Hiplife and the Power of the African Gods

image source: http://www.ghanaflash.com/

Great video by hiplife (Ghanaian hiphop) artist Obour [1][2][3]. Click here to view video from Facebook. 

The video has lots of evocative imagery about the power of African spirituality[4] (along with Japanese Samurai and Indian Hindu images). It strikes me as a counterpoint to an annoying trend in Nollywood (Nigerian) films which featured stereotypical depictions of African Traditional Religions being used for evil or to inflict harm. The "evil" African religion was always triumphed over by the benevolent power of the Holy Ghost [5][6].

I am also reminded of a recent conversation I had with a Ghanaian friend:

ghetto intellectual: So you mean you would never go to a [traditional religion] shrine?

Akos: Eiiii! Kwame, you talk about such things too much! People go to the shrines to do evil.

GI: You mean the shrines are only for evil?

Akos: Yes!

GI: Africans go to the shrine to ask for long life. Is that bad?

Akos: No.

GI: Africans go to the shrine to request bountiful crops. Is that bad?

Akos: No.

GI: Africans go to the shrine to pray for good health. Is that bad? 

Akos: No.

GI: You see? I think you will agree that African religion is not always used for bad. Also note the implication that our Ancestors were engaged in evil acts before the coming of the white man and Christianity. 

Akos: Yes...I even recall my grandmother leaving food at a shrine for good health. I'm not sure if the Gods actually ate the food, but I see your point. African religion was not always used for evil.

GI: Yes. All religions have been used for good and bad. Christianity is no different. In fact  the whites annihilated people all over the planet in the name of the Christian God.

Now I don't imagine that "Akos" is planning on abandoning Christianity. But I think its really important that we challenge these negative depictions of indigenous African ritual life that have been internalized and perpetuated by us Africans. It is good to see Obour taking up the challenge too. 

Notes:

[1] Official Website of Obour
[2] Another great tune by Obour, in collaboration with Samini (then known as "Batman"), is Konkontiba (Tadpole). This tune is about a tadpole growing into a frog--a clever metaphor that is actually a critique of ageism or the gerontocracy (overrule of elders) in Ghana. The message is that young people should be given a chance to do big things.
[3] Obour "Youth for presidency campaign"
[4] Another good vid is Congo-based: Baloji feat Konono n 1 - Karibu ya bintou
[5] MARRIED TO A WITCH is one of numerous examples of "good" Christianity/"bad" African religion themes. It also happens to be an entertaining movie so check it out.

[6] For a good critique of this tendency in Nollywood, have a look at the essay The Near Nullity of Nollywood - Making African Movies  by Unoma Azuah. Note the essay is a few years old. Nollyhood is slowly moving away from this theme. I should note too that from what I have heard, Yoruba language films depict African spirituality in a far more favorable light.


tags: African traditional religion, Christianity, film, media, nollywood, stereotypes, Nigeria, ghana, gerontocracy

See also:

• Can we be a free people while taking on the values of the people that enslaved us?
• White Jesus indoctrination vs. Black Jesus on the Margin
• Office Hours with J. Lorand Matory on African-Inspired Religions
• Rastafarian pilgrims still searching for respect: Africa Review
• "The Pestilence of Imported Gods"
• Archbishop Sarpong: Innovator of the Africanization of Catholicism or cultural imperialist?
• Do Christian missionaries serve some useful purpose or do they contribute to "mental slavery"?

White Jesus indoctrination vs. Black Jesus on the Margin

 Yohanna 14:2 “A chikin gidan ubana akwai wurin zama dayawa; da ba haka ba, da na fada muku; gama zan tafi garin in shirya maku wuri.” ( Da ka Litafi Mai-Tsarki a Hausa )

or In English

John 14:2 “in my father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ” ( New Revised Standard Version)

Growing up in Nigeria my parents encouraged my siblings and I to attend Sunday School, there we learned stories from the Bible and also our teachers emphasized memorizing important scriptures. The passage I quoted is amongst the Bible verses that played a role in how I interpreted scripture as a young girl. After memorizing John 14:2 in Hausa, I was convinced that Jesus was a member of my family, the imagery that the passage created in my head gave me the comfort that I was in fact a child of God.

However, As I grew older, I noticed that the father of the many mansion which the scripture talked about was a long haired, pale skin, blue eyed man, he looked nothing like my family members. I recall asking my siblings while we were watching the poplar “Jesus of Nazareth’ a film that narrated the primary gospels in Jesus’ Ministry: His Birth, death and Resurrection, I asked why is it that Jesus is White and satan a black snake? My siblings told me that, the Jesus in the film was simply a character but then I asked why is it then that He must be “baturi” in Hause (white), the answer to that question was interrupted with a call from mother to help her lift a bag of rice.

The quest to find out reasons as per why Jesus the father in the mansion with many rooms was white contributed to my decision to study Christian theology and Religion in general. As a young girl, I asked tough questions about Christology, desiring to know who Jesus was, why His ministry was important and what that meant for me, a black girl.

Read entire essay @ wehnam's blog

image source: frank hazen

tags: religion, Christianity, Nigeria, rastafarian

Archbishop Sarpong: Innovator of the Africanization of Catholicism or cultural imperialist?

Archbishop Peter Kwasi Sarpong cultural innovator or cultural imperialist?

Beginning around 1970, Ghanaian Archbishop Peter Kwasi Sarpong, drawing upon his extensive insider knowledge of Asante customs and Catholic religiosity and his training as a cultural anthropologist, embarked upon a flexible interpretation of Catholicism filtered through the lens of the Asante worldview. Libation rituals, for example, were conceptualized as cultural and not religious, modified by excising the "minor or lesser" deities, calling on the Supreme God and venerating (but not worshipping), the Ancestors and equating them with the Catholic Saints.

 

Other local cultural elements incorporated into Asante Catholicism include festivals (e.g., adae, a celebration held in honor kings who have become Ancestors); symbols of royal authority (e.g., asipim, ceremonial chair of the ɔhene or “king”); kingly honorifics (e.g., Otomfo, “mighty” or “powerful”); adinkra symbols (e.g., nkabom, “unity” and gye nyame, “except God”—denotes the superiority of God). [1]

 

 

Although some local Christians and traditionalists objected to the “mixing” of Catholicism and indigenous practices, Archbishop Sarpong’s efforts have been, by most accounts, an unqualified success. To date, there several million Catholics in Ghana. Sarpong is widely credited with fostering the growth of the Catholic faith in the Asante region and enhancing the profile of Catholicism on the national scene.

 

 
But one could also view Sarpong’s “indigenization” as a more subtle form of cultural imperialism. Christianity is rendered timelessly and fundamentally true. Whilst beliefs and practices of Asante traditionalists are folded into Christianity and reduced to non-essential variations on a Christological scheme.

 

 

 So what are your thoughts? Are Archbishop Sarpong's interventions an example of the "Africanization" of Catholicism or are they yet another variation of western cultural imperialism that undermines African Traditional Religion?

 

 

[1] Asante Catholicism: Religious and Cultural Reproduction among the Akan of Ghana (1996) By Pashington Obeng.

 

© 2010 kwame zulu shabazz

 

Photo credit: [Enoch stories for graphic]

In the video below, Archbishop Sarpong explains that pouring libations to one's Ancestors is not anti-Christian. He compares African veneration of Ancestors with the prominence of Saints in Catholicism (if viewing from Facebook, click here.)

Archbishop Peter Sarpong, "Ancestors, saints and idolatry." Excerpt from "African Christianity Rising: Stories from Ghana" from james ault on Vimeo.
tags: Christianity, Ghana, African traditional religion, Akan, Ashanti, Asante
 

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The African-centered Truth about Christianity

Axe!

Click on VOXUNION to listen to the lectures from a single page or click on the individual names to upload the lecture.

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Christianity Before Christ w Dr. John G. Jackson

What Color Was Jesus? A discussion with Dr. John Henrik Clarke

The Historical Jesus and Mythical Christ with Dr. Charles Finch

The African Origins of Western Religion with Brother Tehuti

photo source: moses the black

tags: afrocentric, brother tehuti, charles finch, Christianity, john henrik clarke, religion