Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents ix
3. Foreword xi
4. Mama Was a Negro Spiritual 1
5. Witness 7
6. History Woman 8
7. I Am Not Ashamed of Your Gospel 10
8. Self-Portrait 12
9. Mama Sang the Blues 13
10. Sundays 15
11. Fast Girls 16
12. Abominations 17
13. Young’s Literal Translation 18
14. I Know It Was the Blood 19
15. Hallelujah Anyhow 20
16. Our Town 22
17. I’m So Courtland 24
18. Forbidden Fruit 26
19. Important Papers 27
20. Girl, 1983 29
21. When We Fall on Our Knees 31
22. Judas Kiss 33
23. Black and Forth 34
24. Testify 38
25. Where Is God? 39
26. When a Monarch Dies 40
27. Heaven 41
28. This Place 42
29. The Un-Praised 43
30. She Who Gives Love 44
31. Outside the Picture Window 45
32. A Whole Town’s Eyes 46
33. How to Bury Your Mama 47
34. The Last Easter 50
35. Tribulation 51
36. A Shroud for Mother’s Day 52
37. For Me 53
38. Like an Ancestor 54
39. Prepping 55
40. Sunrise Service 57
41. Youth Dew 58
42. Mama Home? 59
43. Heroes 60
44. 653-9218 61
45. Nursery Rhyme in Black 62
46. These Feet 63
47. Acknowledgments 67
48. About the Author 69