Black, Quare, and Then to Where

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In Black, Quare, and Then to Where jennifer susanne leath explores the relationship between Afrodiasporic theories of justice and Black sexual ethics through a womanist engagement with Ma’at—the ancient Egyptian deity of justice and truth. Ma’at took into account the historical and cultural context of each human’s life, thus encompassing nuances of politics, race, gender, and sexuality. Arguing that Ma’at should serve as a foundation for reconfiguring Black sexual ethics, leath applies ancient Egyptian moral codes to quare ethics of the erotic, expanding what relationships and democratic practices might look like from a contemporary Ma’atian perspective. She also draws on Pan-Africanism and examines the work of Alice Walker, E. Patrick Johnson, Cheikh Anta Diop, Sylvia Wynter, Sun Ra, and others. She shows that together, these thinkers and traditions inform and expand the possibilities of Ma’atian justice with respect to Black sexual experiences. As a moral force, leath contends, Ma’at opens new possibilities for mapping ethical frameworks to understand, redefine, and imagine justices in the United States. jennifer susanne leath explores the relationship between Afrodiasporic theories of justice and Black sexual ethics through a womanist engagement with Ma’at—the ancient Egyptian deity of justice and truth. jennifer susanne leath is Assistant Professor in Black Religion at Queen’s University.

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