Grief and Gratitude for Rev. Dr. Gay Byron
Often in life, we encounter others whose lives leave an indelible mark on our own. Remarkably, this sometmes happens despite never actually meeting that person in real life. This week, I found myself considering the impact of one such person ~ Womanist scholar, Rev. Dr. Gay Byron, who unexpectedly died last week.
The term “womanist” originates in 1979 with Alice Walker, who used the word to describe a Black woman who pushes back on the cultural norms in a candid and forthright way. In 1983, Walker expanded her initial definition, writing, among other things, that “Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.”[1]
Drs. Gay Byron and Vanessa Lovelace, authors of Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse, explain that “the beginning of womanist theological, ethical, and biblical interpretation in the academy” can be traced back to 1985 when Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes brought together the first session of Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society at the joint gathering of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature. This community of scholars has only grown in the subsequent decades.[2]
The Womanists I have the privilege to know are women who have modeled for me ways of studying the Biblical text with academic rigor while maintaining their agency. With a firm grasp on historical and present realities, they live into a hope that is, as Walker writes, “committed to survival and wholeness of entire people.”[3]
Womanist scholarship thoughtfully and playfully forges new, abundant paradigms of liberation. Marked by subversive delight in the face of colonial harm, the work of a Womanist scholar is authentic, wholehearted, and deeply communal. Because it is located in practical, embodied experience while recognizing the interconnectedness of all things, it is intrinsically intersectional and inclusive.
As a white female scholar, I am indebted to the investment in my education made by the Womanist Bible scholars in my life. Their scholarship and ministry was my first introduction to any non-eurocentric interpretation of the Bible. They expanded my definitions, empowered me to ask different questions, and grew my capacity for others’ stories. My faith is now more tangible, bodied, communal, and based in a different kind of ethic than it was before.
Although many of these characteristics are present in the work of other non-western scholars, I first encountered them through the wise guidance of my Womanist mentors-turned-friends. I am grateful for each one of them.
Dr. Angela Parker first expanded my frameworks. The work of Dr. Cheryl Anderson invited me to pursue an inclusive Biblical interpretation. Dr. Mitzi Smith took time to offer feedback on my work. Eva Melton coached me to attune to my heart with care. And Dr. Starlette Thomas walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with me earlier this year. Each of these women have enriched my own work by honestly engaging their own.
Two other Black women who do not identify as Womanists, but have had a similar impact are Dr. Brenda McNeil, a scholar who specializes in racial justice and reconciliation from a Christian perspective and Dr. Margaret Aymer who allowed me to parse Greek in a class she taught during the pandemic.
The beloved Dr. Gay Byron, who passed through the veil on December 6, 2023, belongs to this lineage of Womanist scholars.
As an respected member of the Womanist community, she had an incalculable, indirect impact on my life and work. I know her as editor and contributor to some of my most seminal readings in graduate school. Those readings and her contribution to the lives of my professors made my academic journey meaningful.
Therefore, in some sense, Dr. Byron is one of my academic aunts or grandmothers. Her presence in this community of women who formed me is irreplacable, and I grieve her loss even as I am grateful for her contributions.
I encourage you to read about Dr. Byron’s life and work here, here, here, and here. And then pick up a copy of something she has written. Let her writing inspire you to expand your paradigms.
I will never be a Womanist scholar, but I would not be the intersectional feminist scholar that I am without the investment of the womanists in my life, among whom was Dr. Gay Byron. May she rest in power even as her legacy lives on.
[1] For a more complete explanation of what it means to be a Womanist, see: Byron, Gay L., and Vanessa Lovelace. Womanist interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2016, pages 1-7 and Smith, Mitzi J. I found God in Me a Womanist Biblical Hermeneutics Reader. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2015, page 17.
[2] Byron, Gay L., and Vanessa Lovelace. Womanist interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2016, page 3.
[3] Walker, Alice. cited in Byron, Gay L. “Black Collectors and Keepers of Tradition: Resources For A Womanist Biblical Ethic of (Re)Interpretation.” In Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Edited by Gay L Byron and Vanessa Lovelace. 187-208. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2016, page 196.