Katie geneva cannon biography channel

American theologian (1950–2018)

Katie Geneva Cannon (January 3, 1950 – August 8, 2018) was an American Christian theologian and ethicist associated with womanist theology and black theology.^[3][4] In 1974 she became the first African-American woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (USA).^[5][6]

Early life

Born on January 3, 1950, Cannon spent her childhood in Kannapolis, North Carolina, a racially segregated community where she could not use local facilities such as the YMCA, swimming pool or library.^[7][8] She was the daughter of the late Esau Cannon and Emanuelette Corine Lytle Cannon, the first woman to work at the Cannon Mills in Kannapolis.

Both her parents were elders in the Presbyterian Church, but she was enrolled in kindergarten at a Lutheran church, the only early childhood education available to her in Kannapolis as a black girl.^[9] Cannon had six brothers and sisters.^&#