Eccentric Neighborhoods

Islands Magazine

Creating Ourselves

Creating Ourselves is a unique effort to lay the cultural and theological groundwork for cross-cultural collaboration between the African and Latino/a American communities. In the introduction, the editors contend that given overlapping histories and interests of the two communities, they should work together to challenge social injustices. Acknowledging that dialogue is a necessary precursor to collaboration, they maintain that African and Latino/a Americans need to cultivate the habit of engaging “the other” in substantive conversation. Toward that end, they have brought together theologians and scholars of religion from both communities. The contributors offer broadly comparative exchanges about the religious and theological significance of various forms of African American and Latino/a popular culture, including representations of the body, literature, music, television, visual arts, and cooking. Corresponding to a particular form of popular culture, each section features two essays, one by an African American scholar and one by a Latino/a scholar, as well as a short response by each scholar to the other’s essay. The essays and responses are lively, varied, and often personal. One contributor puts forth a “brown” theology of hip hop that celebrates hybridity, contradiction, and cultural miscegenation. Another analyzes the content of the message transmitted by African American evangelical preachers who have become popular sensations through television broadcasts, video distribution, and Internet promotions. The other essays include a theological reading of the Latina body, a consideration of the “authenticity” of representations of Jesus as white, a theological account of the popularity of telenovelas, and a reading of African American ideas of paradise in one of Toni Morrison’s novels. Creating Ourselves helps to make popular culture available as a resource for theology and religious studies and for facilitating meaningful discussions across racial and ethnic boundaries. Contributors. Teresa Delgado, James H. Evans Jr., Joseph De León, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Angel F. Méndez Montoya, Alexander Nava, Anthony B. Pinn, Mayra Rivera, Suzanne E. Hoeferkamp Segovia, Benjamín Valentín, Jonathan L. Walton, Traci C. West, Nancy Lynne Westfield, Sheila F. Winborne

The Intersectional Approach

Intersectionality, or the consideration of race, class, and gender, is one of the prominent contemporary theoretical contributions made by scholars in the field of women's studies that now broadly extends across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Taking stock of this transformative paradigm, The Intersectional Approach guides new and established researchers to engage in a critical reflection about the broad adoption of intersectionality that constitutes what the editors call a new "social literacy" for scholars. In eighteen essays, contributors examine various topics of interest to students and researchers from a feminist perspective as well as through their respective disciplines, looking specifically at gender inequalities related to globalization, health, motherhood, sexuality, body image, and aging. Together, these essays provide a critical overview of the paradigm, highlight new theoretical and methodological advances, and make a strong case for the continued use of the intersectional approach both within the borders of women's and gender studies and beyond. Contributors: Lidia Anchisi, Gettysburg College Naomi Andre, University of Michigan Jean Ait Belkhir, Southern University at New Orleans Michele Tracy Berger, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kia Lilly Caldwell, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Elizabeth R. Cole, University of Michigan Kimberle Crenshaw, University of California, Los Angeles Bonnie Thornton Dill, University of Maryland Michelle Fine, Graduate Center, City University of New York Jennifer Fish, Old Dominion University Mako Fitts, Seattle University Kathleen Guidroz, Mount St. Mary's University Ivette Guzman-Zavala, Lebanon Valley College Kaaren Haldeman, Durham, North Carolina Catherine E. Harnois, Wake Forest University AnaLouise Keating, Texas Woman's University Rachel E. Luft, University of New Orleans Gary K. Perry, Seattle University Jennifer Rothchild, University of Minnesota, Morris Ann Russo, DePaul University Natalie J. Sabik, University of Michigan Jessica Holden Sherwood, University of Rhode Island Yvette Taylor, University of Newcastle, United Kingdom Nira Yuval-Davis, University of East London