In Search of Divinity
African Traditional Religion and the Nation of Gods and Earths
Keywords:
African Continuity, religion, identity, divinity, rap, blackAbstract
Multiple African perspectives conceptualize humans as divine. This innate godhood manifests itself with the achievement of knowledge of self in relation to the universe. Africans on the continent and throughout the diaspora represent spiritual adherents who have had their physical, emotional, and intellectual freedom constrained by racially motivated forces. African conceptualizations of who and what is divine have been historically discounted as illegitimate. This devaluation of spiritual principles and African identity manifests in early foreign contact on the continent. Visitors, invaders, and later missionaries sought to conquer or alter African culture by introducing and imposing their religious values. This article explores African traditional religion and its evolutions and contrasts it with practices by certain Africans in the diaspora. It addresses the following questions. How did ancient Africans understand the concept of God? What happened to African religious identity post-enslavement and colonization? How do contemporary religiosity, spirituality, faith, and the interpretation of God continue to impact Africans?
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