Mariam I. Williams
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The Pursuit of Wholeness

The Pursuit of Wholeness

#BlackChurchSex, Best Of, Love Single Life and Marriage, Pleasure, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Sex, Womanism

In 2015, I had a farewell dinner with a friend a few nights before I left Louisville. As we sat inside a dark restaurant filled with families but better suited for couples, awaiting our order of Indo-Chinese fusion dishes we had never heard of, my friend asked,...
Dance Feminism

Dance Feminism

Best Of, Black Diaspora, Feminism, Gender, History, Pleasure, Rape culture, Research and Scholarship, Respectability, Sex, Travel, Trigger warning, Yes Means Yes

Originally published August 2, 2014 I spent a portion of my last day at 33 dancing and thinking about the messages in the dance. On July 30, our study abroad group had a wonderful lecture on traditional dances of Trinidad and Tobago. Because there are so many people...
Radical Self-Love: Writing Intimate Spaces in the Age of Tyranny

Radical Self-Love: Writing Intimate Spaces in the Age of Tyranny

Best Of, Black Love, Feminism, History, In the News, Pleasure, Race, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Sex, Social Justice, Tyranny, Writing Intimacy

For two weeks after the election, I wrote nothing. I was enrolled in two writing workshops for my MFA, and I wrote nothing. I submitted a poem I had written over the summer and didn’t bother to revise for my poetry workshop that week. The following week, I skipped my...
Daring to Conceive of Women’s Agency as Biblical Truth

Daring to Conceive of Women’s Agency as Biblical Truth

Feminism, Gender, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Reproductive Justice, Sex, The Bible

In my early and mid-twenties, I wrote several drafts of a screenplay in which a modern-day Virgin Mary who received word the second coming of Christ would happen through an immaculate conception in her womb essentially says, “No thanks. Find someone else.” I wrote the...
Why the Time for Pleasure is Now

Why the Time for Pleasure is Now

Best Of, Black Love, In the News, Pleasure, Race, Sex, Tyranny

Like many people, I spent most of Saturday at my computer and on my phone reading and re-tweeting updates about the white supremacists who had descended upon Charlottesville, Virginia. My emotions ranged from anger to sadness to disgust. And try as I do to promote...
The Ruth-Boaz Myth and the Gospel of Sexual Freedom (#SFS17 Day 2)

The Ruth-Boaz Myth and the Gospel of Sexual Freedom (#SFS17 Day 2)

Best Of, Black Love, Feminism, Pleasure, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Sex

I attended a conference session called, “Defusing the Power of Toxic Religion for Sexual Advocacy,” because I’m writing a memoir about intersections of faith, family, and feminism in my life and of my experience with black female sexuality within the context of the...
Why Being Single Often Feels Like Punishment for Black Church Girls

Why Being Single Often Feels Like Punishment for Black Church Girls

Best Of, Black Love, Pleasure, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Sex

How is a church like prison and being incarcerated like belonging to a church? Both have a way of asking, “How do you plan to handle potentially lifelong, involuntary celibacy?”  Read more. ← On my bicycle, at the intersection of blackness and...
I Know I’ve Been Changed (or How Jesus Became My Stalker Ex-Boyfriend)

I Know I’ve Been Changed (or How Jesus Became My Stalker Ex-Boyfriend)

#BlackChurchSex, Best Of, Love Single Life and Marriage, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Sex

Originally published Dec. 22, 2014 “A Southern Baptism,” Detroit Publishing Co., ca 1900. Library of Congress. One of the reasons I stopped working on my memoir was because when an agent strongly suggested I adapt my essay collection into a linear...
No More Apologies for Being a Woman

No More Apologies for Being a Woman

#BlackChurchSex, Best Of, Feminism, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Sex

Originally published Aug. 8, 2014 I hate when I think of a snappy comeback three weeks after a discussion ends. That’s happening right now, as I think of a coversation I had with another American student in our group in Trinidad. I’ll call her...
Why Mrs. Carter Will Not Set You Free

Why Mrs. Carter Will Not Set You Free

#BlackChurchSex, Best Of, Beyonce, Feminism, Gender, Pleasure, Pop Culture, Race, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Sex

Originally published Dec. 27, 2013 I said I wouldn’t write about this because I knew I wouldn’t download the album until after Christmas and my commentary would be late and go largely unnoticed, and what more could I add to all that’s already been said anyway? But I...
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Recent Posts

  • What’s self-love got to do with it right now?
  • The Pursuit of Wholeness
  • My Price for Black Feminism
  • The Complexities of Black Christianity
  • 12 (or so) Questions I have After Talking to a Black Man About #SurvivingRKelly

Recent Comments

  • Ms. Mariam W on Radical Self-Love: Writing Intimate Spaces in the Age of Tyranny
  • Fr. Joseph Oneal McGowan, SJ on Radical Self-Love: Writing Intimate Spaces in the Age of Tyranny
  • Ms. Mariam W on The Role of the [Unknown] Artist
  • John Randolph on The Role of the [Unknown] Artist
  • Ms. Mariam W on The Role of the [Unknown] Artist

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