Jackie Galbreath, Ph.D., M.F.T. The Impact of Christianity & Indigenous Spirituality On Intimate African American Relationships

Dr. Galbreath was concerned about the status of many Black male-female heterosexual relationships becoming increasingly strained over the last few decades. She researched from religious perspectives what factors contributed to the tension in African American committed relationships and what factors could also strengthen those relationships. Christian principles & the Black Church have sustained the African American community during its resistance to slavery and institutionalized racism. But American racism & sexism have also infiltrated the Black Church and therefore our heterosexual relationships. Autobiographies of people of African descent such as Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs (aka Linda Brent), Ida B. Wells- Barnett, and Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, illustrate how racist & sexist ideologies presented in Christian dogma have taught Black men and women to question each other's humanity during and after slavery. The autobiographies also illustrate how Christianity undergirded by African spiritual principles of balance and extended familial support fostered better cohesion between Black male/female couples during those same time-frames. She theorizes that relearning our African spiritual principles along with Christian spirituality affirming African humanity and Black love would provide the added spiritual support black heterosexual couples need to grow stronger and happier.
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