Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

11-2025

School/College

School of Communication (SOC)

Degree Name

MA in Communication

Committee Chairperson

Dr. Toniesha Taylor

Committee Member 1

Dr. Morgan Kirby

Committee Member 2

Dr. Zantel Nichols

Committee Member 3

Dr. Angie Smith

Keywords

Metaphysics, Spiritual Activism, Black Women, Cultural Contracts Theory

Abstract

From ancient Black gods to field women who conjured and worked the land. Ancestral griots to church mothers, magicikal practitioners, spell workers, healers, and supernatural rebels. From evil Black witches persecuted and lynched, to dark-skinned devotees, these powerful femmes emerge from centuries of Black metaphysical labor. They are the women we know, may have been raised by, deeply love, yet often fail to acknowledge. If the title of this thesis hasn’t already scared you off—or at worst, confirmed your biases—then you may already know that Black women’s spiritual experiences have long been central to literature, as vividly portrayed by fiction writers such as Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. Today, that same lineage of female empowerment, pro-Blackness, and mysticism is being revitalized by younger generations who are deeply immersed in digital spaces.

In this thesis, I follow the rise of Black women’s spiritual activism, where online platforms center the voices that have been dismissed in mainstream religious and social-justice conversations. Building upon Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept of spiritual activism, I examine how Black female creators on TikTok and YouTube operate as ancestral healers, cultural critics, and magickal performers—rejecting narrow binaries for more fluid, transgressive identities.

Using Ronald L. Jackson’s Cultural Contracts Theory as the guiding framework and rhetorical analysis as my sole methodology, this research explores how Black content creators utilize digital storytelling as a means to vocalize their resistance-based magick and ancestral legacies. Through close readings of viral clips, livestreams, and creator-follower interviews, this study will show how such performances rework African griotte traditions and metaphysical-thought in order to fit inside the language of social media algorithms. Ultimately, this thesis argues that these storytellers are not merely explorers of new, uncharted territory, but activists using the raw tools of the internet to shape liberation in real-time. In a world where the powers that be have too often failed us, I ask: what does it look like when influencers call upon the past in order to manifest a divine Black feminine that not only survives but blossoms against all the lies, limits, and labels that white supremacy has placed upon her?

Download

Included in

Communication Commons

Share

COinS