African American Religious History
What is James Baldwin’s Understanding of History?
Baldwin believes that history is written by the writer and therefore you only see it from that perspective. History always portrays white people as the saviors of black people.
What is the Meaning of the “Most Disagreeable Mirror” that James Baldwin Speaks About?
The whole American optic in terms of reality is based in the necessity of keeping black people out of it. They are non-existent, except according to their terms, and their terms are unacceptable.
What Does James Baldwin Think White People Have to Do for Them to Change Their Lives and Commit to the Cause of Justice?
All you are ever told about being black in this country is terrible. In order to survive this, you have to really dig down into yourself and recreate yourself. You have to decide who you are, face the world to deal with you, not the idea of you.
How Have We Defined “Religion” in Class?
Religion is a system of symbols, myths, doctrines, ethics, and rituals for the expression of ultimate relevance.
What are Some Basic Features of African Traditional Religions (ATRs) According to Cyril Orji?
- Animism
- Exorcism
- Healing
- Sacrifice
- Taboo
- Magic
- Rites of passage
- Divination
- Creation of myths
- Totems
- High god
- Afterlife
- Megaliths
- Shaman
What Distinguishes ATRs and Other Tribal Religions from the “World Religions”?
Based on form of social organization, religions of oral memory and culture, more local and provincial concerns.
What is the Difference Between Religion as “Clan-Solidarity” and Religion as “Life-Vision”?
Clan solidarity means you are born into the religion whereas life vision means you choose to structure your life around that religion.
Who Was Abd al-Rahman (Abdul Rahman), and Why is He an Important Figure in This Class?
He was an African prince who was captured and taken to America on a slave ship. He worked for many years as a slave before his master released him to travel home. However, he couldn’t get home so he traveled around the US trying to raise money to free his children and return to West Africa.
What are the “Five Pillars” of Islam?
- Faith
- Prayer
- Charity
- Fasting
- Pilgrimage
How Was Slavery on the African Continent Different Than Slavery in the Americas?
Slavery on the African continent was divided between religions as opposed to race.
What are Some Important Features of Islam as It Appeared in West African Societies?
Islam in Africa is revealed in the various schools of thought, traditions, and voices in many African countries. The practice of Islam on the continent is not static and is constantly being reshaped by prevalent social, economic, and political conditions. Generally, Islam in Africa often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems, forming Africa’s own orthodoxies.
What Have We Said About Christianity in Africa?
When Europeans arrived in Africa they did not take any interest or respect towards their religions and cultures. You cannot respect a person if you don’t respect their religion. In Africa, we saw how beliefs and religions were put down by Europeans.
Who Was Las Casas, and Who are the Ladinos and Bozales?
Early Spanish historian and Dominican missionary who was the first to expose the oppression of indigenous peoples by Europeans in the Americas and to call for the abolition of slavery there. Ladinos and Bozales were two different types of slaves. Ladinos had useful skills and were therefore worth more money.
What is “Race,” “Racism,” and “Racialization” According to Carlos Hoyt, Jr.?
Racialization describes the formation of race, as well as the infusion and deployment of race in human dynamics. Race denotes external and ancestry that indicate the existence of immutable heredity. Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.
What Does It Mean to Say that Race Has “Social Currency”?
A social construct is a refined idea, something that does not exist in physical reality. It would not exist if not for being held as meaningful in the human imagination and its “real” only by virtue of the social convention that involves it with validity, value and significance.
What Role Did Black Churches Play in Society?
Address social conditions of poverty and illiteracy, helped form self-help organizations, foster racial pride and community activism, moral behavior and leadership venues. Was against the American Colonization Society.
What is the “Genre” of David Walker’s Appeal?
It’s a call to action condemning the US society of the mistreatment of black people.
How Does David Walker Use Biblical Passages and Stories to Make His Arguments?
He uses biblical passages to show that God does not agree with the mistreatment of different races. He also makes a point of showing the diversity of ethnicities and nationalities living in harmony in multiple biblical stories.
What is Walker’s Primary Image for God in the Appeal?
Even ancient pagans treated their slaves better than white Christian Americans who are supposed to be civilized people.
Go Down Moses: The “Invisible Institution,” Suffering, and Song – What are Some Characteristics of Slave Religion?
- “Secret” – Invisible Institution
- Exodus & Contested Biblical Texts
- Spirit-empowered Worship Ceremonies / Prayer
- Morality and Ethics
- The Spirituals
- Conjure and Other Alternatives
- Accommodation and Rebelliousness
What is Conjure?
To summon a devil or spirit by invocation or incantation.
How Can Christian Beliefs and Practices Be Both “Accommodating” or “Rebellious” Toward the Institution of Slavery?
“Slave rebelliousness should not be thought of exclusively in terms of acts such as arson, sabotage, flight or revolt, for religion itself, in a very real sense, could be an act of rebelliousness – an assertion of slave independence, which sometimes required outright defiance of the master’s command.
What Biblical Texts Were Used to Support Slavery in America?
- Ephesians 6:5-9
- Philemon (p. 294)
- Romans 6:15-231
- Peter 2:18-25
What Does “Redemption” Mean as Used in the Bible, by Whites in the South Following the Civil War, and in the Phrase “Redemption of Africa”?
- Bible: Refers to the deliverance of Christians from sin.
- Post-Civil War South: Refers to the overthrow or defeat of Radical Republicans (white and black) by white Democrats, marking the end of the Reconstruction era in the South.
What Impact Did the Civil War Have on Enslaved Persons and Black Churches?
Caravans of runaway slaves follow Union armies (“contraband”). Northern churches, missionaries, and organizations rush to give aid. Plus, Booker T. Washington (education) and Daniel Alexander Payne (AME church).