African American Religions, 1500}}}2000 Colonialism, Democracy, and Freedom [Paperback]

A rich account of the long history of Black religion from the dawn of Western colonialism to the rise of the national security paradigm.This book provides a narrative historical, postcolonial account of African American religions. It examines how African American religions have been shaped by early relations between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, American imperial practices in the 1700s and 1800s, and FBI repression in the twentieth century.This book provides a narrative historical, postcolonial account of African American religions. It examines how African American religions have been shaped by early relations between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, American imperial practices in the 1700s and 1800s, and FBI repression in the twentieth century.This book provides a narrative historical, postcolonial account of African American religions. It examines the intersection of Black religion and colonialism over several centuries to explain the relationship between empire and democratic freedom. Rather than treating freedom and its others (colonialism, slavery, and racism) as opposites, Sylvester A. Johnson interprets multiple periods of Black religious history to discern how Atlantic empires (particularly that of the United States) simultaneously enabled the emergence of particular forms of religious experience and freedom movements as well as disturbing patterns of violent domination. Johnson explains theories of matter and spirit that shaped early indigenous religious movements in Africa, Black political religion responding to the American racial state, the creation of Liberia, and FBI repression of Black religious movements in the twentieth century. By combining historical methods with theoretical analysis, Johnson explains the seeming contradictions that have shaped Black religions in the modern era.Introduction; 1. Black Atlantic religion and Afro-European commerce; 2. On religious matters; 3. Colonial governance and religious subjectivity; 4. Stateless bodies, Africanl«