Carved in Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us by Jasmine L. Holmes

 

Carved In Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us by Jasmine L. Holmes tells the stories of ten black women of faith in the United States. Holmes tells readers in the introduction that she is a writer, a teacher and a mother. She wrote this book as "part biography and part memoir--part research, part love letter." She tells us that these women were not perfect but that "every one of them represents a beautiful fact of Christian womanhood that has inspired me in my own walk. . ." She hopes that the reader will also see God's handiwork in each of the stories and also be inspired to live and proclaim God's goodness.

The ten women featured in Carved in Ebony are: Elizabeth Freeman, a midwife; Sara Griffith Stanley, an abolitionist and missionary; Frances Ellen Watkins Harper,a poet and writer ; Amanda Barry Smith, a preacher and founder of an orphanage; Maria Fearing, a teacher and missionary; Maria Stewart, an abolitionist, speaker, teacher and writer; Lucy Craft Laney, teacher and principal and school founder; Charlotte Forten Grimke, a teacher and a nurse; and Sarah Mapps Douglass, painter, teacher, and writer. All of these women are interesting to read about and many of them wore several hats throughout their lives. 

The real-life stories of these black women are so inspiring. I encourage you to read Carved in Ebony and learn about these inspiring women yourself.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.