Why I Left the Church, Why I Came Back, and Why I Just Might Leave Again: Memories of Growing up African American and Catholic

The 1960s, '70s, and '80s were turbulent decades for the Catholic Church as it struggled to navigate the waters of racial injustice and the women's movement. Many studies document those troubled times from the outsider's perspective, but almost none feature that of the insider. Douglas provides her readers with a new lens through which to view parochial teachings on race relations, integration, and gender roles. Her touching account of the ways priests, nuns, and her mother influenced her formative years reveals for the first time the conflicts faced by a Black girl trying to come to terms with her faith.