Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan facts for kids

Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan was born on July 24, 1951. She is an African-American womanist theologian, a professor, and a writer. She is also a poet and an elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. She used to be a Professor of Religion and Director of Women's Studies at Shaw University Divinity School. She has written or edited many books. One of her well-known books is Women and Christianity.

About Cheryl Kirk-Duggan

Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan grew up in Louisiana. She was a very good student at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. She then studied singing and earned a Master of Music degree. This was at the University of Texas at Austin.

After college, she moved to New York. She wanted to have a career in music. She even performed at Carnegie Hall, a famous music venue. Later, she moved back to Texas with her husband, Mike Kirk-Duggan.

Her Education and Career

Cheryl Kirk-Duggan earned a Master of Divinity degree. This was from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She then earned her PhD in Theology and Ethics from Baylor University in 1992. She is an ordained elder in her church. This means she is a leader in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

From 1997 to 2004, she led the Center for Women and Religion. This center is at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. In 2004, she started teaching at Shaw University Divinity School. She is now a professor emerita. This means she is a retired professor but still highly respected. She also used to be the director of women's studies there.

Her Important Work

Cheryl Kirk-Duggan has helped develop womanist theology. This is a way of thinking about religion from the viewpoint of Black women. She has written and taught a lot about it. She often uses a womanist perspective to talk about theology and violence.

Books on Theology and Violence

In 1997, she wrote a book called Exorcizing Evil: a Womanist Perspective on the Spirituals. She also published A Refiner's Fire: A Religious Engagement with Violence in 2001. Another book, Violence and Theology, came out in 2006.

She wrote an essay called "Womanist Theology as a Corrective to African American Theology." This essay is in The Oxford Handbook of African American Theology. She also wrote about "Sacred and Secular in African American Music." This was for the Oxford Handbook of Religion and the Arts.

Hip-Hop and Christianity

In 2011, she wrote a book with Marlon Hall. It was called Wake Up: Hip-Hop, Christianity, and the Black Church. In this book, they looked at the history of hip-hop music. They also asked why churches sometimes don't use this music in their services.

Monika Seweryn, a writer, said that the authors want to inspire people. They want churches to welcome young people who love hip-hop. They want to give them a way to share their feelings through hip-hop music.

Women and Christianity Book Series

Cheryl Kirk-Duggan also helped edit a book called Women and Christianity. She worked with Karen Jo Torjesen on this book. It was part of a series about "Women and Religion in the World."

A reviewer named A. Brenda Anderson said the book was great. She noted that the editors brought together many different voices. These voices shared their ideas and hopes about Christian feminism.

Her Poetry

Cheryl Kirk-Duggan is also a poet. She has published two books of poems. Her first poetry book was It's in the Blood: A Trilogy of Poetry Harvested from a Family Tree. She wrote this with Dedurie V. Kirk and Alice Kirk-Blackburn.

Later, she published a book of her own poems. It is called Baptized Rage, Transformed Grief: I Got Through, So Can You.

Awards and Recognition

Cheryl Kirk-Duggan has received several awards for her work.

• In 2011, she won the YWCA Academy of Women Award. This award was for her work in education.
• In 2013, she received the Mentor Award. This award came from the Society for Biblical Literature. It recognized her as a great mentor to others in her field.