F. Willis Johnson: Liberation through the womanist perspective

Women’s History Month finds us at a critical crossroads. Nearly three-quarters of the world’s population faces increasing backlash against women’s rights, while technological disruption and economic uncertainty threaten to deepen existing inequalities.

Yet, within this challenging landscape lies an opportunity to radically reimagine our approach to gender equality through a womanist theological lens.

Womanist, a methodological approach centering on the experiences and perspectives of Black women, offers profound insights for diverse girls and women everywhere. It teaches us that liberation cannot be compartmentalized — the struggle for gender equality must be understood within the broader matrix of racial justice, economic empowerment and spiritual transformation.

Womanist perspective, according to theologian Emilie Townes, is best described as “radical subjectivity,” which is the courage to name one’s reality and claim one’s voice.

In our current context, this means acknowledging that traditional avenues for women’s advancement remain narrow, particularly for women of color and those at society’s margins. The World Bank’s projection that closing gender gaps in employment and entrepreneurship could increase global GDP by 20% tells only part of the story. The fuller truth lies in understanding how systems of oppression intersect and reinforce each other.

A womanist hermeneutic demands we look beyond surface-level solutions. While corporate diversity initiatives and political representation matter, progress requires addressing the more profound spiritual and cultural foundations perpetuating inequality.

Womanist theology locates themes of God’s liberation, justice and freedom in biblical narratives but crucially roots from the liberation in the self-empowerment of marginalized communities. Unfortunately, our world devalues women’s worth, particularly women of color, and claiming one’s divine dignity becomes an act of resistance. This isn’t mere self-help rhetoric. Instead, it’s about recognizing that personal transformation and structural change are intimately connected.

While artificial intelligence and automation risk exacerbating gender disparities, they also offer tools for amplifying marginalized voices and creating new pathways for economic empowerment. The key lies in ensuring these technologies are developed and deployed with an explicit commitment to equity and justice.

Similarly, current political and economic upheavals call for a womanist response that goes beyond conventional policy solutions. When women participate in existing systems, they often find narrow avenues for advancement. Womanism encourages imagining new political and economic organization forms that center the experiences of those most impacted by multiple forms of oppression.

Woman-centered advocacy operates with “strategic hope.” Strategic hope is neither naive optimism nor passive waiting but rather an active commitment to creating the world we envision. While statistics suggest we are still 134 years away from global gender parity, a womanist perspective champions that transformation happens unexpectedly and through unforeseen agents.

May this Women’s History Month accelerate progress toward greater equity through significant policy reformation, strategic solutions and a fundamental reimagining of what liberation means and what it achieves. Womanist tradition teaches us that transformation is a promise — not despite our current challenges but through our collective response.

The Rev. Dr. F. Willis Johnson is a spiritual entrepreneur, author and scholar-practitioner whose leadership and strategies around social and racial justice issues are nationally recognized and applied. He wrote this for The Fulcrum.