Womanist Sass and Talk Back

Womanist Sass and Talk Back is a contextual resistance text for readers interested in social (in)justice. Smith raises our consciousness about pressing contemporary social (in)justice issues that impact communities of color and the larger society. Systemic or structural oppression and injustices, police profiling and brutality, oppressive pedagogy, and gendered violence are placed in dialogue with sacred (con)texts. This book provides fresh intersectional readings of sacred (con)texts that are accessible to both scholars and nonscholars. Womanist Sass and Talk Back is for readers interested in critical interpretations of sacred (con)texts (ancient and contemporary) and in propagating the justice and love of God while engaging those (con)texts.

""This sassy, bold, brave book reads texts and contexts with a very keen eye, a passion for people and justice, and a clear expertise in biblical texts and histories. Smith has read complex concerns in a way that, whether scholar or lay, readers will encounter insight, challenge, and courage. I can hardly wait to use this book in a class. But if you're a pastor or educator in a local congregation, it will serve you just as well.""
--Valerie Bridgeman, Interim Dean, Associate Professor, Methodist Theological School in Ohio

""In this remarkable book, Smith grounds her reading of biblical stories about women in contemporary crises experienced by black communities. When Sandra Bland stands up for her rights, Smith hears echoes of the Syrophoenician woman talking back to Jesus, who initially refused to help her, calling her a dog. Police sexual assaults on poor black women provide a framework for understanding Susannah, whom two elders sexually profiled. Smith thereby demonstrates the practical value of intersectionality, post-colonial, and other critical theories.""
--Bernadette J. Brooten, Professor, Brandeis University


Mitzi J. Smith is Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies at Ashland Theological Seminary. She is the author of Insights from African American Interpretation (2017), editor of I Found God in Me: A Womanist Biblical Hermeneutics Reader (2015), and co-editor of Teaching All Nations: Interrogating the Matthean Great Commission (2014).