Alisha Lola Jones

A View from the Balcony—Opera through Womanist Eyes

Theology

“At last, we have research that interrogates elite concert hall box seat aspirations through what Jean Derricotte-Murphy astutely coins as a ‘Balcony Hermeneutic.’ The balcony is one of the most contested spaces in both performing arts and Black religiosity throughout US history. This research reveals the fantastic hegemonic imagination about the ways in which power is asserted when the prism of intersectionality is considered within our racially segregated past.”

Over My Head

Preaching & Worship

“Lisa M. Allen, a griot of rare depth, masterfully unveils the sacred reverberations of our ancestors, demonstrating how their voices continue to guide us. With a musician’s sensitivity and deep theological insight, she reveals Black sacred music’s transformative power, connecting past and future through worship, memory, and Afrofuturist imagination. Never has one so steeped in Black Christian praxis examined these liturgical traditions with such nuance, illuminating how ancestral song becomes a technology for liberation, belonging, and divine presence.”