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.

In The Black Madonna, social psychologist and author of God is a Black Woman Christena Cleveland brings forth the 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, Our Lady of Liberation becomes an invitation for the spiritually curious and justice-minded 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.