Heart Cries & Healing

Heart Cries and Healing: The Black Church, The Black Woman, and Healing the Hidden Pain of Abortion tells the untold story about abortion and the African American community. It explores the historical, cultural, and community influences that have resulted in the epidemic numbers of abortion in the black community. It is the story that the community has refused to acknowledge and tell; and because of this refusal, there remains an unhealed wound that is both hidden and yet expressed in a multitude of ways. The transgenerational impact of maternal-fetal conflict beginning during slavery, the culture’s perception of the value of black women, and the family and community secret keeping and internalization of racist ideology have resulted in the collusion of the black community in the destruction of millions of unborn children in the abortion “clinics” of this nation. These factors have resulted in the physical, emotional, and spiritual wounding of women of color and the community of Black America. Heart Cries and Healing explores the history but gives hope to the wounded. It offers a blueprint of hope and healing through the power of the black church. Black congregations can offer a healing presence for hurting women who have been silenced by a history, culture, and community that influenced her “choice” then abandoned her in her pain.