"Can we be a free people while taking on the values of the people that enslaved us?"

Unveiling of statues of first leader of the Afrikania Mission,
Ɔsɔfo Ɔkɔmfo Kwambena Damuah in his hometown,
Asangragwa, Western Region, Ghana (photo by kwame zulu shabazz)

...This was a question posed by a Congolese sister. But before getting to her very insightful video remarks, I wanted to share a Ghanaian response to the issue of African spiritual liberation. 

On 15 December, 1982, Vincent Kwabena Damuah, a Ghanaian who had been a Catholic priest for 25 years, left the church. What was scandalous in the eyes of many Ghanaians was his determination to defend African tradition religion and culture using his newly founded institution, the Afrikania Mission. Damuah continued to champion African Tradition Religion until his death in 1992; the Afrikania Mission lives on.

Third Leader of Afrikania Mission, 
His Holiness Ɔsɔfo Ɔkɔmfo Atsu Kove.
(photo by kwame zulu shabazz)

The overarching goal of the Afrikania Mission is to counter European cultural imperialism by encouraging Africans and their descendants to “return to their roots” and embrace the “Sankɔfa Faith” (Lit. “return, go, take.” Sankɔfa is an Akan adinkra symbol frequently glossed as “return to your [African cultural] roots.”

Afrikania is a critical response to globalization that is predicated on presumably “authentic” African ways of being and knowing and the imagined historical-cultural connection of all people of African descent.

Some African critics equate this effort to look inward, to look at ourselves, as being "insular," as if we are cutting ourselves off from the "modern" world. This is untrue. I think this sort of response actually reflects the fears of the critic more than the reality of Africans. African people are a global people. 

African Traditional religion devotees
Klikor, Volta Region, Ghana 
(photo by kwame zulu shabazz)

The Sankɔfa movement is not a negation of globalization per se, nor is it a repudiation of “the West” in a strict sense; rather, it is a rejection of the Western terms of global engagement. It is a declaration of our determination to be global on our own authentic African terms.

The choice is ours.

Do we, African people, have the courage to reclaim our Gods and our spiritual roots? Or will we continue to be slaves to foreign religions that empower other peoples' Gods (Allah, Jesus, Jehovah, Yahweh, etc.)?

"Can we be a free people while taking on the values of the people that enslaved us?" Have a listen to the wise and inspirational thoughts of a young Congolese sage on this topic. To view and listen, go to YouTube - Spiritual Freedom = True Freedom

Sɛ wo werɛ fi na wosan kɔfa a, yenkyi (It is not wrong to go back and retrieve what you have lost)! GI


tags: African traditional religion, ghana, globalization, authenticity, pan-African cultural nationalism, congo, Sankofa


See also:

     • The pestilence of imported Gods
     • What is Liberation Theology
     • The African-centered truth About Christianity  
     • Why Kwanzaa?
     • What is Afrocentrism? (Kwame Zulu Shabazz)
     • Afrikania Mission (Elom Dovlo)


© 2010 Kwame Zulu Shabazz. All rights reserved.