The Day God Saw Me as Black

by D. Danyelle Thomas

Overview

Centering Black faith and spirituality, The Day God Saw Me as Black is a genre-defying cultural critique of white supremacy within the Black Pentecostal religious experience.

In this groundbreaking work by public theologian and sought-after cultural strategist D. Danyelle Thomas, you will journey with the author as she examines The Church through the lenses of race, gender, sexual expression, and class—blending sharp cultural analysis with personal narrative. It is both a critique and a meditation, a study in decolonization and a call for reconciliation.

The Day God Saw Me as Black dares to imagine what could be possible if we stopped denying ourselves—and each other—the fullness of liberation.

Now in its first paperback edition, this release includes “Pray for the USA,” an exclusive essay that reclaims prayer as spellwork and spiritual protest when Christian nationalism masquerades as God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781967182015
Publisher:	Row House Publishing
Publication date:	10/28/2025
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

D. Danyelle Thomas is a Black faith and spirituality writer, speaker, and digital faith leader. The founder of Unfit Christian, her work and words have been featured in Essence, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Rewire.News, Splinter, and NBC News. She holds both a master's in Public Policy and a bachelor's in African American Studies from Georgia State University. She is on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) via @UnfitChristian.

Editorial Reviews

The Day God Saw Me as Black is the "get free church girl manifesto" that so many generations of spiritually devoted Christian women need. Deeply researched and deftly argued, this book will be a companion and guide on the journey to spiritual liberation. D. Danyelle Thomas is a seer, a pastor, a theologian, and a homegirl for these times. In her hands, our Black girl truths are vindicated, our stories treated with tenderness, and our religious futures marked for freedom. This work made me feel hopeful again.

Professor and author of the New York Times bestseller Eloquent Rage - Brittney Cooper

Decolonizing Christianity in the 21st century is a journey, and D. Danyelle Thomas is a portal. Her work and words create worlds of freedom for Black folx who feel called home to themselves and their God. The Day God Saw Me as Black is a sacred series of essay-sermons that awakens, integrates, and liberates. Thomas has penned a love letter, a call to action, and a holy hymn all in one, and it is pleasing in Her sight!

Lyvonne Briggs of Sensual Faith: The Art of Coming Home to Your Body

D. Danyelle Thomas has exquisite intellectual and spiritual gifts for elegantly dismantling complex hypocrisy within Christian traditions and its white supremacy while maintaining a working faith, as only a Church insider who loves God with her whole being can. Thomas writes authoritatively about deeply consequential, perennial human questions and themes of oppression with stunning clarity and courage. This book is historic. The Day God Saw Me as Black was written for Black women, but as with all great texts, its specific genius is universal.

Humanitarian, author, actor, UFNPA Goodwill Ambassador - Ashley Judd

Standing in the lineage of Toni Morrison's Baby Suggs in Beloved, D. Danyelle Thomas has given us her "great big heart." Thomas's rootedness in the Black liberationist and Womanist traditions is evident, even as she ushers us into a wellspring of renewed belief and praxis. With refreshingly poetic language and piercing social commentary, The Day God Saw Me as Black is a treasure trove of personal narrative, corrective theology, and insight into how the Divine moves in and through everyday Black life. These words will be a balm to the soul that is recovering from church trauma, and they will be illuminating to the seeker in search of life-affirming and sustaining spirituality. The Day God Saw Me as Black is a love letter to Black people and the Black spirit, offering healing that only Thomas can render.

Dean of Chapel and Director of the WISDOM Center, Spelman College - Rev. Neichelle R. Guidry

Passuh Danny gives us a love poem, a critique, a challenge, and a way forward, specifically to the Black Church, but indeed to all people of faith. The Day God Saw Me as Black is beautiful on so many levels. It is like a tapestry; the whole is strikingly beautiful. And when you look closely at each chapter, the deep thought and care that has gone into the work is evident. The Day God Saw Me as Black is a book that invites us to freedom in a loving God.

Episcopal priest, Race and Gender Justice Activist, daughter of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu - The Reverend Nontombi Naomi Tutu

The Day God Saw Me as Black is a womanist manifesto, doing the righteous work of locating Blackness in glorious wholeness and understanding the Black body as the most holy, sacred text from which we will ever read. The book is an entire testimony service proving that, while Blackness is not a monolithic experience, the awesome revelation of our reflection in the divine, despite white supremacy's best efforts to paint us unworthy, could be copied and pasted from every congregation and across denominations.

Hip Hop Womanist, author of All The Black Girls Are Activists: A Fourth Wave Womanist Pursuit of Dreams As Radical R - EbonyJanice Moore

The Day God Saw Me as Black weaves history, personal story, criticism, and joy all in one place. Thomas has a way of taking her own story and the stories of others and making them the place of revelation, beauty, and sheer grit. This book builds courage. It takes the readers through the hard places and, in the words of Toni Morrison, leads them safely through to the other side. The Day God Saw Me as Black is a beautifully written text, one that feels both liberating and satisfying in its capacity to do what Black people have always done — snatch the body and the soul from the grips of despair and put a running in our spirit and a song on our tongue. Bravo. My God. Bravo.

Danté Stewart of Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle

The Day God Saw Me as Black healed parts of me I didn’t even know needed healing and addressed questions I’d given up hope of ever having answered. D. Danyelle Thomas had me dusting off my Bible to read scriptures I’d never seen before and re-reading others in a new, liberatory, revolutionary light. This book is a revelation!

Deesha Philyaw of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

The Day God Saw Me as Black weaves history, personal story, criticism, and joy all in one place. Thomas has a way of taking her own story and the stories of others and making them the place of revelation, beauty, and sheer grit. This book builds courage. It takes the readers through the hard places and, in the words of Toni Morrison, leads them safely through to the other side. The Day God Saw Me as Black is a beautifully written text, one that feels both liberating and satisfying in its capacity to do what Black people have always done — snatch the body and the soul from the grips of despair and put a running in our spirit and a song on our tongue. Bravo. My God. Bravo.

Author of Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle - Danté Stewart

The Day God Saw Me as Black healed parts of me I didn’t even know needed healing and addressed questions I’d given up hope of ever having answered. D. Danyelle Thomas had me dusting off my Bible to read scriptures I’d never seen before and re-reading others in a new, liberatory, revolutionary light. This book is a revelation!

Author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies - Deesha Philyaw

Decolonizing Christianity in the 21st century is a journey, and D. Danyelle Thomas is a portal. Her work and words create worlds of freedom for Black folx who feel called home to themselves and their God. The Day God Saw Me as Black is a sacred series of essay-sermons that awakens, integrates, and liberates. Thomas has penned a love letter, a call to action, and a holy hymn all in one, and it is pleasing in Her sight!

Author of Sensual Faith: The Art of Coming Home to Your Body - Lyvonne Briggs