Published in 2014
296 pages
LeRhonda “Rhon” Manigault-Bryant is Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts (USA). In addition to teaching courses that intersect with her specializations in religion, black feminist/womanist thought, and popular culture, Rhon uses her research and teaching to merge her interests in music and science fiction.
Tamura Lomax received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Religion. She specialized in Black Religion and Black Diaspora Studies and developed expertise in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Black Cultural Studies. Her scholarship emphasizes race, gender, and sexuality in slavery, politics, religion, and popular culture. She is co-editor of Womanist and Black Feminist Responses to Tyler Perry’s Cultural Productions, a co-authored volume with Rhon S. Manigault-Bryant and Carol B. Duncan. She also wrote, Raising Non-Toxic Sons in White Supremacist America. She is CEO and visionary for The Feminist Wire, an online publication committed to feminist, anti-racist, socio-political critique.
What is this book about?
African American playwright, actor, television producer and filmmaker Tyler Perry is an American cultural phenomenon. Perry has made over half a billion dollars through the development of films, plays, and television series that center storylines about black women, black communities and black religion. The success of a Tyler Perry Production, coupled with Perry’s participation in a range of media and in multiple roles as creator and actor, position him as a significant site of black religious and cultural expression, and thus critical inquiry and reflection. Womanist and Black Feminist Responses to Tyler Perry’s Productions examines Perry’s works from interdisciplinary perspectives and provides a necessary response to Perry’s current prominence regarding black representation, black religion and black cultural production.
