Impact on ReligionPhysical contact between Africa and the West
increased in frequency in the 19th century. An
upsurge in the demography of African migrants
into Europe, North America, and elsewhere her-
alds a new phase in the history of African dias-
pora. Religion is a constant identity variable
within African diaspora communities, where
many Africans carry traits of their religiocultural
identity. Sojourn in new contexts enlivens them to
identify and reconstruct their religion for them-
selves and their host societies.
African migrants of diverse origins largely
retained their religious symbolisms and world-
views. Contact with religions of the Americas from
the 16th century resulted in a complex synthesis
that produced African-derived religions, such as
Cuban Santeria, Brazilian Candomblé, Haitian
Voodoo, Orisha, and Ifa traditions. Some of them
have transcended ethnic precincts, while increas-
ingly turning proselytizing religions. For instance,
Ifa priests and devotees now include Yoruba,
Africans, and non-Africans alike.Umbanda, the
Afro-Brazilian religion, was a synthesis of religious
elements from West Africa, South America, and
Western Europe. The proliferation of these new
religions evokes nostalgia, with people of African
descent charting new paths toward rediscovering
their ancestral African homelands.
The African American community has been
integral to the reshaping of the American religious
mosaic. In the context of slavery and racial dis-
crimination in the late 18th and early 19th cen-
turies, America gave birth to African American
Christian denominations from the Methodist,
Baptist, and Presbyterian backgrounds. The mod-
ern Pentecostal movement in the United States
began in 1906 with William J. Seymour, a black
holiness preacher. Although the Wesleyan-Holiness
tradition fueled the quest of the Pentecostal move-
ment prior to 1901, its origin is mostly traced to
the Topeka, Kansas, religious revival. The earliest
groups included the predominantly African
American Church of God in Christ (1897), the
Pentecostal Holiness Church (1898), and the
Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee (1906).
There were also enslaved Muslims from parts
of Africa who brought their religion to parts of
North America. Two religious groups that
emerged to challenge segregation in America and
colonialism in Africa were the Moorish Science
(Timothy Drew) and the Nation of Islam (Wallace
Fard, later known as Farrad Mohammed).
The last 3 decades, characterized by signi-
ficant demographic shifts of African immi-
grants, have witnessed the further proliferation
of varieties of African religions in diaspora.
African indigenous, Islamic, and Christian reli-
gions in diaspora are remapping the old reli-
gious landscapes and widening their clientele
base, as well as playing increasing visible civic
roles within the diaspora.Afe AdogameSeealsoAfricism; Candomblé; Vodou in HaitiFurther Readings
Cohen, R. (1997).Global Diasporas: An Introduction.
London: University College London Press.
Gilroy, P. (1993).The Black Atlantic:Modernity and
Double Consciousness. Boston: Harvard.
Harris, J. E. (1982).Global Dimensions of the African
Diaspora. Washington, DC: Howard.DINKA
The Dinka are a Sudanese people whose culture
centers on their cattle. The Dinka believe that
each family group should occupy an area that will
provide pasture and water for their cattle herds.
All of life’s rituals and ceremonies are connected
to this reality. In effect, the cattle are responsible
for an understanding of the Dinka way of life in
terms of births, marriages, death, and the meaning
of the universe. Thus, they use every aspect of the
cattle. For example, every aspect of the cow’s
body and skin is used for something in the culture.
The urine is used as a cleaning soap when one is
washing. It is also used to dye the hair, to tan
hides, and so forth. The dung is used for fires, and
the ash from the fires is used to keep the animals
clean of ticks and other bugs.
Personal adornment of the body is a part of the
physical creativity of the Dinka. They use cattle
in this process as well. For example, the DinkaDinka 201