Amina Shumake

Amina Shumake is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Religion at Vanderbilt University. With a concentration in theological studies, her research examines how the revelatory nature of salvation is entangled with U.S. reproductive slavery and auctioneering practices, which function as both anti-Black aesthetic formations and queerphobic configurations. With a deep commitment to African American visual art and Black religious history, her work also engages curation as a queer spiritual practice. Drawing on the insights of Clyde Taylor and Katherine McKittrick, she approaches curation as an act of methodological disobedience—a sifting practice that resists the fatigue and self-rejection that results from anti-Black and queer phobic religious discourse. Originally from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, she enjoys curating digital exhibitions on her Instagram exploring the convergence of religion, gender, and Black possibility.” “Amina Shumake is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Religion at Vanderbilt University. With a concentration in theological studies, her research examines how the revelatory nature of salvation is entangled with U.S. reproductive slavery and auctioneering practices, which function as both anti-Black aesthetic formations and queerphobic configurations. With a deep commitment to African American visual art and Black religious history, her work also engages curation as a queer spiritual practice. Drawing on the insights of Clyde Taylor and Katherine McKittrick, she approaches curation as an act of methodological disobedience—a sifting practice that resists the fatigue and self-rejection that results from anti-Black and queer phobic religious discourse. Originally from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, she enjoys curating digital exhibitions on her Instagram exploring the convergence of religion, gender, and Black possibility.