BLACOLOGY
NET-INFO RESEARCH
RELIGION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN AFRICA
SCHOLARLY ARTICLE :
The Demise of Traditional Religion in African Culture
12-29-00
BY PROF. WALTER CROSS
SUMMITED TO: DR. SULAYMAN NYANG
AFRICAN STUDIES Ph.D. HOWARD UNIVERSITY
BLACOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE, BRDIINC@ AOL .COM, FT. WASHINGTON, MD 20744
TABLE OF CONTENT
page
I.
INTRODUCTION
3
II.
ARTICLE
5
III.
BLACOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
6
VI.
REFERENCES
9 and 10
"If the African educated on European lines is unable or unwilling to teach the
outside world something of the Institutions and inner feelings of his people; if,
for some reason or other, he can show nothing of his real self to those anxious
to learn, and to assist him; if he cannot make his friends feel the force of his
racial character and sympathise with his racial aspiration, then it is evident
that his education has been sadly defective, that his training by aliens has
done but little for him—that his teachers have surely missed their aim and
wasted their time."
By Edward Wilmot Blyden, The African Society 1903
2
I.
INTRODUCTION
The Net-Info Research is a collection of information gathered for a subject or interest.
This information is received from the Internet.
It consists of documents acquired while
scanning the Internet for information pertaining to class assignments, topics or individual
interest. This research is primarily the writings, articles, and materials of the authors on their
web pages. These articles are the facts and works of those who have research the subjects.
These articles, writings, and materials assist or provide knowledge and documentation on
subjects or topics that are of interest to Prof. Walter Cross CEO/President of The Blacology
Research and Development Institute Inc. (A Cultural Science) and a candidate for Ph. D. in
African Studies at Howard University. This Net-Info Research is a review of a scholarly
article on," The Demise of Traditional Religion in African Culture by Mark Horsey ". This is
an assignment that was given in the class," Religion and Social Change in Africa", instructed
by Dr. Sulayman Nyang in the Fall Semester of 2000. The assignment was to provide a review
of Scholarly Article or paper on aspects of Religion and Social Change In African. As a
Blacological Cultural Scientist, I selected this article because it shows that Black/African
Culture was not put in the present condition by natural causes but due to the subjugation and
destruction at the intervention of Islam and Christianity.
It also shows the resilience of
Black/Africans under tremendous opposition and odds. It is a good example of how colonialist
religions such as Islam and Christianity have cause cultural decay and the lost of ancestral
traditions. It is because of these social changes instruments that cultural redevelopment in
Black/Africa has been stagnated.
3
In the establishment of the Cultural Science Blacology, one may be able to distinguish a
Blacological Research or Blacology by the capitalization of the first letter of all words that are
associated with Blacology (i.e. Black People, Black Culture, Black Woman, Black Man, Black
Youth, Blacology, and Blacological etc). It is done to give honor, respect, and importance to
these words. In the Euro-Centric Culture, Black People have been taught to hate everything
Black and African. Black People had been taught to hate themselves. The Cultural Science of
Blacology is to undo this type of self-hatred by giving importance to all that is Black and
African. So then, it is proper and fitting to capitalize the first letter in all words that are of
Black/African Culture.
This is also a way to acknowledge and identify a Blacological
Research and the Interdisciplinary Cultural Science of Blacology. Blacology may also consist
of it's own Cultural Linguistics or Ebonics. In addition, it is not restricted to the Euro-centric
Language Arts. This give Blacology it's own significant identifiable writing form. Net-Info
Research is a method of utilizing the Internet information to support academic studies. This
Net-info Research is a collection of an article on Black/Africans and The African Diaspora.
This is a brief analysis on the demise of Black/African Culture by Colonial Religions. See
your Internet address provided for you on the reference page for a more detail informative
update.
4
II.
SCHOLARLY ARTICLE:
Mark Horsey
The Demise of Traditional Religion in African Culture
The colonization of the western coastal areas of Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries by
the typically British-Anglo-Christians affected a disunion of indigenous African people from
their traditional belief and social systems. One aspect of this separation came from the
introduction of Christianity into these societies. Bessie Head and Chinua Achebe lend powerful
yet subtle insight into this transition in their works on African culture. Many passages
demonstrate an inherent relationship between the social structure of the African people, and
their subsequent religions. Underlying the conspicuous theme that colonialism is a terrible
institution in the effected countries is the idea that Christianity can not easily be substituted for
the traditional religions in these social structures without great harm coming to the effected
peoples.
In "Looking for a Rain God" Bessie Head gives an interesting insight into religion when a
small family resorts to ancient sacrifice in hopes of producing rain. In one portion of the short
story Head reveals an ancient custom of child sacrifice which is initiated by the patriarchal
figure in the group. Bessie writes, "Finally, an ancient memory stirred in the old man,
Mokgobja. When he was very young and the customs of the ancestors still ruled the land, he
had been witness to a rain-making ceremony. And he came alive a little, struggling to recall the
details which had been buried by years and years of prayer in a Christian church." (Head pg.
39). In this dialog Head not only furthers the effort of the story, but also shows the way in
which Christianity has taken over the African society and how ancient custom has been
"buried".
In Chinua Achebe's book "Things Fall Apart" he presents the demise of African religious
custom as it takes place. In contrast to Head's argument on the burial of ancient custom,
Achebe describes the fight against such a burial by the elders of the group. Two passages from
the story present this conflict quite well; "Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, called the converts
the excrement of the clan, and the new faith was a mad dog that had come to eat it up!"
(Achebe pg. 143). This prophecy would soon be true in the book as well as in the history of the
African peoples as Head demonstrates in her short story. In rebuttal to the pro-African religious
leaders were the zealous missionaries who sought to "convert" all of Africa to the new religion.
"He told them that they worshipped false gods of wood and stone." (ibid. pg. 145). This
statement signifies the ethnocentricity of the colonizers and the lack of sympathy that they had
for the uprooting of the African social system.
In both stories the punishment for alleged injustices comes from the court and law books of the
Anglo. Head introduces this subtlety in the sentence "All they had on the statute books was that
ritual murder was against the law and must be stamped out with the death penalty." (Head pg.
40). This statement reflects the separateness of the law system from those who were being
governed. The next sentence in the story describes how the other tribesmen knew that the same
5
circumstances could have easily happened to them. They may have been more sympathetic
than the court. A similar situation occurs in "Things Fall Apart" when Okonkwo and the other
leaders of the tribe are tricked into capture and the district commissioner gives an excellent
example of his own ethnocentrism. "We have a court of law where we judge cases and
administer justice just as it is done in my own country under a great queen." (Achebe pg. 194).
The idea of a great queen is surely something foreign to the African tribesmen.
However, ancient African religion is not portrayed in either story as a cure-all. In "Thing Fall
Apart" one dialog shows the questioning of the violence associated with the ancient religion.
At the end of one chapter after Okonkwo is banished from the clan for seven years as the result
of accidentally killing another man, his friend Obierika contemplates on the righteousness of
the ancient traditions. "Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offense he had committed
inadvertently? But although he thought for a long time he found no answer. He was merely led
into greater complexities. He remembered his wife's twin children, whom he had thrown away.
What crime had they committed?" (ibid. pg. 125). In the story of "Looking for a Rain God" it is
easy to see the disappointment that followed the implementation of the ancient ritual of
sacrificing the children in order to make it rain. "After it was all over and the bodies of the two
little girls had been spread across the land, the rain did not fall. Instead, there was a deathly
silence at night and the devouring heat of the sun by day. A terror, extreme and deep,
overwhelmed the whole family. they packed, rolling up their skin blankets and pots, and fled
back to the village." (Head pg. 39). Obviously this is not a happy ending to an ancient ritual.
Both authors tell an entertaining and interesting story about African culture. However,
entertainment is not really the prime objective in either case. Both present an insight into the
African culture that is not portrayed as perfect, but actually quite destructive to their society. It
seems that the authors point is that regardless of how violent or inappropriate the ancient
customs are, the coming of Christianity was equally violent and terrible for African society.
III.
BlACOLOGICAL ANALYSIS:
Blacologically speaking, there is no evidences that would suggest that Black/African
culture was on a decline before the intervention of European and Arabic religions. These
institutions force their way on the continent with brutal and violent measures. The expectance
of these was not because of Christmas and the pilgrimage to Mecca. This was not a love affair.
This was a battle fought for thousands of years. The affects of these cultural wars are still
under way. Until the whole truth is known about destruction of the Black Civilization there
will always be Arab imperialism, Christian domination and under estimation of Black/African
6
Culture. The day when Black/African Culture is perpetuated as a human institution by all that
occupy the world, that is when we will rise above the need to feel superior.
This is why as Black/Africans we must listen to our ancestors who left us a plan
to follow, because they knew the problems we are faced with. Our Ancestors was educated
about our struggle. They we well read and studied in our dilemma. They acknowledged that
most of us were mis-educated or not learned at all, so they told us what to do. They left us a
plan that was operatively Black, one that would fit our struggle and our destiny. It is time that
we used the information that was inspired by God and delivered by our people. One that stay
on my mind is what Malcolm X said. This is plan that can be used anywhere you find
Black/African People. It is a plan that is timeless, no matter what year it you can use it. When
I read the autobiography of Malcolm X I was inspired to write what he said in Blacology. This
article is perfect for the inspiration of his Black Nationalist Philosophy. Malcolm X is not only
one who told us about Black Nationalism or Pan-Africanism there were many Kwame
Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Marcus Garvey, Edward Blyden and many, many more. This is and
old plan, there is nothing under the sun.
This philosophy has evolved into a Blacological Thought. This is what they told us.
We must acknowledge that we are being of our own knowledge and thought. With our own
thought we are not real, equal, or worthwhile. Without our own thought we are as Joe Madison
says, we are under estimated, marginalized and devalued. Joe Madison is Talk-Show Host on
WOL Radio 1450AM in Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. We
are the products and victims cultural conditioning of colonialist Arabs And Europeans. We
will continue to be subjugated by Christianity and Islam. We will be living a vicarious
experience under fear of economic reprisal. This is what our ancestors said, we should do. If
we don't listen to what our ancestors told us we will continue to be lost.
I believe our method of solving the problems that face the black culture and its people
must be scientific though a Blacological means. What I am saying is that we must utilize the
methods of Brothers and Sisters who have paved the way for Black people. It is necessary that we
turn back to our own culture in order to develop a future for our people. We must be able to stand
on our own in order to make contributions as a culture. "We can never be number one with
anyone else until we become number one with ourselves. We must utilize the Science of
7
Blacology as a means of cultural equality. We must develop our own religion. We need to
develop Black Theology as our religion, which our personal business. Malcolm X said "it should
governs our personal life and morals. Our religious philosophy is between God and us, whom
most of us believe in. Just as the Religious Philosophy of these of colonialist are between them
and the God they believe in. It is best this way. If we were to start discussing our religions, we
would have to many differences from the start and we would never get together.
So today, although Black Theology should be religion our philosophy, our
political, economic, and cultural philosophy must be Blacological. As Malcolm X said, "if we
bring up religion, we will have differences, arguments and we will never get together. But, if we
keep our religion at home, in the closet. Keep our religion between ourselves and the God we
worship. But when we talk about solutions to the problems facing the Black culture, we have a
struggle that is common to all Black people. The need for cultural solidarity is common to all
Black/African people.
The political philosophy of Blacology only means that the Black people should
control the politics and politicians in their culture.
-
We must not allow for Black politicians who only want to make a dollar to lead us
astray.
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We must make political decision that will be advantageous to the Black culture.
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We must stop being color blind or non-Blacological voters.
-
We must not vote for anyone who is not from our culture or for our culture.
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We must not be fooled by Blacks who are bought and pay for by other cultures.
-
We must educate and make our own political leaders who will be obligated to the
Black culture.
The political philosophy of Blacology only means that if Blacks are going to live in a
Black culture, we must understand the politics of our culture. "We must understand what politics
is suppose to produce. We must know what part politics play in our lives.
Until we become culturally mature, we will always be mislead, deceived or maneuver. We
must educate ourselves so that we will not be supporters of someone who does not have the good
of our culture at heart. So the political philosophy of Blacology means that we will have to carry
on programs of re-education (a political program) to open our people eyes. To make us become
8
more politically conscious and mature. Then whenever we get ready to cast our ballots, that
ballots will be cast for a man of the culture. A man who has the good of the culture at heart.
The Economic philosophy of Blacology means that we own, operate and control the
economy of the culture in which we live. You would never find a Black store in a white culture.
The white culture will not patronize you. They are not wrong. They are looking out for their
culture. It is the Black people who must learn to look out for their culture. Other ethnic groups do
not let someone else control their economy of their culture. Blacks must not allow other ethnic to
control the economy of their culture. Blacks must control he education, housing and jobs of their
culture. We as Black people must realize the necessity of controlling the businesses in our
culture. We must understand and acknowledge that scientifically we must not accept integration
as a means of equality. Integration render a people help less and dependant. This is not
progressive or productive thinking. Blacologically speaking, we must have our own culture.
Every people deserves a chance to make it on their own. We can not make it as individuals and
independent persons. "We need a culture to survive.
REFERENCES:
1.
Mark Horsey
The Demise of Traditional Religion in African Culture
Essay discusses how European colonization of Western Africa during the 18th and 19th
centuries changed its people's religious practices forever.
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bill/316/paper1/hor
2.
http://websearch.cs.com/cs/results/cssearch-frameset.adp?hit_
3.
Sirleaf, Amos D. Ph.D. Blacology: A Cultural Science., Blacology Research and
Development Institute Inc. AMDSirleaf@hotmail.com ,1997
4.
Cross, Walter Blacology: A Cultural Science. A Brief Introduction, Washington, DC:
Library of Congress. 1990. http://www.libraryofcongress.com
5.
"Afrocentricity," Microsoft® Encarta® Africana 2000. © 1999 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved. http://www.microsoft.com/encarta/
6.
Blacology Research And Development Institute Inc., BRDIINC@AOL.COM , Ft.
Washington, Maryland 20744, 1997.
9
7.
WOL Radio 1450 AM of
Radio One Network, Eric St. James Show 1997
400 H Street, N.E.
Washington, DC http://www.WOLNEWSTALK.COM
8.
Woodson, Carter G. The MisEducation of the Negro.
Inc. 1993
9.
Nyerere, Julius Kambarage
http://ukdb.web.aol.com/hutchinson/encyclopedia/11/M0028811.htm
10.
November 1997 - Kwame Nkrumah, The Fight for Independence
10 December 1947 - 6 March 1957 (Part II)
http://www.greatepicbooks.com/epics/november97.html
11.
Joe Madison (Black Eagle) Talk Show
WOL 1450 AM of Radio One Network
Lanham, Md. http://www.WOLNEWSTALK.COM
12.
The Ballot or The Bullets By Malcolm X, J/G Jamie Gyden, Distrubing Cooperation,
919North Borad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123. Mrs. Bettye Shabbazz, Recorded in
Detriot, Michigan by Milton Henry Esq. First Amendment Records 100.
13.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, New York: Grove Press, Inc. 1965; George
Brietman ed. (Malcolm X Speaks (New York Grove Press, Inc. 1965).
14.
Malcolm X, I'm Talking to You White Man, Saturday Evening Post, September 12,
1964, page 30-52, Edited by Arthur Haley, New York, Grove Press 1956
15.
"Blyden: African Life and Customs," Microsoft® Encarta® Africana 2000. ©
1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
http://www.microsoft.com/encarta/
10
Trenton: Africa World Press,