black Catholic nuns in the United States. It's one of the most exciting new books in Black women's history and powerfully captures the interconnections between race, religion and politics."--Keisha Blain "Politico" (7/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)
"Subversive Habits demands a committed reader. However, it will reward the resilient and open-minded reader with apokalupsis--tremendous learning about the scope of racism throughout the American Catholic Church as well as the witness of these Black Catholic women and their contributions to the church and the world. Please take up the reading and stick with it. Draw some perseverance from the women the book depicts and take heart in their commitment to justice."--Kevin Spinale "America" (9/16/2022 12:00:00 AM)
"Subversive Habits brings a very necessary balance to histories published in recent decades that focus on civil rights work by Catholics. It seems these historians were writing about the exception and not the norm. This is the story of courageous nuns, including those who felt they couldn't remain any longer, who are the true gems of American Catholic history. Every woman religious must read this book."--Laura Swan "Magistra" (7/1/2022 12:00:00 AM)
"In Subversive Habits, historian Williams has given us a remarkable work of scholarship, one that may be distressing for many readers because she clears away any shred of doubt about the U.S. Catholic Church being racist from its very beginnings."--Kathleen Finley "The Tablet" (9/23/2022 12:00:00 AM)
"I have never read a more thoughtful account of the Black Catholic experience than Shannen Dee Williams' Subversive Habits. Williams' book is a revelatory history of the experiences of Black religious women in understanding race, faith, and change in the Catholic church from the antebellum period through the various waves of civil-rights struggle to the contemporary era."--Marcia Chatelain "Chronicle of Higher Education" (12/21/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"Williams seeks to tell the story of these women and of the Black and majority white sisterhoods in which they participated. The account is well documented, and Williams includes a look at the current departures of Black sisters from religious life and considers the likely future of Black female religious communities. Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals."
--L. H. Hoyle "Choice" (5/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)
"Williams's book is the go-to work on Black women religious in the United States during and in the afterlife of slavery. Future scholars, practitioners, and interlocutors are indebted to this brilliant author for the treasure trove she has gifted us."--Ahmad Greene-Hayes "Journal of Southern History" (8/3/2023 12:00:00 AM)
"By further positioning the advocacy of Black Catholic sisters within the national Black Freedom Struggle, Williams's work is pivotal to understanding the overlooked role of Black Catholics in national movements for racial justice."--Kelly L. Schmidt "Journal of African American History" (8/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)
"Without question, Shannen Dee Williams's Subversive Habits is one of the most provocative accounts of the Black Catholic experience I have ever read. . . . In addition to weaving together a captivating narrative, Williams's Subversive Habits is an excellent interdisciplinary text that seamlessly encompasses a variety of disciplinary fields--religious studies, African American studies, U.S. women's history, Catholic studies, and gender studies--that can and should be read by the largest possible audience."--Juan Marcial Floyd-Thomas "Journal of American History" (3/1/2024 12:00:00 AM)
"This book is a crucial read for anyone interested in Black history, US history, and US Catholic history. Indeed, Williams makes substantive contributions to all three fields, as she succeeds in telling stories of Black nuns that have been hidden, highlighting Black nuns' long-term resistance to white supremacy, as well as recasting the history of US Catholicism as rooted in white supremacy. This is a vital history for scholars working in these fields. . . ."--Danae Jacobson "Journal of Church and State" (12/11/2023 12:00:00 AM)
"Subversive Habits is like an ice water facial. It can wake us up, sharpen our awareness, and prepare us for the crucial journey to which Williams beckons us. . . . Her research is timely, capturing the voices and stories of Black sisters while they are still with us. Generations of scholars will be in her debt."--Debra Campbell "Church History" (3/19/2024 12:00:00 AM)
"Williams provides an essential text for conversations about race, gender and religion in American history. Scholars in sociology, theology, political theory and feminism should also take note of Williams's research. . . . Subversive Habits alters the landscape of American religious studies and Catholic studies. . . . Williams breathes life into a tragic and forgotten past through stories of resilient sacrifices, lessons of love from the dead and the living."--Paul G. Monson "Journal of Ecclesiastical History" (7/1/2024 12:00:00 AM)