Did That Help?: Revisiting Black Women’s Everyday Techniques of Resistance
With Dr. Pamela Lightsey
September 5 - 7, 2025
The air in America is thick with anxiety and the weariness of national uncertainty. This retreat for Black women will review the resources and ways of being of Black women who, seeing the challenges before them, refused to silently acquiesce to the demands of their oppressors. We will delve into the third part of Alice Walker’s definition of womanism and the historical lessons of Black women before us to help us understand our current personal needs. We will frequently ask one another, “Did that help?” Bring your favorite music, your dance shoes, your favorite recipes, your favorite resistance stories, and be prepared to love yourself. Regardless.
Womanism: 3. Loves music. Loves. Dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless.
Leader
Dr. Pamela Lightsey
Dr. Pamela Lightsey has a stellar history as a senior administrator and scholar in higher education. She currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Meadville Lombard Theological School and Associate Professor of Constructive Theology. Before her appointment at Meadville, she was Associate Dean at Boston University School of Theology. She is also an ordained elder in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. Dr. Lightsey is a womanist theologian who has lectured at schools within and outside the continental United States. She has served as co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Womanist Approaches to Religion…
Learn more about Dr. Pamela Lightsey
Dr. Pamela Lightsey has a stellar history as a senior administrator and scholar in higher education. She currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Meadville Lombard Theological School and Associate Professor of Constructive Theology. Before her appointment at Meadville, she was Associate Dean at Boston University School of Theology. She is also an ordained elder in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. Dr. Lightsey is a womanist theologian who has lectured at schools within and outside the continental United States. She has served as co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Womanist Approaches to Religion…
Learn more about Dr. Pamela Lightsey