Topic Tour: Black Women and the Power of Re-vision

Join Isabelle Richman to explore the intersections of Cauleen Smith: Give It or Leave It with the historically recorded abilities of Black women preachers and visionaries, especially those of the 19th century. Now, as in the past, Black women visionaries were able to renegotiate their statuses, as they powerfully articulated through words and music, a new vision for a more just world.

Isabelle Kinnard Richman, JD, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Religious Studies Program of the School of World Studies at VCU. She teaches classes about mysticism, human rights, and social justice. In 2016, Dr. Richman published a biography of the 19th century mystic, Sojourner Truth, who, after her emancipation from slavery, gained national fame as a leading abolitionist, suffragist, and orator. [Sojourner Truth: Prophet of Social Justice (New York: Routledge Press, 2016)].  Dr. Richman received her PhD from the University of Chicago, and her JD from the DePaul College of Law.