Black History Month: Honouring Black women of faith

Ayoola Bandele reflects on the overlooked faith and courage of Black women like Phillis Wheatley and Mary Prince, showing how their steadfast belief continues to shine light and inspire today.

When Black History Month comes around, we tend to celebrate the big names, the campaigners, preachers, and pioneers whose courage changed nations. Yet as I began digging into faith stories from the past, I realised how many women’s names have slipped quietly through the cracks. Women who believed, persevered, and prayed when the world refused to see their worth. Two stories especially stayed with me: Phillis Wheatley and Mary Prince. Born roughly a generation apart, their faith felt connected as if one woman’s pen and another’s pain were both carrying the same song of hope.