When Faith Meets Fatigue: A Womanist Pastoral-Theological Approach to Black Women’s Depression and Injustice

This paper develops a womanist pastoral-theological framework for understanding Black women’s depression as a relational, embodied, and justice-related reality rather than an individual deficit. Based on my qualitative study of seven Black Christian women with persistent depression, it treats their narratives as theological texts and sources of wisdom. Combining trauma theory and ecosocial approaches with self-psychology and womanist theology, the paper interprets depression as a bodily response to multilevel trauma—historical, structural, communal, and personal. It critically examines controlling images such as the Strong Black Woman, Platonic body–spirit dualisms, and sacrificial atonement theologies that over-spiritualize mental health and sanctify Black women’s suffering. In dialogue with Alice Walker’s womanism and influential womanist theologians, it offers embodied reinterpretations of incarnation, the cross, and salvation that affirm Black women’s depressed bodies as sacred and deserving of care. Finally, it provides trauma-informed, practical recommendations for Black churches aiming to foster more just and liberating ministries.