18 - The Black Madonna with China Galland

China Galland, M.A., is the award-winning author of several non-fiction works including Galland's non-fiction work, The Bond Between Women, A Journey to Fierce Compassion (Riverhead/Penguin), was chosen as one of the best five books on Spirituality by the annual "Books For a Better Life Award" when it was published in 1999. Race has been an abiding concern in Galland's work since she published her first non-fiction piece in 1977 on the kidnapping of an African American gardener by a white woman in the middle of one of the wealthiest neighborhood in Dallas, Highland Park. The police brought the gardener down out of her attic where he had been blindfolded and kept in chains. That was 1939. Galland also teaches and lectures nationally and internationally. She has been a Professor in Residence at the Center for the Arts, Religion, and Education at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, the largest consortium of Christian schools of theology in the U.S, as well as a Research Associate at the Center for Women and Religion. New curriculum in theology grew out of her graduate level intensive course, "Art, Darkness, and the Womb of God." Her book and curriculum grew out of her pioneering work on images of the Divine Feminine cross-culturally, especially the forms that are dark and/or black. She has been affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union for over 20 years. CARE/GTU initially sponsored her Keepers of Love work as a project of the Center for Art, Religion, and Education. Galland also created the Images of Divinity Research Project at the GTU's Center for Women and Religion in the 1990s. A riveting storyteller and public speaker, Galland has lectured at Harvard University, Columbia, Cornell, Bowling Green University, and Prescott College among others. She's led pilgrimages to the Divine Feminine in Nepal, India, France and Spain, appeared on "Good Morning America," Bloomberg TV, PBS, NPR, and PRI's "To the Best of Our Knowledge." She's also written for the Washington Post, Outside Magazine, and a host of other non-fiction venues nationally. She's the author of six award-winning non-fiction books. Galland has been awarded a Hedgebrook Women Writer's Residency by the Hedgebrook Institute on Whidbey Island, WA. as well as prizes for both non-fiction and fiction by the California Arts Council. She was given the national "Courage of Conscience Award" by the Peace Abbey of Sherburne, MA, in 2010 at the Harvard Foundation where she was presenting excerpts from the documentary film, Resurrecting Love, and reading from her book, Love Cemetery, Unburying the Secret History of Slaves for the Harvard Foundation's annual Writers and Film series. A former river guide, Galland also co-founded the national non-profit organization, "Women in the Wilderness," dedicated to growing women's leadership through outdoor experiences. Her first non-fiction book, Women in the Wilderness, was published by Harper & Row (New York). Galland was also the first woman Assistant to the City Manager in Dallas, Texas, and ran the Citizen Assistance office for the City of Dallas. Prior to her work with the city of Dallas, she taught English Literature at Boston College. Galland was married to the playwright, performer, and co-founder of the former Traveling Jewish Theater, Corey Fischer. She has three children, the youngest of whom, Ben Galland, she just produced the documentary film RESURRECTING LOVE. The 76-minute documentary grew out of her most recent book, Love Cemetery, which Bill Moyers described as "Riveting!" Sue Monk Kidd said that Galland introduced her to the Black Madonna. Resurrecting Love has been invited to participate in the Morehouse College 6th Annual Human Rights Film Festival in Atlanta, GA, September 17th-21st. Galland will be joined there by her son, Ben Galland, the director, and co-producers Barry Opper and Alexis Yancey. Opper is also known for his work in Africa on the documentary film, Slingshot, as well as his years of work in feature films. Yancey has just been inducted into the Black Journalists Hall of Fame in Chicago. To learn more about China's work: https://www.chinagalland.org   To learn more about Tamara's work: https://tamarawolfson.com