Day 8 | The King is Coming: A Truth’s Table Advent Devotional
Ain’t I A Woman
By: Ekemini Uwan
“And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women — do we hate our women?”
Tupac Shakur
Woman: the crown and glory of creation. Formed and fashioned by the holy hands of the Triune God. Bearing the image of God, endowed with intrinsic dignity and worth. Created equal to man. Made a little lower than the angels. Owed the same esteem, value, respect that men are so freely given—and yet it is rarely given. Instead, the crown and glory of creation is trampled underfoot. Her body, which was formed by the hands of God, is now violated by a vagina-grabbing predator-in-chief. Senators, Congressmen, media moguls, and entertainers sexually harass, grope, and rape women for sport. Rape culture has replaced kingdom culture, desecrating the sacred bodies God called “good.”
But who is missing from the #metoo narrative?
Who are we not hearing from?
The matriarch of old, Dinah (Gen. 34), cries out #metoo and so do her daughters. African women—my relatives—stolen from their native land, owned, raped, and forced to breed children like chattel. Their descendants, Black women, who cry #metoo are forgotten, forsaken, and despised. Effectively silenced due to racial and power dynamics at their jobs and when we muster up the courage to come forward, we are not believed.
Our souls exclaim, “Ain’t I A Woman?”
Mother Sojourner Truth taught us.
What’s more, young black girls have been crying #metoo for decades at the hands of R. Kelly who claims to “step in the name of love,” but all the while, he’s been steppin’ in the name of lust, power, and pedophilia. Stripping away the innocence of black girls while we step in the name of complicity every time his song comes on at a family function.
What then shall we say to these things?
Read: Luke 1:26-38 & Luke 2:1-7
Mary wasn’t much older than the girls I made mention of above. She also lived in a post-Fall world where women were undervalued, treated like property, and not seen as true image-bearers. Yet we see in Luke 1:26-38, that God sent angel Gabriel to Mary, an ordinary girl who found favor with the Lord (Luke 1:28). An ordinary girl within whom the holy conception would take place (Luke 1:35), so that she might carry the Savior of the world. Even in the womb, Jesus validates, affirms, confirms, and restores the dignity of women. In His wisdom, the Thrice-Holy God chose a woman to be the vessel that would carry, nurture, and care for the King of Kings.
Sistas, like Mary, God’s favor rests upon you and He is with you. I know this because He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for your sins and rise for your salvation. You are the crown of His creation, and God gave you a kinky crown of hair to confirm this reality. Your melanin and gap-tooth smile uniquely reflect the image of the creative power of the One True God. You deserve to be believed when you share your #metoo story. You have the God-given right to exist without being subject to harassment or being told to smile by some random man on the street. You do not exist for the pleasure of men and the male gaze. You exist for the glory of God and His glory alone. His gaze will never put you to shame. For, He delights in you. Keep your head up, sistas! The King is coming.
Recommended Reading:
Ain't I A Woman? Sojourner Truth
Songs: