Women in Conversation - September 14

Silence Breakers: Woman Zion & the #Me Too Movement Lamentations 2: 20-22 as Path to Resilience

Professor Gina Hens-Piazza

"Silence surrounding the violence against women is deadly in both the biblical tradition and in our own world. But a counter-story of the personified City Woman Zion in the Book of Lamentations boldly raises her voice against the abuse and trauma inflicted upon her. Thus, this silence breaker not only emancipates from the clutches of self-blame and victimhood but occasions a space for other victims to break their silence and move forward in an embrace of the full value of their lives."

Professor Gina Hens-Piazza holds the Charles S. Alemany Endowed Chair in Biblical Studies at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. She is the author of six books, the most recent being a feminist commentary on The Book of Lamentations in the Wisdom Commentary Series published by Liturgical Press (2017). A frequent lecturer nationally and internationally, Hens-Piazza currently serves as one of four editors for the forthcoming New Jerome Biblical Commentary. This past August, she was elected as the 81st President of the Catholic Biblical Association of America at their national meeting.