The Black Madonna

A radical reclamation of the Black Madonna as a liberatory figure that offers a richly spiritual and politically charged vision of Black divinity and resistance.

Social psychologist and author of God Is a Black Woman Christena Cleveland brings forth Black Madonna as a Divine icon and spiritual home. This is a call to reclaim a spirituality that has always been ours. Through story, image, reflection, and ritual, the spiritually curious and justice-minded are invited to move beyond dogma and toward embodied, mystical liberation. Written in a voice that bridges scholarship and devotion, this work is for all who are longing for a decolonized, diasporic, and feminine-rooted sacred—one that speaks directly to the soul’s hunger for belonging, meaning, and collective healing.

Drawing on Christian mysticism, Black feminist theology, ancestral memory, and global iconography, this work is both a historical excavation and a contemporary invocation of an iconic figure. Each chapter brings the reader into conversation with a different embodiment of the Black Madonna, from ancient statues hidden in caves to modern artistic visions, illuminating her power as a sacred symbol.Christena Cleveland, Ph.D., is a social psychologist, public theologian, activist, and author of God is a Black Woman. She is the founder and director of the Center for Justice + Renewal which supports a more equitable world by nurturing skillful justice advocacy and the depth to act on it. Christena is a Ford Foundation Fellow who has held faculty positions at several institutions of higher education—most recently at Duke University’s Divinity School, where she was the first African-American and first female director of the Duke Center for Reconciliation. Her work has been featured in a number of major media outlets including the History Channel, PBS, Essence Magazine, Washington Post, NPR, and BBC Radio.