AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA

PROFESSOR EDITH M.SPEAKS

INTRODUCTION African Americans or Black Americans are

citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the term is generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most African Americans are the direct descendants of captive Africans who survived the slavery era within the boundaries of the present United States, although some are or are descended from voluntary immigrants from African, Caribbean, Central American or South American nations. African Americans make up the single largest racial minority in the United States and form the second largest racial group after whites in the United States.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE AFRICAN RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

THE GREAT AWAKENING The Great Awakenings were several

periods of rapid and dramatic religious revival in Anglo-American religious history, generally recognized as beginning in the 1730s. They have also been described as periodic revolutions in U.S. religious thought. The term is also used in some respects to refer to American religious revivalism that the Protestant Reformation inspired during and after the 1500s, as well as to identify general religious trends within distinctly U.S. religious culture.

FIRST GREAT AWAKENING The Great Awakening was a period of

heightened religious activity, primarily in the United Kingdom and its North American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s.The First Great Awakening led to changes in colonial society. In New England, the Great Awakening was influential among many Congregationalists. In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the "Backcountry" regions, the Awakening was influential among Presbyterians. In the southern Tidewater and Low Country, northern Baptist and Methodist preachers converted both whites and blacks, enslaved and free. The Baptists especially welcomed blacks into active roles in congregations, including as preachers. Before the American Revolution, the first black Baptist churches were founded in the South in Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia; in Petersburg, Virginia, two black Baptist churches were founded before any white one.

CHARLES COLCOCK JONES• Charles Colcock Jones, Sr. (December 20,

1804 – March 16, 1863) was a Presbyterian clergyman, educator, missionary, and planter of Liberty County, Georgia. The son of a merchant and planter with deep roots in coastal Georgia, Charles Colcock Jones, Sr. was born at Liberty Hall, his father's plantation in Liberty County. He made a profession of faith when he was seventeen and was then prepared for the Presbyterian ministry at Phillips Academy (1825-27), Andover Theological Seminary (1827-29), and Princeton Theological Seminary (1829-30). In 1846, Jones received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. While in the North, Jones agonized over the morality of owning slaves, but he returned to Liberty County to become a planter, a missionary to slaves, and a somewhat reluctant defender of the institution of slavery.

RICHARD ALLEN Richard Allen (February 14, 1760 -

March 26, 1831) was a minister, educator, writer, and the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination in 1816 in the United States, after founding its first church in 1794 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was elected the first bishop of the AME Church. Allen had started as a Methodist preacher but wanted to establish a black congregation independent of white control. The AME church is the oldest denomination among independent African-American churches.

MOTHER BETHEL A.M.E. CHURCH Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church In 1816, Richard Allen of Philadelphia

convened a conference of Black Methodist Episcopal churches and asked them to band together. They did, declaring their right to exist as an independent denomination, and a unified church was born : the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church. Some current members of that church are descended from escaped slaves who had been helped by members of Mother Bethel's original congregation. The present church, located at 419 Richard Allen Avenue (Lombard Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets), houses an interesting Museum.

AFRICAN AMERCAN PENTECOSTALISM Charles Harrison Mason

(1886-1961) founded the Church of God in Christ along with Holiness pastor and songwriter Charles Price Jones. Following a visit to Los Angeles' Azusa Street Revival in 1906, he brought the Holiness denomination into the Pentecostal revival.

GULLAH OF SOUTH CAROLINAMAINTANED THEIR RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Low Country region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. The Gullah are known for preserving more of their African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African American community in the United States. They speak an English-based Creole language containing many African loanwords and significant influences from African languages in grammar and sentence structure. The Gullah language is related to Jamaican Creole, Bahamian Dialect and the Krio language of Sierra Leone in West Africa.

AFRICAN CULTURES IN NORTH AMERICA

YORUBA, DAHOMEY, ZULU, NUBIANS, KAMBA, SUDANESE, BUSHMEN KENYA, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN, SOUTH AFRICA,NAMIBIA, ETC.

VOODOOHaitian Vodou or Vaudou (pronounced [vodu], Anglicised as Voodoo) is a religion originating from the Caribbean country of Haiti, located on the island of Hispañola. It is based upon a merging of the beliefs and practices of West African peoples, (mainly the Fon and Ewe; see West African Vodun),mixed with Roman Catholic Christianity, which was brought about as African slaves were brought to Haiti in the 16th century and forced to convert to the religion of their owners, whilst they largely still followed their traditional African beliefs. characteristics of Vodou include ancestor worship and protection against evil witchcraft. Haitian Vodou shares many similarities with other faiths of the African diaspora, such as Louisiana Voodoo of New Orleans, Santería and Arará of Cuba, and Candomblé and Umbanda of Brazil.The Voodoo temple is called a Hounfour.

LOUISIANA VOODOO Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans

Voodoo, originated from the traditions of the African diaspora. It is a cultural form of the Voodoo religions which historically developed within the French, Spanish, and Creole speaking African-American population of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is one of many incarnations of African-based religions rooted in the West African Dahomean Vodou tradition and the Central African traditions. They became syncretized with the Catholic religion and Francophone culture of South Louisiana as a result of the slave trade. Louisiana Voodoo is often confused with – but is not completely separable from – Haitian Vodou and southeastern U.S. hoodoo. It differs from Haitian Vodou in its emphasis upon Gris-gris, voodoo queens, and Li Grand Zombi. This emphasis has marked the culture of Afro Diaspora, francophone Louisiana within the Western media. It was through Louisiana Voodoo that such terms as gris-gris (a Wolof term) and voodoo was introduced into the American lexicon.

HOODOOHoodoo is a form of predominantly African-American traditional Folk Magic. Also known as Conjure, it is a tradition of magical practice that developed from the Syncretism of a number of separate cultures and magical traditions.Hoodoo incorporates practices from African and Native American traditions, as well as some European magical practices and Grimoires. While folk practices like Hoodoo are trans-cultural phenomena, what is particularly innovative in this tradition is the "remarkably efficacious use of Biblical figures" in its practices and in the lives of its practitioners.The word Hoodoo first was documented in American English in 1875 and was listed as a noun or a transitive verb. It is often used to describe a magic spell or potion, but it may also be used as an adjective for a practitioner. Regional synonyms for Hoodoo include conjuration, conjure, witchcraft, or rootwork.

ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM PRINCE Ayuba Suleiman Diall (1701–1773), also known as

Job ben Solomon, was a famous Muslim slave who was a victim of the Atlantic slave trade. Born in Bondu, Senegal West Africa, Ayuba's memoirs were published as one of the earliest slave narratives, that is, a first-person account of the slave trade, in Thomas Bluett's Some Memories of the Life of Job, the Son of the Solomon High Priest of Boonda in Africa; Who was a Slave about two Years in Maryland; and afterwards being brought to England, was set free, and sent to his native Land in the Year 1734

Bilali Muhammad DocumentBilali Mohammed was a slave from Sapelo Island, Georgia. Born in Timbo, Guinea around 1770, he was enslaved as a teenager and was held as a slave for ten years in the Middle Caicos plantation of Dr. Bell, a Loyalist refugee from the Revolutionary War, before he arrived in Georgia in 1802. Upon Bilali's death in 1857, it was discovered that he had kept a thirteen-page Arabic document. At first, this was thought to have been his diary, but closer inspection revealed that the manuscript was a transcription of a Muslim legal treatise and part of West Africa's Muslim curriculum. The Bilali Muhammad Document is also known as the Ben Ali Diary or Ben Ali Journal. On close analysis, the text proves to be a brief statement of Islamic beliefs and the rules for ablution, morning prayer, and the calls to prayer. It could, justifiably, be called the "Mother Text" of American Islamic Literature.

NOBLE ALI DREW (TIMOTHY DREW)• Noble Drew Ali religious sect founded by

Timothy Drew in Newark, N.J., in 1913. He was believed by his followers to have been ordained Prophet Noble Drew Ali by Allāh. A Holy Koran, the sacred text, was created out of his study of Oriental philosophy. The prophet’s central teaching was that all blacks were of Moorish, and thus Muslim, origins. He advocated a “return” to Islām as the only means of redemption from racial oppression. Rigorous obedience to all laws was required, and certain foods were forbidden. Many of the sect’s formal practices were derived from Muslim observance, and, in fact, the group was a forerunner of the Black Muslim movement. Drew died mysteriously during a period of internal strife, and the cult lost its impetus.

NATION OF ISLAM A religious group founded in Detroit,

Michigan, United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in July 1930 with the self-proclaimed goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of the black men and women of America. NOI also promotes the belief that God will bring about a universal government of peace. From 1978 to the present, Louis Farrakhan has been the leader of a reconstituted Nation of Islam, the original organization having been renamed and dissolved by Warith Deen Muhammad. The Nation of Islam's National Center and headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois and is also home to its flagship Mosque No. 2 Mosque Maryam.

SUNNI MUSLIMSSunni, or Sunnite, refers to those Muslims in the majority sect of Islam. Sunnism and Shi'ism split on the question of succession and the appropriate method of choosing a leader. The Sunni accepted the legitimacy of the first four Caliphs (successors to the Prophet). They would then accept as leader anyone from Muhammad's tribe, according to the consensus of the Umma or by the ahl as-shura as representatives of the Umma. Later, in effect, whoever became the leader by whatever route was acceptable to the Sunni. In the Shi'i tradition, Ali was seen as the successor to Muhammad. The core beliefs of Muslims are based on the Qur'an and sunna of the Prophet Muhammad and centrally concern God, Muhammad, and the Umma.

MARCUS GARVEYMarcus Garvey became one of the most influential black leaders of the early 20th century. Born and raised in Jamaica, Garvey travelled in Central and South America, then moved to England to continue his education. In 1914 he started the Universal Negro Improvement Association and began speaking out publicly in favor of worldwide black unity and an end to colonialism. He moved to the United States in 1916 and helped start a steamship company, the Black Star Line. It was both a business venture and a part of his “Back to Africa" plan for Americans of African descent -- the notion that African-Americans should return to Africa and set up their own new country there. Garvey was always a controversial figure: he favored fiery rhetoric and elaborate uniforms, and was considered a dangerous character by some established politicians. Garvey was jailed in 1925 after being convicted of mail fraud (related to the sale of stock in the Black Star line), but his sentence was reduced and he was deported to Jamaica two years later. Garvey eventually moved back to London, England, where he died in 1940. His body was returned to Jamaica in 1964.

BLACK SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTFATHER DIVINE: George Baker (1880 – September 10, 1965), also known as Father Divine, was an African American spiritual leader from about 1907 until his death. His full self-given name was Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and he was also known as "the Messenger" and George Baker early in his life. He founded the International Peace Mission movement, formulated its doctrine, and oversaw its growth from a small and predominantly black congregation into a multiracial and international church. Controversially, Father Divine claimed to be God. Some contemporary critics also claimed he was a charlatan, and some suppose him to be one of the first modern cult leaders. However, Father Divine made numerous contributions toward his followers' economic independence and racial equality.

SWEET DADDY GRACEBishop C.M. Grace (Sweet Daddy Grace)Bishop C.M. Grace, known to his followers as Sweet Daddy Grace, was born in Cape Verde Islands,Portugal in 1884. He came to America in 1903, and settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was the founder, builder and organizer of the United House Of Prayer For All People. To his followers he was a spiritual leader, counselor, and father and was affectionately called by them, " Daddy." Later in 1919, he built the first House of Prayer by hand in West Wareham, Massachusetts. He left us with his words stating that another would be chosen from his regular ministers, who would be the spiritual advisory and master of this kingdom.The flamboyant Bishop C.M. Grace, known as "Sweet Daddy Grace," was an effective evangelist who preached revival in a Pentecostal tradition that included brass "shout bands" and public baptisms. But his first big success came five years later when he opened a church in Charlotte. The United House of Prayer for All People prided itself on an ecstatic worship style that included speaking in tongues. Grace claimed great powers and developed a line of products including "Daddy Grace" coffee, tea, soaps, and hand creams reputed to have healing properties. By the time of his death in 1960, the church he founded had become a denomination and Grace himself a rich man. Today, the denomination, with about 3.5 million members, has headquarters in Washington, D.C.

YORUBA• One of the largest ethno-linguistic or ethnic groups in West

Africa. The Yoruba constitute around 30 million individuals throughout West Africa and are found predominantly in Nigeria with approximately 21 percent of its total population . It is no accident that the Yoruba cultural influence spread across the Atlantic to the Americas.  European slave hunters violently captured and marched untold millions of  Africans to their demise on over crowded slave ships bound for the Americas.  Slave wars launched by the kingdom of Dahomey against some of the Yoruba kingdoms, and slave wars between the Yoruba's themselves made war casualty Africans available for transportation to the Americas.   Yoruba slaves were sent to British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the New World, and in a number of these places Yourba traditions survived strongly. In Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and Trinidad, Yoruba religious rites, beliefs, music and myths is evident even at this late day. In Haiti the Yoruba's were generally called Anagos. Afro-Haitian religious activities give Yoruba rites and beliefs an honored place, and the pantheon includes numerous deities of Yoruba origin. In Brazil, Yoruba religious activities are called Anago or Shango, and in Cuba they are designated Lucumi. Slavery in the United States was quite different from other colonized regions. In the U.S. chattel type slavery was the means where the language and culture was whipped and beat out of the African captives. In the U.S. throughout the Diaspora, the African generally received the death penalty for practicing his or her birthright. Today the religion has undergone a phenomenal surge in popularity and interest. Santeria, the adaptation of Yoruba and Ifa with Catholicism, came to the states first with Puerto Ricans in the forties and fifties and then with the flood of Cuban refugees in the sixties. In all of these places mentioned above, the pantheon of major Yoruba deities has survived virtually intact, along with a complex of rites, beliefs, music, dances and myths of Yoruba origin.