Decolonizing Patriarchy: Phenomenal Woman Eve by Kelle Brown
Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
‘Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
-excerpt of “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou
Amid challenging words and critique is always a love song. I welcome the reader to imagine decolonizing the church as part of a symphony God composes. If we listen closely, we will hear the longest song in existence—one of creation and re-creation. Though we recognize the melody and harmonies that invite us back to ourselves and to the community, our choices have often disrupted the song.
Humankind picked up our own instruments and rearranged the music so that human assumptions on brilliance, intelligence, and worth have stifled the fullness of creation. God’s love song includes every voice and those without a voice; every bird, animal, and creature of the sea; every wave rolling upon some distant shore; every star, particle, and celestial body in the universe. God does not break, divide, or separate, except to further creation and the possibility of belovedness.
Speak with me a new verse. Sing with me a new song. Tell a story of freedom to those who long to hear beyond the clanging of violence and war. Intone the melodies of the less than loosed until liberation breaks forth, sweetly humming above the habits of despair. Let us vow to rehearse freedom and learn to see even the most invisible prison bars. Our response to the spirit is to be on the path of chariot of wholeness, which swings low for all to ride. I invite the faithful pushing toward a more just world to learn new expressions of living unapologetically in the Spirit, because freedom begins in our mouths and through our vocabularies.
Let us listen to Eve, posthumously centering her, listening for her whispers so that the dust of her long returned-to-earth body doesn’t quake with patriarchal ignorance. Let us commit to the life’s work of the prophet Maya Angelou and greet Eve anew, for in doing so, her keys will be the ones cut to free us all. She is the woman of our longing, phenomenally. Phenomenal woman is Eve.
I dialogue with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the feminist activist, and writer of the “The Declaration of Sentiments,” which expanded on the Declaration of Independence by “woman” or “women” throughout the document to include some of those left out. She also wrote a Women’s Bible, of which I was completely unfamiliar. She does the work to which the faithful are called.
“Reading this narrative carefully, it is amazing that any set of men ever claimed that the dogma of the inferiority of woman is here set forth. The conduct of Eve from the beginning to the end is so superior to that of Adam. The command not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was given to the man alone before the woman was formed. Therefore, the injunction was not brought to Eve with the impressive solemnity of a Divine Voice, but whispered to her by her husband and equal.”
Stanton goes on to say, “Then the woman fearless of death if she can gain wisdom takes of the fruit; and all this time Adam standing beside her interposes no word of objection… Had he been the representative of the divinely appointed head in married life, he assuredly would have taken upon himself the burden of the discussion with the serpent, but no, he is silent in this crisis of their fate… Again, we are amazed that upon such a story, men have built up a theory of their superiority!”
This is the power we must claim—the power to stop lamenting what isn’t written and write redemption songs ourselves. We must do this work.
But here is the joy, people of God. There is always the opportunity to notice where one is and decide that one requires a change of direction. We have pens and paper. We have Microsoft word and time. We have spines that straighten as the truth is told and a vision that clears with our decision to undo any forces or systems to keep us from one another.
Inspired by Dr. Maya Angelou and spurred by love, I offer my vision for decolonizing Eve’s place in “Phenomenal Woman Eve”:
Presumptious men, made lovely through their own eyes…
Created eternal traps while breaking ties
But when we start to tell them,
They think we’re telling lies.
Let’s say,
It’s in the reach of her life,
The span of my years,
The courage of her voice,
The hope of her tears.
She’s a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s Eve.
She walked into the world
Just as cool as you please,
And her man,
The fellow stood and
Fell down silently.
Yes, some swarm around her,
Critiquing all her deeds.
We say,
It’s the fire in the truth,
And the flash of her mind,
The swing of loving kindness,
Her story thrives through time.
She’s a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s Eve.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in Eve.
Relegated her to bedrooms and kitchens
When boardroom and courtrooms
Are too our destiny,
I say,
It’s in the arch of justice,
The light of our minds,
The ride of our innovation,
Time after time.
Eve is woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s Eve.
Now you understand
Why our heads are not bowed.
We’re done shouting. Done waiting.
In false fog and cloud.
When you see us thriving,
It ought to make you proud.
We say,
It’s in the sound of the ballot box,
New power declared,
the palm of full equity,
Inclusion and care.
‘Cause we are woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s Eve.
That’s Sally McFague.
That’s Alice Walker.
Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony.
That’s Liz TheoHaris.
That’s Katie Cannon and Renita Weems.
That’s Chanequa Walker Barnes and Candice Benbow.
That’s Wil Gafney.
That’s Emilie Townes.
That’s Angela Davis.
That’s Rosemary Radford Ruether.
That’s Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
That’s Maxine Mimms.
That’s Maya Angelou.
That’s Eve.
Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown is the Senior Pastor of Plymouth Church United Church of Christ in downtown Seattle, Washington. Kelle is a gifted creative artist and a thinker; a Womanist public theologian who is a curator of equity, justice, and adaptive change.
Dr. Brown earned her BA in Psychology from Atlanta’s Spelman College where she was a featured soloist of the renowned Glee Club. She later attended Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry, where she went on to receive a Master of Divinity. Kelle completed her Doctorate of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2018, focusing on eradicating homelessness through solidarity.
She facilitates conversations on dismantling oppression and offers ways to reflect on white supremacy, privilege, bias, prejudice and bigotry, particularly on racial, ethnic and LGBTQ justice. She had been a vocal presence for justice and equity in Seattle, participating in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival; the 2019 Women’s March leadership team; and traveled to Tijuana, along with a contingent of Black and Brown women of color of faith. as a moral and faithful witness in the face of oppressive immigration legislation.
Kelle desires to resist moments by participating in movements that shift the narrative toward freedom. She believes in people and that redemption and reconciliation is possible, and imagined in her lifetime, the world will turn for the better, and imagines a world where all people are valued and extravagantly loved. She invites those she meets to follow the advice of Howard Thurman: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”