Afro-Caribbean
Afro-Caribbean Traditions
Essays
From Africa to America
During the brutality of the transatlantic slave trade many enslaved Africans brought their spiritual and religious traditions to the United States and the Caribbean. These traditions were maintained in subtle ways in the United States, most notably in the...
"Santeria": La Regla de Ocha-Ifa and Lukumi
Once known as "Santería," La Regla de Ocha-Ifá and La Regla de Lukumí came to the United States with Cuban immigrants. Typically practiced in private ritual communities rather than public worship spaces, many practitioners in the U.S. encounter a lack of...
Vodou, Serving the Spirits
Vodou or Vodún (meaning "spirit" or "god" in the Fon and Ewe languages of West Africa) is a blending (syncretism) of African religious traditions and Catholicism. In the United States, Vodou religious ceremonies are often performed in private community...
Jamaican Religion
Jamaican religious traditions in the United States include Obeah, Jamaican Revivalism or Pukumina, and Rastafari. Obeah is a system of herbal and spiritual technology to cure diseases and offer protection. The Pukumina tradition is more structured than...
The Kingdom of Oyotunji
Oyotunji African village was founded in 1970 in Sheldon, South Carolina by Walter Eugene King. It is a religious and cultural community for African American practitioners of the West African Yoruba faith. At its height, the village was home to over 200...
Images
Selected Publications
2023
Tsang, Martin, ed. Spirited Diasporas: Personal Narratives and Global Futures of Afro-Atlantic Religions. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2023.
Tsang, Martin, ed. Spirited Diasporas: Personal Narratives and Global Futures of Afro-Atlantic Religions. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2023.
2022
Price, Charles. Rastafari: The Evolution of a People and Their Identity. New York: New York University Press, 2022.
Price, Charles. Rastafari: The Evolution of a People and Their Identity. New York: New York University Press, 2022.
2020
Rodriguez, Olavo Ale, and Jon Griffin. “Bata Drums –The Sacred Drums of Cuba — Salsa Blanca”. Salsa Blanca.
Rodriguez, Olavo Ale, and Jon Griffin. “Bata Drums –The Sacred Drums of Cuba — Salsa Blanca”. Salsa Blanca.
Explore Afro-Caribbean Traditions in Greater Boston
Recent Caribbean immigration to Greater Boston has brought with it a number of African-inspired religions, including Santeria from Cuba and Vodou from Haiti. It is difficult to determine the size of the Afro-Caribbean religious population in Boston as ceremonies are rarely publicized and often take place in private homes. Practitioners frequent botánicas—stores that supply the religious objects for Santeria and Vodou practice—a number of which are present in the Boston area.
