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emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I’ve been following Candice on social media for quite a while now so I was really excited about reading this book. I’m not sure what post made her stand out to me but I’m sure it was something about the church. A lot of people came to know her for the Lemonade syllabus penned in honor of Beyoncé’s lemonade album, but by then I was already sold on her musings about Black women and especially Black women and the church. Her words often make me realize how much I really limit God…based on my upbringing and environment.
In these essays, we follow Benbow’s quest to find wholeness, freedom, and self-love within the confines of the church. She is on a journey to reconcile what she learned as a child and later as a student with the life she was actually living as a Black woman. What started out as a trite response to an obstinate classmate, Red Lip Theology has turned into a philosophy and way of life for Candice. In her plain spoken way, Benbow challenges what we learned about God as children and how the limits we place on Him oftentimes causes harm to ourselves and others, particularly Black women and members of the LGTBQIA+ community. She challenges us to accept that we are deemed good by God and worthy of love and respect. This book is a love letter to her mother as much as it is to Black women everywhere.
I love everything about this book, from the title of it to the name of each chapter, which include makeup instructions for a perfect face slay. This book is for everyone…those who grew up in the church and those who didn’t…those who still attend church and those that no longer attend church. Red Lip Theology is a philosophy we should all be familiar with.
In these essays, we follow Benbow’s quest to find wholeness, freedom, and self-love within the confines of the church. She is on a journey to reconcile what she learned as a child and later as a student with the life she was actually living as a Black woman. What started out as a trite response to an obstinate classmate, Red Lip Theology has turned into a philosophy and way of life for Candice. In her plain spoken way, Benbow challenges what we learned about God as children and how the limits we place on Him oftentimes causes harm to ourselves and others, particularly Black women and members of the LGTBQIA+ community. She challenges us to accept that we are deemed good by God and worthy of love and respect. This book is a love letter to her mother as much as it is to Black women everywhere.
I love everything about this book, from the title of it to the name of each chapter, which include makeup instructions for a perfect face slay. This book is for everyone…those who grew up in the church and those who didn’t…those who still attend church and those that no longer attend church. Red Lip Theology is a philosophy we should all be familiar with.
This one really made me think. It was also SUCH a fast read for me, which is v. unusual for me when it comes to non-fiction books.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Prefacing this by saying I'm not religious, nor was I raised religious. I wanted to read this bc it was recommended, plus I wanted to read more about ways of life I'm very unfamiliar with - religion, blackness and academia. I love the authors voice, and how she explains herself and tells her story.
I won't agree with everything she says about religion and God, simply because it's not a world I know nor care to know - but she has such compassion, empathy and maturity. It makes me wish religious people I knew and currently know had the same kindness.
I'll def recommend to others, even those unfamiliar with religious or black feminist writings. I think, especially for women, this is a wonderfully insightful book.
Note to queer folks, this is definitely more on the hetero side as that's her story, but she still touches upon what she was taught about queer people and the ones she knew and let down because of what her religion told her. I was curious how she was going to address it, and maybe smiled a lot when she brought up asexual people (hey, hi, me). What she said is so true of experiences both black and white people have told me about how the church teaches and admonishes queerness. A bit off topic for me to bring up, but I found her realization of her hurtfulness and desire to change oddly hopeful. Again, I wish others had such kindness and growth.
I won't agree with everything she says about religion and God, simply because it's not a world I know nor care to know - but she has such compassion, empathy and maturity. It makes me wish religious people I knew and currently know had the same kindness.
I'll def recommend to others, even those unfamiliar with religious or black feminist writings. I think, especially for women, this is a wonderfully insightful book.
Note to queer folks, this is definitely more on the hetero side as that's her story, but she still touches upon what she was taught about queer people and the ones she knew and let down because of what her religion told her. I was curious how she was going to address it, and maybe smiled a lot when she brought up asexual people (hey, hi, me). What she said is so true of experiences both black and white people have told me about how the church teaches and admonishes queerness. A bit off topic for me to bring up, but I found her realization of her hurtfulness and desire to change oddly hopeful. Again, I wish others had such kindness and growth.
Red Lip Theology is the lens through which I understand myself as a millennial Black Woman of faith. It creates a space for both my upbringing in the Black Baptist Church of the South…. It introduced me to a God much more kind, gracious, and loving than the one I’d been given in my youth and young adulthood
I have been following Candice Benbow on twitter for a long while and when I see that she was writing a book I knew I had to read it. As a Black Women who grew up in the Baptist church who is a millennial and went to theology school I was salivating! I knew there were things she would say that I would want to read.
I’ll be honest, this was more of a memoir than I expected. I thought it was be more about theology, Black Women, Feminism, how she viewed God, and how she grappled with her faith. I wanted more of a theology and deep dive into her faith, the Bible and what it means to be a Black Millennial Woman of faith. Some of the essays I read, I took like a step back and thought, “this sounds like blasphemy” but maybe I need to sit with that and explore why I think it such and what work I need to do and how much of the Bible I need to explore.
Don’t get me wrong, the essays were well written and highly engaging, but I felt she would make statement and not explore them. It was more, “I believe this…” but didn’t show us how she came to this reasoning- giving us a biblical look into why.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the essays, I still do not know exactly what Red Theology means or should be, maybe I just really wanted more theology.
So much of Western Christianity is rooted in the subjugation of women, and I had been reared in a faith tradition which largely existed to give Black men the status power white people refused them in larger society.
I have been following Candice Benbow on twitter for a long while and when I see that she was writing a book I knew I had to read it. As a Black Women who grew up in the Baptist church who is a millennial and went to theology school I was salivating! I knew there were things she would say that I would want to read.
I’ll be honest, this was more of a memoir than I expected. I thought it was be more about theology, Black Women, Feminism, how she viewed God, and how she grappled with her faith. I wanted more of a theology and deep dive into her faith, the Bible and what it means to be a Black Millennial Woman of faith. Some of the essays I read, I took like a step back and thought, “this sounds like blasphemy” but maybe I need to sit with that and explore why I think it such and what work I need to do and how much of the Bible I need to explore.
Don’t get me wrong, the essays were well written and highly engaging, but I felt she would make statement and not explore them. It was more, “I believe this…” but didn’t show us how she came to this reasoning- giving us a biblical look into why.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the essays, I still do not know exactly what Red Theology means or should be, maybe I just really wanted more theology.
So much of Western Christianity is rooted in the subjugation of women, and I had been reared in a faith tradition which largely existed to give Black men the status power white people refused them in larger society.
Absolutely adored this spiritual journey of feminism and the church. An excellent audiobook that hit home as a lover of makeup, reality tv, and human rights. Recommend this to anyone struggling with organized religion or questioning the future of their church.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I'm incredibly thankful to learn from vulnerable, brave Black women like Candice Benbow in my journey to be a better ally to the Black folks in my life. This book allowed me to better see the nuances, challenges, and victories that Black women experience in the Church. I anticipate that this is a book I will be revisiting often in my ministry.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced