Session 3

Africana Spirituality - Quest for Universals

  1. Scholars continue to debate whether certain core values animate Africana Spirituality

  2. Gayraud Wilmore (historian/theologian) - in the first edition his now classic Black Religion and Black Radicalism (Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1973) - suggests that one such value is a commitment to freedom

  3. Peter Paris (ethicist) - in The Spirituality of African Peoples (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995) suggests that there are six moral virtues prized by Africans and African Americans

  4. In Joy Unspeakable (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004): 44, Barbara Holmes (ethicist) asserts that a communal focus - rather than one centered on the individual - is characteristic of Africana spirituality

P. Paris - Africana Moral Virtues

  1. Benificence

  2. Forbearance

  3. Practical Wisdom

  4. Improvisation

  5. Forgiveness

  6. Justice

Africana Spiritualities - R. Franklin’s Work

  1. Robert Franklin (ethicist) - in his Another Day’s Journey (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997): 41-52 - has identified seven traditions of African American Spirituality

  2. One could argue that these exist not just in North America, but in Africa and elsewhere in the Diaspora

  3. Each has a telos and sustaining disciplines

  4. Each is a response to the challenges of Black Life that resists dehumanizing impulses

  5. Each can be classified as a spirituality of resistance

  6. The historical roots of these spiritualities can be traced to the 17th century

Franklin’s 7 Categories

  1. Evangelical -- Divine knowledge; Teaching/Preaching

  2. Holiness -- Purity; Fasting/Prayer

  3. Charismatic -- Spiritual empowerment; Tarrying

  4. Social Justice -- Righteousness; Activism

  5. Afrocentric -- Black Identity; Heritage Celebrations

  6. Contemplative -- Divine Intimacy; Meditation

  7. New Age -- Inner Peace; Meditation

Other Classifications

  1. Conjurational -- see Theophus Smith, Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America (New York: Oxford, 1994) -- focus on Empowerment/Healing; Rituals of Power

  2. Humanistic -- see Anthony Pinn's treatment in his Varieties of African American Religious Experience (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998): 154-185) -- focus on Self development; Non-Theistic Humanism

  3. Diasporan Bricolage (H. R. Page, Jr.) -- see "Hymnal as Supplemental Repertory, Materia Medica and Culture Generator - The African American Heritage Hymnal as Conjurational Midrash," in Foundation Theology 2005: Student Essays for Ministry Professionals, ed. H. R. Page, Jr. (South Bend: Graduate Theological Foundation, 2005): 147-161 -- focus on Healing/Wholeness; Engagement/Discernment

Questions - Part 3

  1. What crises did cities present for African Americans migrating from rural areas in the early 20th century?

  2. Can religious innovators like Noble Drew Ali, George Alexander McGuire, and Wallace Fard be said to have employed the virtue of improvisation in their work?

  3. How do Africana expressions of Islam, Orthodox Christianity, and Judaism address needs specific to the African American urban experience?

Citation: administrator. (2006, September 05). Session 3. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from Notre Dame OpenCourseWare Web site: http://ocw.nd.edu/africana-studies/faith-and-the-african-american-experience/session-3.
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