Religion and Social Change in Africa

BLACOLOGY

NET-INFO RESEARCH

RELIGION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN AFRICA:

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 8

IV. DEFINITIONS 17

V. REFERENCES 19 and 20

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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 lert 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 artticle 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 Balitmore, 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 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.