Delores S. Williams
Delores Seneva Williams (November 17, 1937 – November 17, 2022) was an American Presbyterian theologian and professor notable for her formative role in the development of womanist theology and best known for her book Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk. Her writings use black women's experiences as epistemological sources, and she is known for her womanist critique of atonement theories. As opposed to feminist theology, predominantly practiced by white women, and black theology, predominantly practiced by black men, Williams argued that black women's experiences generate critical theological insights and questions.
Doctor Delores S. Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 17, 1934 |
| Died | November 17, 2022 |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Delores Seneva Williams |
| Spouse | Robert C. Williams |
| Children | Rita Williams, Celeste Williams, Steven Williams, Leslie Williams |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Union Theological Seminary |
| Thesis | A Study of the Analogous Relation Between African-American Women's Experience and Hagar's Experience (1990) |
| Doctoral advisor | Tom F. Driver |
| Influences |
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| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Theology |
| School or tradition | Womanist theology |
| Institutions | Union Theological Seminary |
| Notable works | Sisters in the Wilderness (1993) |
| Notable ideas | Womanist theology |
| Influenced | Ada María Isasi-Díaz |
Williams' 1993 book, Sisters in the Wilderness, helped establish the field of womanist theology. In it, Williams primarily develops a rereading of the biblical figure Hagar to illuminate the importance of issues of reproduction and surrogacy in black women's oppression. According to Aaron McEmrys, "Williams offers a theological response to the defilement of black women.... Womanism is an approach to ethics, theology and life rooted in the experiences of African-American women".
The term womanism was coined by a contemporary of Williams, Alice Walker, used in her 1979 short story "Coming Apart" and again in her 1983 essay collection In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens.