Make the Church Great...Again? Christian Ethics, Black Womanist Resonance, and the Paradox of Decline.

This article examines how Black churches in the United States contribute to the marginalization and decline ("down-ness") of Black women within both church and society, and how this dynamic intersects with the rise of twenty-first-century neo-fascism, particularly under the political slogan "Make America Great Again" (MAGA). It situates this analysis within the framework of Black womanist ethics, an academic and theological discourse emerging from Black feminist consciousness that centers Black women's lived experiences and moral wisdom to challenge intersecting oppressions of race, gender, and class. The article critiques the Black Church's historical and ongoing silencing and erasure of Black women's voices, exemplified by the overshadowing of figures like Alberta Williams King in narratives about Martin Luther King, Jr., and highlights how such erasure sustains patriarchal and white supremacist structures within religious and social contexts. Ultimately, it calls for a womanist ethical response that recognizes Black women's resilience and demands active resistance to structural evils, emphasizing that true "glory" and justice must be realized in the present rather than deferred to a mythical past or future.