Parable of the Brown Girl: The Sacred Lives of Girls of Color

Minister and advocate Adams, creator of the Becoming Conference, notes that Jesus did his best teaching using the parables. The author then wonders about those parables with young brown girls at their center. Adams reminds us that, similar to the protagonists of the parables of Jesus, brown girls represent all girls. In this slim narrative, Adams is viciously critical of the myth of the strong black woman; a trope that normalizes the pervasive mistreatment of black women since, the myth infers, they are tough enough to rescue themselves. Adams uses anecdotal and personal experience to demonstrate that these stereotypes and labels often lead to young women rarely asking for help. Profound insights are offered throughout this work, interweaving theological paradoxes within historical Christianity, including those in which weakness is considered a strength and the poor and hungry are the blessed.