A 9 page review of William’s views on the importance of faith and God in the plight of black women. The author of this paper provides a chapter by chapter breakdown of Williams’ main thoughts, thoughts which evolved from her childhood in the black church observing black women testify to the power of God to her experiences as a highly educated and successful black female. No additional sources are listed.
Name of Research Paper File: AM2_PPsister.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Delores Williams "Sisters in the Wilderness" offers a unique insight into the lives of black women. A significant component of many of
these lives is an unfaltering faith in God. In her preface Williams observes how she had witnessed the importance of the church to black women as a little girl.
She had observed these women testifying to the power of faith and God in turning around their lives in even the most turbulent of times. As an adult,
however, Williams had evidently grown skeptical of such esoteric power. She obviously placed more faith in the more tangible aspects of life such as hard work and dedication.
Consequently she was able to achieve great accomplishments. These included not only a husband and four children but also a seminary education and a Ph.D. With the death
of her husband, however, Williams was essentially thrown onto the hard mercy of the world. It was in that time that she truly began to appreciate the power of
God and the power of testifying to His miracles. She writes: "Faith, hard won,
has taught me how to value the gains, losses, stand-offs and victories in my life" (ix)
Part of that faith extended to placing a trust in other people, specifically in other women, women who came in many colors rather than one. The intent of
her book is to explore faith "so that I provide theological responses to issues confronting African American women and the black community trying to survive in todays world" (xii).