Bi bell: Spirituality and the Sexual Intellectual

Abstract

Currently, there is very little research and scholarship on spirituality and bisexuality in Black American life and culture. Although numerous books and essays on Black theology, Black liberation theology and spirituality exist, these collections’ singular focus remains on the politics of race. Only recently has there been a growing trend to study gender and sexuality as part of these theologies. Even then the attention to bisexuality in dominant models of religion and spirituality for Black Americans is rare. In this article, the author proposes that searching outside the typical configurations of spirituality unveils spiritual traditions that readily incorporate bisexuality for Black people in the United States. Specifically, I argue that the act of writing serves as an alternative spiritual tradition for Black intellectuals interested in deconstructing the false divides between spirituality, sexuality and the intellect. Analyzing the work of bell hooks, the author argues that writing as spirituality promotes and fosters bisexual subjectivity. This subjectivity creates mechanisms for combating sexual dysfunction in the lives of Black women.