Book Review: “Fat Luther, Slim Pickins”

“Fat Luther, Slim Pickins” is a creative book with a fascinating approach to increasing our appreciation for how cultural diversity can contribute to the Catholic faith. Specifically, this book is a “black Catholic Celebration of our faith and traditions.”

The attention-grabbing title, according to the authors and described by them in an article in the online U.S. Catholic magazine, is “based on Luther Vandross, a great R&B singer in the 1980s, and he was a large man. Thus, the ‘Fat Luther’ reference. As for the ‘Slim Pickins,’ it comes from the idea that as black Catholics, especially as black Catholic women, we are often left with what’s at the bottom of the barrel. We have to make do with what we get.”
The book is authored by Marcia Lane-McGee and Shannon Wimp Schmidt. Lane-McGee is the cohost of the “Plaid Skirts and Basic Black” podcast and a family teacher at Mooseheart Child City and School. She is a founding member and executive board member of Catholics United for Black Lives. Schmidt is the cohost of the “Plaid Skirts and Basic Black” podcast, and a founding member of Catholics United for Black Lives.

The authors do an outstanding job of providing a black cultural perspective, while taking the reader through the Catholic liturgical seasons and providing marvelous chapter titles, sharing personal reflections and quoting several spiritual leaders. I found the authors’ use of metaphors for the chapter titles brought a smile to my face. For example, their title for the celebration of the baptism of Jesus is “Wash Day,” and for the season of Lent at the foot of the cross, they use “The Refiner’s Fire.”
The authors’ use of personal and family experiences (Lane-McGee’s story and Schmidt’s story) highlighted how diverse the celebration of the liturgical seasons can be while encouraging unity in the Church.

Reading through this 147-page book increased my awareness and appreciation for the value of diversity in celebrating and practicing our Catholic faith. With each chapter, I found myself stopping to reflect on how our family celebrates Advent, Christmas, the baptism of Jesus, Easter, Epiphany, Pentecost and the Feast of Christ the King. In doing so, it sparked fresh ideas on how we might incorporate our own culture into these liturgical seasons.

I found the reflection questions at the end of each chapter practical and useful for using this book as a self-study spiritual development resource. Each set of reflection questions included ideas on steps we can take for personal spiritual growth and questions on how we can incorporate more diversity into our Catholic faith.
In Pope Francis’ address to Catholic Fraternity of the Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowship on Oct. 31, 2014, we gain insight as to the value of diversity for the Universal Catholic Church. He stated, “Unity in diversity involves the joyful recognition and acceptance of the various gifts which the Holy Spirit gives to each one and the placing of these gifts at the service of all members of the Church. Don’t be afraid of differences!”

Lane-McGee and Schmidt have done a wonderful job of “placing their gifts at the service” of the Catholic Church and encouraging us to include and appreciate the diversity of black culture for the benefit of all.

I highly recommend this book!

John H. Dolezal is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.