Subversive habits: Black Catholic nuns in the long African American freedom struggle

Introduction: America's forgotten Black freedom fighters

"Our sole wish is to do the will of God" : the early struggles of Black Catholic sisters in the United States

"Nothing is too good for the youth of our race" : the fight for Black administered Catholic education during Jim Crow

"Is the order Catholic enough?" : the struggle to desegregate white sisterhoods after World War II

"I was fired up to go to Selma!" : Black sisters, the Second Vatican Council, and the fight for civil rights

"Liberation is our first priority" : Black nuns and Black power

"No schools, no churches!" : the fight to save Black Catholic education in the 1970s

"The future of the Black nun is dubious" : Black sisters in the age of church decline

Conclusion: "The Catholic Church wouldn't be Catholic if it wasn't for us".