The Civil Rights Activist Whose Unique Spirituality Helped Me Find My Own
After I left my family’s religion, I was, for better or worse, searching for a blueprint, a model I could trust, which felt familiar enough to be safe, yet bold enough to be revolutionary.
didn’t
fake-it- until-you-make-it
If I was willing to betray the code which united us, what new thing was worth the pain I had caused?
did
the attribution of a living soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena;
the belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe.
.The Color Purple
Dervishes. In love with the Divine,
Do you go to church? Are you a Christian?
Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism, and Mothering
Joy Notoma is a freelance writer and journalist who lives in transit between New York, Benin, and northern France. She writes about the emotional landscape of migration, spiritual freedom, and topics related to black womanhood in a global context. Her essays and reporting have appeared in Longreads, Zora Mag, Al Jazeera, Huff Post, CNN International, and Quartz Africa. You can find her on twitter @joyinthestillness.
Enter your email address to receive notifications for author Joy Notoma
Success!
Confirmation link sent to your email to add you to notification list for author Joy Notoma
More in this series
“God accepts more prayers on Fridays”: Marking God’s Time in Our Muslim and Orthodox Jewish Families
“How do I find the opportunity to celebrate the day as different?”
How to Mark a Child’s Religious Milestones
Shoshana and Saadia discuss milestones and coming-of-age ceremonies in their respective faith traditions.
Women Writing About Complicated Desire Saved Me When the Evangelical Church Couldn’t
What I’d been looking for at the convent, I could find in reading and writing. If other writers could channel their desires, I could use it, too.