The Spirit of African Peoples

      In The Spirituality of African Peoples Peter J. Paris (1995) provides his reader with a persuasive argument for the survival of African culture and values in present day Black Christianity, despite the toxic and enduring experience provided them by the African slave trade in the United States. This slave trade gave way to an environment that sought to enslave the African’s mind; through the eradication of their culture, their body; through physical labor, and their soul; through the indoctrination of he and his children with Westernized Christianity. It is no wonder that present day African American youth exist in a state of cultural disconnection. Notwithstanding, commonalities among those in the African Diaspora exist in lieu of the systematic cultural decimation exacted upon their ancestors. Paris (1995) posits that these commonalities are evidence of the successful integration of African culture and societal thoughts with Westernized Christianity during the slave era, done latently for a continued connection to their origins. To demonstrate his points he divides his book into four spheres that form the structure of African societal thought and that endured through the slave trade. Specifically those are God, the community, family, and the person though only the first will be focused on for this discourse.

During the slave trade the Africans were in a foreign land that forced and expected them to assimilate completely to its customs. One of the cultural adoptions that occurred was the acceptance of Christianity, which has remained a fixture in African American life today. Paris (1995) describes this transition in African theology with Reverend Z. R. Mahabane’s statement that “The black man still believes that Christianity comes from God (Modimo) so he clings to it although his mind is in a state of revolt against Western Christianity” (p. 30). Similar to Dubois’ concept of double consciousness experienced by African Americans in their own society as well as the society of the majority, Africans who first encountered Christianity experience a conflict. This emerges from their duality as Africans, and the customs/thoughts that come along with that, coupled with the presence of Westernized Christianity, which was used as an instrument of indoctrination and enslavement by their captors. In both instances, to turn one’s back on African/African American culture feels like a self-betrayal yet consideration and acceptance of Westernized/White culture is almost a necessity for survival in society and the avoidance of social isolation.

In an effort to mediate this internal conflict, both then and now, Africans imbued Westernized Christianity with African features, thus molding it to their own belief system and ensuring the longevity of their own culture. It should be noted that the presence of a foundational similarity (i.e. monotheism) between African religiosity and Christianity aided in the acceptance of Christianity by Africans. Paris (1995) writes that in all actuality “The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of Traditional African religiosity” (p. 29).

With a general understanding of the Christian framework, Africans then tailored it to their own concepts and forms of expression. For one, because of the current state of suffering and oppression Africans embraced the portrayal of God and Jesus as the “liberator of all oppressed peoples” and the one “opposed to all who are bent on maintaining oppressive social systems” (Paris, 1995, p. 41). Another incorporation of their experience included their acceptance of such Biblical figures as Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Mary, Jonah, and Paul as surrogate ancestral protectors, in line with their belief that their familiar ancestors watch over them in death (Paris, 1995). Further, they stressed the kinship of all peoples under God, in conjunction with their collectivist thinking (p. 41).

Africans also assimilated to the Westernized religion through expression. Paris (1995) writes that while Christianity considers “the normative sources of morality as the Bible, tradition, reason, and experience” African religion considers such things as “mythology, proverbs, folktales, the oral tradition as mediated through the elders” as normative sources of morality (p. 41). An illustration of the two working in conjunction is evident in the spirituals that came out of the slave era. They reflect the biblical knowledge adopted by the Africans as well as the significance they attach to it through the expression of oral tradition. Paris (1995) gives an example of such integration with the song below,

The slave said to his mate -

I got shoes,

You got shoes,

All God’s children got shoes,

When we get to Heaven

We’re going to put on our shoes

An’ shout allover God’s Heaven,

Heaven! Heaven!

Then looking up to the big house where the master lived, he said:

But everybody talking ‘bout Heaven

Ain’t goin there. (p. 65)

This spiritual speaks to the African’s acceptance of the Westernized Heaven, their current state of suffering, as well as their awareness that the master’s actions do not match up with his preaching. Such songs, or Negro spirituals are prevalent throughout the era and serve various purposes of comfort, protest, and survival.

All in all, African thought, in some shape or form, has endured the test of time and suppression. These facets of African and Westernized synthesis are evident in Black Churches and African American Christianity today. Whether it is the celebration of Jesus the sufferer, the need of a strong choir to properly evoke the meaning and emotion of the spirituals, or the fellowship that is a fixture of every Black Church, many of the original African integrative responses remain.

Now, having spoken on the African adjustment to Christianity in the Westernized world, an opportunity for further exploration of African religious and cultural survival may lie in observing their “adjustment” to slavery with other masters. I have read that Native Americans as well as Americans enslaved many Africans. I am curious to know whether these Africans found a manner to transfuse their belief system onto the spirituality/religion provided by these Native American captors – or whether it was necessary. Slavery differed in these conditions, with the African person being perceived as more of an indentured servant than subhuman, with some tribes allowing interracial marriages. Further, the Native American religiosity may have been related more to African beliefs.