Juli Kent
Spiritual Activism
15 October 2013

Critical Reading Paper # 2

When I was finished reading the chapters in Maparyan’s book The Womanist Idea, I had to go back and re-read her definition of womanism. Summed up, she states: “…womanists are simultaneously concerned with rectifying the relationships between humans and other humans, humans and nature, and humans and the spirit world.” (pg. 35) In the required reading this week, Maparyan explores the activist work of three women, including her own heart wrenching story, and how it ties into the definition as mentioned above.
In chapter 10, Speaking Truth Inside Power, Maparyan talks about Preg Govender’s work and how she was a trail blazer, promoting “the importance of inner and outer change” (pg. 253) for the relationships between humans and the love, compassion, and interconnectedness required to break down barriers of race, class, and gender in politics. Govender was an advocate for meditation and believed that it “deserves a more prominent and unapologetic place in our social change repertoire.” (pg. 251) I can agree that through meditation, real change can occur. In my own practice and research on the topic of meditation, I am finding more and more evidence of the changes meditation brings into my own personal life and I believe that when we are able to make personal transformations that bring about love, compassion, mindfulness and forgiveness, we can start making changes in the world around us. Also in the chapter, she discusses the “spiritual inquisitivness” (p.235) that Govender was grappling with. Questions about God, temptation, and truth surfaced and forced her to explore the logic of South Africa as a whole. I felt like I could relate to Govender’s thought process. I personally have, since starting this class and exploring spirituality versus religion have begun to question everything (from