What is it about?
Let's talk about the "Woo-Woo" in the room. Spirituality and religion are important elements in the healing experiences of US Black womxn, yet 1) Afro-Indigenous spirituality that expands beyond Christian religiosity, and 2) the connection between spirituality and Black gendered-racial diversity (e.g., nonbinary Black womxn) remain understudied in the field of applied psychology. This qualitative article derives from the larger community-based project, Project NBBW, that explored the gendered, raced, sexual, spiritual, and ecological experiences of nonbinary Black womxn (NBBW). As a collective of gender diverse Black womxn, we sought to understand, "How do NBBW perceive their relationship to spirituality and religion?" to better inform decolonial approaches to psychotherapy.
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Why is it important?
Certainly, not all US Black womxn are Christian, nor are all US Black womxn religious. Deepening our understanding of how nonbinary Black womxn experience the difference between spirituality and religion serves to better inform the development of decolonial and integrative approaches to healing work. Indeed, how might clinicians (and researchers) better account for Afro-Indigenous spirituality in the healing work of psychotherapy, particularly as it concerns the myriad lives, experiences, culture, and identities of Black womxn? In a country where White supremacy continues to masquerade beneath the guise of Christian nationalism, understanding how to honor, facilitate, and explore Black spirituality in session will be a necessary skill. You may think it's "woo-woo," but it is absolutely political.
Perspectives
As an interdisciplinary and Gothic Black feminist scholar, my work should mean something. I do not publish for publishing's sake, rather every word of every page is infused with intention, energy, purpose, and power that wells from my community, my ancestors, Nature, and myself. This piece, among my other pieces, is a sacred work that remembers the ongoing wisdoms, lives, and voices of my people--an immortal people who continue to survive against power, violence, and oppression. With that in mind, if you do read this piece, I encourage you not to skim, but to savor. Grab a warm coffee, un/dress to your comfort, find a posture that brings you ease, and then read...remember...reconnect. A huge thank you to my community members, research team, and co-authors who brought their full selves to the work of our people. To my Black womxn, in all our multidimensional forms, be well.
Monyae Kerney
Columbia University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The nonbinary god: Disaggregating spirituality and Christian religiosity among nonbinary Black womxn (NBBW)., Journal of Counseling Psychology, January 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/cou0000775.
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