Rosemarie Freeney Harding with Rachel Elizabeth Harding
Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism, and Mothering
Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2015
325 pages

Reviewed by Ric Hudgens

Near the end of this utterly unique mother-daughter memoir Rosemarie Freeney Harding (1930-2004) writes:

Grandma Rye and those old Africans put something in the ground. When they got here, they stepped off those boats, chained up and weary. They looked around at this new land and they could see the heartbreak and suffering that were waiting for them and their generation. They saw these traumas waiting for us here. And they knew we were going to need something strong. Some medicine. Some spirit medicine to carry us through these storms.

Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism, and Mothering is a record of Harding’s journey, the journey of a generation, in drawing upon that spirit medicine as a resource for healing and transformation. Harding is perhaps not as well known as her husband Dr Vincent Harding (1931-2014) and yet this volume is a testament to the individuality of her creative imagination, her deep mystical spirit, and the core of her sacred activism. She was an organizer, teacher, social worker, and co-founder of the Veterans of Hope Project at the Iliff School of Theology. Continue reading “Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism & Mothering” →