A celebration of the voices of women of color in prayer Women of color pray and have prayed out of necessity for survival, out of love for the Divine and because we believe in the power of prayer. Prayer has been the prevailing force behind the education of our children, protection and courage for our men, hope for our daughters and the balm that heals sorrows. —from the Introduction Prayers by women around the world—from China and Japan, to Syria and Ghana—to African American, Asian American, Native American and Hispanic women in the United States including: Teresa Palomo Acosta Yolanda Adams Rabi’a Al-Adawiyya Paula Gunn Allen Savitri Bess Mary McLeod Bethune Irene I. Blea Sandra Cisneros Marian Wright Edelman Rachelle Ferrell Monique Greenwood Joy Harjo Linda Hogan Patricia Locke Janice Mirikitani Toni Morrison Naomi Quinonez Della Reese Cathy Song Susan L. Taylor Sojourner Truth Harriet Tubman Iyanla Vanzant Phillis Wheatley CeCe Winans Empress Yamatohime ... and many others This beautiful collection of prayers will take you on a journey into the spiritual walk of women of color around the world—including Asia, the Middle East and Africa—as well as Native American, African American, Asian American and Hispanic women in the United States. Through these prayers, poetry, lyrics, meditations and affirmations, you will share in the strong and undeniable connection that women of color share with God. As you delve into the words of unwavering faith, perseverance, resistance, celebration and communion with God and family that fill each page, you will find your ideas about prayer challenged and your own prayer life inspired and renewed.

This collection by Teresa Palomo Acosta-poet, historian, author, and activist-spans three decades of her writing, from 1988 through 2018. The collection is divided into four parts: poems, essays, a children's story, and plays. Each work addresses cultural, historical, political, and gender realities that she experienced from her childhood to the present.The plays, set in the Central Texas Blackland Prairies where Acosta was raised, provide a unique Latina vision of memory, identity, and experience and are a vital contribution to Chicana feminist thought. The essays focus on Acosta's literary heroes Jovita GonzAlez de Mireles, Sara Estela RamIrez, and Elena Zamora O'Shea, important writers who contributed significantly to Tejana literature and to Texas letters. The children's story, "Colchas, Colchitas," is based on Acosta's most notable poem, "My Mother Pieced Quilts," which pays homage to her mother and the many women of her generation who employed needles and thread, creating both practical and symbolic artifacts. This collection is a creative and, indeed, essential expansion of boundaries for what we think of as history, offering a unique and compelling look into the lived experiences and interior contemplations of a Texas artist well worth knowing. Readers will increase their understanding of Tejana experience in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Tejanaland promises to become an important addition to the cultural record, informing historical perspectives on the experiences of Tejana women and contributing significantly to the existing body of work from Tejana writers.

"No other works which combine so much material on Hispanic women have been published in the past, and I know of none in the offing. . . . This will be an excellent sourcebook for anyone interested in the many Tejanas who overcame adversity to succeed as businesswomen, professionals, educators, and politicians." -- Carolina Castillo Crimm, Associate Professor of History, Sam Houston State University

Since the early 1700s, women of Spanish/Mexican origin or descent have played a central, if often unacknowledged, role in Texas history. Tejanas have been community builders, political and religious leaders, founders of organizations, committed trade unionists, innovative educators, astute businesswomen, experienced professionals, and highly original artists. Giving their achievements the recognition they have long deserved, this groundbreaking book is at once a general history and a celebration of Tejanas' contributions to Texas over three centuries.

The authors have gathered and distilled a wide range of information to create this important resource. They offer one of the first detailed accounts of Tejanas' lives in the colonial period and from the Republic of Texas up to 1900. Drawing on the fuller documentation that exists for the twentieth century, they also examine many aspects of the modern Tejana experience, including Tejanas' contributions to education, business and the professions, faith and community, politics, and the arts. A large selection of photographs, a historical timeline, and profiles of fifty notable Tejanas complete the volume and assure its usefulness for a broad general audience, as well as for educators and historians.