Metaphysics,Metaphor and Multiplicity: A Postmodern Womanist Theology for Today's Thorniest Religious Issues

This article offers the story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai as a starting point for investigating pressing issues in twenty-first century liberation theologies. Maathai’s story reveals that liberation theologies must still wrestle with the complexity of ongoing oppression and its maldistributed suffering, and a spirituality that is multiply religious. The argument begins by addressing William R. Jones’ challenge to early black theologies with the proposal of a postmodern womanist theology. The author also suggests embracing W.E.B. DuBois’ understanding of double consciousness as a metaphor for discussing religious pluralism that straddles religious categorization. Drawing from the resources of black and womanist theologies, postmodern process metaphysics and black studies, this article offers a framework to understand oppression, human agency, divine justice, and the constructive possibility of narratives and language that allows us to understand and articulate creative ways of speaking about religious pluralism and theorizing liberation theologies outside Christian paradigms.