Then We'll Sing a New Song
African Influences on America's Religious Landscape
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $54.99
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- $54.99
Publisher Description
Then We'll Sing a New Song is a fascinating examination of how African religions have shaped belief and practices in America. Not just the story of the development of African American religions or the black church, this book tells the often-unrecognized, but important story of how African religions have shaped religion in America more broadly.
Mary Ann Clark introduces readers to the cultures of three African kingdoms that contributed significant numbers of their population to the African slave trade, and also profoundly shaped religion in America—the Kingdom of Kongo, the Oyo Empire, and the Kingdom of Dahomey. Each of these groups has a unique history within the long history of the Atlantic slave trade and interacts with the Americas at a specific point in history. Clark shows how each may have had an influence on contemporary American beliefs and culture, sometimes in surprising ways. The book features a glossary, timeline, and maps.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As an independent scholar, Clark (Santeria) uses an unconventional approach to religious inquiry to develop a comprehensive look at African spiritual beliefs within and beyond the black church in America. Religious practices from three African kingdoms that supplied the majority of people sold during the Atlantic slave trade are described before and after America's Second Great Awakening. Clark argues that the combined effect of Africans' religious resilience and a gradual American acceptance allowed ecstatic trance possession and ritual performance to become more popular across demographics in American Christianity. Readers with interests that span the Yoruba-derived religions like Santeria, Vodou, Hoodoo, and Candomble will find respectful analyses of syncretic African religions around the world, along with a helpful glossary and timeline. Clark's main thesis is that many African-Americans converted to Christianity as slaves while simultaneously infusing Christianity with African spiritualism and divination-based beliefs.
