Participant Info

First Name
Rachel
Last Name
Harding
Country
United States
State
CO Colorado
Affiliation
University of Colorado Denver
Website URL
Keywords
African Diaspora, African American History, Brazil, Afro-Atlantic Religions (Candomblé and Black American Christianity), Cultural History, Social Justice Movements, Slavery and Slave Resistance, Afro-Indigeneity, Women's Mysticism, Black Arts Movement
Availability
1
Additional Contact Information
PhD
PhD

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

Rachel Elizabeth Harding, is Associate Professor of Indigenous Spiritual Traditions in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Denver.  A native of Georgia, a writer, historian and poet, Rachel is a specialist in religions of the Afro-Atlantic diaspora and studies the relationship between religion, creativity and s­ocial justice activism in cross-cultural perspective.  She is a Cave Canem Fellow and holds an MFA in creative writing from Brown University and a PhD in history from the University of Colorado Boulder.  Dr. Harding is author of A Refuge in Thunder: Candomblé and Alternative Spaces of Blackness as well as numerous poems and essays.  Rachel’s second book, Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism and Mothering, combines her own writings with the autobiographical reflections of her mother, Rosemarie Freeney Harding, on their family history and the role of compassion and spirituality in African American social justice organizing.

Recent Publications

Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism and Mothering, with Rosemarie Freeney Harding (Duke University Press, 2015)

“Afro-Brazilian Religion, Resistance and Environmental Ethics: A Perspective from Candomblé,” with Valdina Oliveira Pinto, in Ecowomanism: Religion and Ecology, editor, Melanie Harris. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Press (2017)

Media Coverage
Country Focus
USA/Brazil
Expertise by Geography
Latin America, United States
Expertise by Chronology
19th century, 20th century
Expertise by Topic
Emancipation, Race, Religion, Slavery