The African Diaspora And The Study Of Religion (religion Culture Critique)

The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion Religion/Culture/Critique Series editor: Elizabeth A. Castelli How Hysterical: Identification and Resistance in the Bible and Film By Erin Runions (2003) Connected Places: Region, Pilgrimage, and Geographical Imagination in India By Anne Feldhaus (2003) Representing Religion in World Cinema: Filmmaking, Mythmaking, Culture Making Edited by S. Brent Plate (2003) Derrida’s Bible (Reading a Page of Scripture with a Little Help from Derrida) Edited by Yvonne Sherwood (2004) Feminist New Testament Studies: Global and Future Perspectives Edited by Kathleen O’Brien Wicker, Althea Spencer Miller, and Musa W. Dube (2005) Women’s Renunciation in South Asia: Nuns, Yoginis, Saints, and Singers Edited by Meena Khandelwal, Sondra L. Hausner, and Ann Grodzins Gold (2006) Retheorizing Religion in Nepal By Gregory Price Grieve (2006) The Religious Dimensions of Advertising By Tricia Sheffield (2006) Gender, Religion, and Culture in the Pre-Modern World Edited by Alexandra Cuffel and Brian Britt (2007) American Protestants and TV in the 1950s: Responses to a New Medium By Michele Rosenthal with an Afterword by Martin E. Marty (2007) The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion Edited by Theodore Louis Trost (2007) The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion Edited by THEODORE LOUIS TROST THE AFRICAN DIASPORA AND THE STUDY OF RELIGION Copyright © Theodore Louis Trost, 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–7786–1 ISBN-10: 1–4039–7786–0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The African diaspora and the study of religion / edited by Theodore Louis Trost. p. cm. ISBN 1–4039–7786–0 (alk. paper) 1. Africa—Religion—Study and teaching. 2. African diaspora. I. Trost, Theodore Louis, 1954– BL2400.A417 2007 200.89996—dc22 2007019674 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. Contents List of Illustrations vii Series Editor’s Preface ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xvii List of Abbreviations xix Introduction: Alexander Crummell and the Destined Superiority of African People Wilson Jeremiah Moses 1 Part 1 Africa in Diaspora 1 Raising Champions, Taking Territories: African Churches and the Mapping of New Religious Landscapes in Diaspora Afe Adogame 2 Christianity on Trial: The Nation of Islam and the Rastafari, 1930–1950 Maboula Soumahoro 3 Ahmadi, Beboppers, Veterans, and Migrants: African American Islam in Boston, 1948–1963 Fatimah Fanusie Part 2 4 5 17 35 49 Diaspora in Literature and Culture Robert Nathaniel Dett and African America’s Christian Kingdom of Culture, 1926–1932 Regennia N. Williams Slain in the Spirit: Sexuality and Afro-Caribbean Religious Expression in Nella Larsen’s Quicksand Merinda Simmons 73 93