African American Religious Cultures 2 Volume Set
Like no previous reference, African American Religious Cultures captures the full scope of African American religious identity, tracing the long history of African American engagement with spiritual practice while exploring the origins and complexities of current religious traditions.\ This breakthrough encyclopedia offers alphabetically organized entries on every major spiritual belief system as it has evolved among African American communities, covering its beginnings, development, major...
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This encyclopedia offers the most comprehensive presentation available on the diversity and richness of religious practices among African Americans, from traditions predating the era of the transatlantic slave trade to contemporary religious movements.Library JournalThis ambitious collection of articles looks at the "wide-ranging and complex communities" of people of African descent who inhabit the entire Western Hemisphere, though the audience is specifically American. Editor Pinn (religious studies., Rice Univ.) alphabetically organizes the entries, which consist of both shorter articles and in-depth essays. The first section sheds light on particular traditions in the Americas, with a continuum from Obeah (Caribbean animistic religion) to macumba (a blend of Afro-Brazilian, Catholic, and spiritualist traditions) to the Nation of Islam (indigenous to the United States). The second section focuses on the United States, placing greater emphasis on major issues and concerns with topics such as the African megachurch phenomenon and African American religion and gender. BOTTOM LINE The vividly written entries evince a rare combination of scholarship and accessibility, making this work appropriate for both academic and larger public libraries. A similar one-volume work is Routledge's 2001 Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions, which also emphasizes religious traditions in Africa but targets academics.—Kam W. Teo, Weyburn P.L., Sask.
\ From the Publisher"This is a valuable work for any college or public library with a large African American population."\ -\ ARBAonline\ "Scholars of history, religion, and other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences provide short entries and more substantial essays about the myriad religious cultures among Africans and people of African descent throughout the Western Hemisphere. Among topics of the entries are African Americans in various Christian denominations, Catimbó, maroons, the Nation of Islam, the Orisha religion in Trinidad, Rastafari, Santería, Shrine of the Black Madonna, Umbanda, and Wicca. The essays consider broader areas of African American religion such as literature and religion, preaching and sermonic traditions, healing and health, popular culture, the urban context, education, the psychology of religious behavior, and worship. A chronology is provided, along with appendices containing primary documents and short essays on related topics. The two volumes are paged and indexed together."\ -\ Reference & Research Book News\ ". . . an outstanding 2-volume set packed with Afro-American religious and cultural history and deserves a spot in any high school to college-level collection. . . this is a 'must' for any serious black history or spiritual collection."\ -\ Midwest Book Review\ "The vividly written entries evince a rare combination of scholarship and accessibility, making this work appropriate for both academic and larger public libraries."\ -\ Library Journal\ "The tone of [this] work is suitable for most academic and large public libraries. Highly recommended."\ -\ Booklist\ "This title will be highly useful in both academic and public libraries and will appeal to numerous audiences, including\ the general public, the African American community, laypersons, religious professionals, faculty, and students. . . . Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers."\ -\ Choice\ \ \ \ \ \ Library JournalThis ambitious collection of articles looks at the "wide-ranging and complex communities" of people of African descent who inhabit the entire Western Hemisphere, though the audience is specifically American. Editor Pinn (religious studies., Rice Univ.) alphabetically organizes the entries, which consist of both shorter articles and in-depth essays. The first section sheds light on particular traditions in the Americas, with a continuum from Obeah (Caribbean animistic religion) to macumba (a blend of Afro-Brazilian, Catholic, and spiritualist traditions) to the Nation of Islam (indigenous to the United States). The second section focuses on the United States, placing greater emphasis on major issues and concerns with topics such as the African megachurch phenomenon and African American religion and gender. BOTTOM LINE The vividly written entries evince a rare combination of scholarship and accessibility, making this work appropriate for both academic and larger public libraries. A similar one-volume work is Routledge's 2001 Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions, which also emphasizes religious traditions in Africa but targets academics.—Kam W. Teo, Weyburn P.L., Sask.\ \
