Today's Heart Matters: "Woman and Man Started Even"

Hello and welcome to Today’s Heart Matters. It's Wednesday, July 9, 2025, and I am taking a break from my weekly live stream. I hope you have enjoyed the previous two readings: a poem by Kalu Uka, “Fear,” and the fable “The Spirit Tree.” I’ve included them in the post just in case you missed them.

My favorite was “The Spirit Tree.” I thanked God for the angels watching over me, my grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, and my younger and only sister—she had prophesied that I would teach in a collegiate setting. One year after her death, I worked as a lecturer, both part-time and full-time, for over 15 years. Perhaps that’s why death releases me from fear. The death of my sister taught me how to live even more fiercely.

When I think of my sister, the angel who keeps watch over me, I am reminded of this African American fable told by Virginia Hamilton in Her Stories: African American Fairy Tales and True Tales. I read this story almost 20 years ago, and for whatever reason, as I’d been preparing stories to read, this one kept popping up. So, I decided to pull it from my bookshelf.

Photo by Angela from Her Stories: African American Fairy Tales and True Tales, page 73.

Comments: “Woman and Man Started Even is an African American pourquoi (why) tale with the rare outcome of the woman winning. It is a moral tale showing that the Almighty treats Man and Woman equally. It also reveals that the devil can enter into human concerns when people express anger towards God. Thus, the devil will upset the balance to suit himself when human beings allow him to enter their lives. The teller conceded that Woman has the poser over Man. The subtle meaning is that Woman is not to be trusted, since her power comes from the help of the fallen angel, the devil. And only with help could she ever be more powerful than Man.

This tale is in the collection of the Tennessee Writers’ Project, 1940.

The test of a good folktale is how long it stays in the minds of listeners and circulation with tellers. It is meant to be humorous, of course. This tale begs to be told and retold.