Introduction to Religions of the African Diaspora

Religions of the African Diaspora draws on my over thirty years of studying and teaching African and African Diasporan Spiritualities. I have found that students often do not understand contexts and may carry ideas of Africa and Black people that need to be explored before religions and spiritualities can be understood. I get it: I'm a Black U.S. citizen, having worked through many of these same misconceptions, and I approach this study from that perspective. For many Black people in this country, the African continent is either romanticized, ignored, or belittled. Bringing my own perspective adds depth to the material, as I incorporate the history of Black Studies which challenge some American Black views of the African continent (and vice versa). I also bring Western European and U.S. norms into dialogue with values that may be part of African and Diasporan religions. Bringing these insights into an introductory text will benefit any student of religions, international studies, or history. Throughout the book I provide contexts and definitions that will aid students' comprehension. I frame chapters with the widest possible lens while aiming to make the study enjoyable by including information on travel, thereby connecting the African continent's religions with Diasporan expressions. This framework is significant, making the proposed text unique: it is truly intended as an introduction to engage beginning students at any level. For instance, I sometimes have students in my classes who are part of mission work to the African continent or to poor Black communities; the religious-cultural analyses of the course give students tools for successful engagement with the people they want to serve. A basic problem in this field is that there is no single text that addresses what teachers need to teach and what students need to learn. For decades professors have cobbled readings together from multiple sources: philosophers, anthropologists, historians, Africanists, political scientists, theologians, practitioners. There is a desperate need to bring together analyses of Africa, Diaspora, colonialism, race, Black people, and religion into one introductory volume.