In the Name of the Father: The Manye Sisters and Church Formation

Charlotte Maxeke (neé Manye) has been hailed as “the mother of the Black freedom struggle,” but the study of her work has been limited to political spaces despite her efforts to establish politically transformative churches. Chapter 3 focuses on 1871 to 1903, a formidable period when Charlotte and her sister Katie relied on their faith as they grew politically conscious. The chapter draws on biographies, newspaper clippings, school records, and family genealogy to contextualize the memory of a letter detailing the sisters' vision for the African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Africa. Analyzing this letter and the church's development rightfully situates the Manyes as the progenitors of this church and also articulates their original hope for a church as a site of anticolonialist, feminist, and Pan-Africanist politics.