The Day God Saw Me as Black by D. Danyelle ThomasBook Review by Mariah V.

A Black Woman’s Experience with God and Herself

“The Day God Saw Me as Black is a genre-defying cultural critique of white supremacy in the Black Pentecostal religious experience through the lenses of race, gender, sexual expression, and class. A narrative that weaves between critique and meditation, decolonization and reconciliation, the theoretical and the deeply personal, The Day God Saw Me as Black is an imagining of what could be if we stopped denying ourselves and each other full liberation.”

Review:

I may not have been a preacher’s kid like the author, but I was definitely raised in a home where church was a way of life. From weekly Bible studies to vacation Bible school, and weekends spent entirely at church, most of my childhood memories are rooted in those pews. And honestly? I’m a little burned out from church culture.

That doesn’t mean I’ve walked away from God it just means church doesn’t consume my life the way it once did. I hold on to the good memories, but as I got older, I began to realize that not everything or everyone in the house of God is holy.

Reading The Day God Saw Me as Black felt like both a reckoning and a reflection. It’s beautifully written and unflinchingly honest, opening up hard conversations about what it means to be a Black woman of faith who doesn’t quite fit into the traditional mold of the “Black Church.” The book invites readers to explore how race, gender, and sexuality intersect with faith and how the church has, at times, silenced rather than supported.

Some parts of this book felt deeply personal, as if I were walking through my own memories. Others challenged me to think differently, to reflect, and to heal. Whether you’re part of a book club, Bible study group, or simply on your own spiritual journey, this book is an incredible resource for unpacking what faith looks like outside the boundaries of tradition.

If you’re a Black woman raised in the church, I believe you’ll see pieces of yourself in these pages. And if you’re looking for healing, answers, or a way to decolonize your relationship with faith this book is absolutely for you.

Rating: 4/5 stars