African American Baptist Women: Making A Way Out of No Way
Pamela A. Smoot
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Pamela A Smoot is assistant professor of Black American Studies and director of Educational Enhancement for Minority Students at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
African American Baptist women, in the life of African American Baptist churches, have always "made a way out of no way." From Reconstruction throughout the twentieth century, they have been the hackhone of their respective congregations.
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he truth of this statement lies in the fact that the majority of African American Baptist congregations are comprised predominantly of African American women. As individuals, as members of church auxiliaries and other types of organizations, and as missionaries, these Baptist women have been instrumental in the success of various church ministries, historic events as they pertain to African Americans, and major reform within African American communities. This article explores the manner in which African American Baptist women have struggled to do God's work and to do it with finesse even under the most oppressive circumstances. The article examines the lives of African American Baptist women as both "indoor and outdoor agents," a term used by historian Beverly Guy-Sheftall to describe the roles of African American women in general. 1 The work of African American Baptist women is one of duality: they live out their spirituality 19