The Stigma of African Religions
How the Subjugation of African Religions impacts Black Identity
Imagine a world where you shared absolutely no similarities with either of your parents. No, not in the ‘milkman’ sort of way but one where your mum is Lupita and dad is Seal (stay with me) and you are Miley Cyrus. Your parents shower you with unimaginable love, make every school play and are there at your every beck and call. You love them with all your heart and soul. They represent the epitome of human perfection in your eyes and all that is flawless in the world — where does that leave you?
Your straight hair and milk skin stands in huge contrast to your mother’s locks and ebony complexion which seems to radiate in the sun while you only get sunburnt. Playing in the park with other kids is restrained as your lower levels of melanin make you far more susceptible to cerebral malaria than your peers.
We can agree that this is a less than desirable situation. Lets take it a step further.
Now imagine a second scenario. One where your parents propagate the mantra that they are flawless and you should do everything to emulate them. Everything that makes you ‘you’ should be denounced, as such is perceived as sub par and you should aspire to their level. Your straight hair is not a sign of beauty but should be plaited into cornrows. Your milk skin is a sign of weakness and you should practically live in the tanning salon. Your blue eyes are reminiscent of white walkers and brown contact lenses provided for you. You grow up in a society that continually reinforces this in your psyche leaving you with no option but to accept it.
This is what it means to be black. Not just in the US, medieval Europe or Apartheid South Africa. This is what it means to be black on planet earth today. An environment where your natural hair, even when groomed neatly, is viewed as unkempt. One where societal pressures, force both men and women to risk cancer by applying skin lightening ‘remedies’. But these pale (excuse the pun) in comparison to the true seed of oppression — religion.
Africans are the only race in homo sapien history to view their indigenous religions as something that brings shame even by distant association. We often hear of how followers of such religions are not ‘exposed’ and are borderline Neanderthals. An average African looks at it with such disdain that they openly berate families that practice these. ‘Oh dear, please no. Not her. Her grandmother was an Ifa Priestess. They are not pure’. Huh?
The Asians, Indians, Orthodox Europeans and countless other smaller tribes hold their religions close to heart and is genuinely a source of pride. Even non believers do not denigrate the institution. They regard themselves as atheists, agnostic, non aligned et al but for the most part are respectful of other’s beliefs.
And as Africans so are we unless it relates to our own. We are quick to accept Zhang’s Buddhist practices or Kumar’s worship of Vishnu. We even accept Scientology as a religion but yet frown upon Voodoo. Only difference — it is indigenous to an overwhelming black society.
To truly appreciate this hypocrisy, let’s take a quick trip to the largest city in Africa, Lagos aka the centre of excellence. Lets grab some dinner at the Indian restaurant Spice Route in Victoria Island — a supposedly high brow area in the city. Here you have an Indian restaurant cum club with an overwhelming statue of Buddha right in the middle. We eat, dance and be merry. On occasion, some even leave and head directly to church afterwards. Now would this establishment be as well embraced if it wasn’t Buddha sprawling across the dance floor but instead Amedioha or Sango? Would we eat with relish or prefer to limit ourselves to a sealed bottle of water?
African religions have a long history of shared heritage with Abrahamic religions. Moses being born in Egypt married the daughter of an African (Ethiopian) priest. If the forebears of these religions can be so accepting of African religions, why can’t we?
African religions have a long history of shared heritage with Abrahamic religions. Moses being born in Egypt married the daughter of an African (Ethiopian) priest. If the forebears of these religions can be so accepting of African religions, why can’t we? There was mutual respect between the two but today there is visceral repugnance from so called believers. For every ‘miracle’ observed in church, its traditional counterpart is referred to as witchcraft or juju. This is nothing more than the modern day miracle commonly known as branding.
What makes this an even more painful insight is death. Yes, death. And not by natural causes. We have over 2 million Nigerians displaced as a result of Boko Haram and about 400,000 killed due to a religious war that isn’t even ours to fight. It is the moral equivalence of Nigerians attacking each other for supporting Trump or Sanders. Excuse me???
‘Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds…’
In order to break the shackles of mental oppression, it is imperative that one has the ability visualize oneself in the highest echelons of society. It is more likely a boy raised on the streets of Manilla would resonate with Mani Pacquiao’s story than Michael Bloomberg’s. Mani is just like me and he did it — so can I. Why do we believe this is different for religion?
If your savior is portrayed as something totally different from you, there will always be an inherent belief of being a second class human if your idea of a perfect man is one with blue eyes and straight hair.
A few churches have taken the first step of depicting the Almighty of one with darker hues. However, this does little to scratch the surface. We need acceptance and equality of traditional religions.
While I am not of the opinion that we should all burn our Bibles and Qurans, I do believe a broader acceptance of our traditional religions needs to be imbibed into our culture. They can no longer be viewed with negative connotations. The same way we accept Christianity, Islam or Judaism is the same way we should embrace our traditional religions. We do not believe in Buddha or Vishnu for the most part but do not shiver with fear when friends or acquaintances confirm it as their chosen religions. So why do we do so for our indigenous religions?
The good news here is that belief systems are not static. Yes it is harder to unlearn than to learn but all hope isn’t lost. We are in complete control of our thoughts and actions. Beliefs are a choice. A change in our belief system will result in a change in our behavior. A change in our behavior changes our reality.
Our leaders (bar the lone light, Paul Kagame) will continue to fail us as they inherently believe they are inferior to their Western counterparts. We should not berate them. We show them empathy. They grew up in a generation where white was right. They grew up during the era of slavery. We have no idea the true effect of being exposed to such barbarity. Those experiences shape your inherent belief systems. Research has shown that emotions are not limited to the hippocampus and hypothalamus areas of the brain. Experiences are filtered through different synapses before they reach the frontal lobes. From there, this information is screened and only information that agrees with our core belief systems enters our consciousness or reality.
Simply put, our reality is shaped by our inherent beliefs. We interpret experiences by aligning them with our prior knowledge thereby buttressing our already established beliefs. For example, John and Kofi emigrate to Kigali. They see a police car approach. John takes off out of fear but Kofi approaches the car. Why? John’s prior experiences with the police were obviously less than cordial but with Kofi, the exact opposite is true. Same action, different interpretations solely based on experience. This is the core of how belief systems are developed. Reality is subjective.
This is why magic tricks are so effective. We see a trick and only have one or two ways of processing the images in front of us. When we cannot solve the puzzle, we have no option but to believe some higher force is behind it. David Blaine came and showed us magic is actually far more linear than we perceived much to the dismay of his colleagues.
We control our thoughts and then our reality. You can change your belief to reality.
It might be too late for the over 50’s on average. So steeped in their belief systems that it is almost impossible for a majority of them to consider anything but the status quo. However, it is our duty to give the future generations a chance to build their own identity — not one forced down our throats by colonial masters and savages. A culture that celebrates our diversity not one that suppresses it. They broke the physical chains of slavery but replaced it with more fervent psychological ones. This is our ‘cross’ to bear and we shall overcome.
Looking over the last forty years, we have made commendable progress. Gone are the days where our native attire would be viewed as not being formal wear to corporate events or office attire conducive. Gone are the days where it was considered inferior to play Nigerian music anywhere but an ‘owambe’ aka traditional party. Change is triggered primarily from viewing the same image from a different lens. It is time to bring out our 3D glasses.
In no way am I trying to convince anyone to drop their current religions and take up one they know nothing about. That explicitly isn’t the purpose of this piece. I am merely pleading for equality. The same way we have asked racists to understand that folks with a different hue are also human beings is the same way I ask that we, as Africans, look at our own traditional religion as not being inferior to any other foreign religion. Different, yes. But never inferior.
