Emilie M. Townes is the first Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale University Divinity School. She is the former Carolyne Williams Beaird Professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Townes is the author of 'Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope' and 'In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness'. She is also the editor of A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering and Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation, and Transformation. In 2005, Townes became the first African American woman elected vice president of the American Academy of Religion. She will assume its presidency in 2008.

In 'Breaking the Fine Rain of Death', Emilie Townes focuses on the health care issues affecting African Americans and does so from a womanist perspective by paying attention to race and class as well as gender. Townes describes the lamentable history of health care in African American communities and the disease that affect African Americans disproportionately -- diabetes, hypertension, low-birthrate babies, and drug-related illnesses--as well as cultural, genetic, and socio-economic factors that account for them. Townes then offers models of care that have worked in some African American communities and that need to be used on a broader scale. She explores healing models sensitive to class and cultural context, and provides practical recommendations relevant to the needs of the Black Church and the African American community.