Religion, Culture and Spirituality in Africa and the African Diaspora

1 Introduction: Mapping Religious Expressions and Spirituality of African Descendant Communities, William Ackah;  Section 1: Religious Expressions, Traditions and Identities;  2 Church Women's Legacy of Power: Case of U.S. African Methodist Episcopal Church, Jualynne E. Dodson;  3 Blacksmith's Razor and the Vulture's Head: African Spirituality and the Emancipation of Africa, Kofi Asare Opoku;  4 A Tale of Two Worlds: An Early Nineteenth Century Encounter between the Akan and the Danes and The Rise of Protestantism in West Africa, Ebenezer Ayesu;  5 The Resurgence of the Presbyterian and Anglican Missions in Calabar, Ekwutosi Essien Offiong;  6 Pain and the Black Garment: Pastoral Responses to African Widowhood, Elijah Baloyi;  7 An Act of Theological Negritude: Kwame Bediako on African Christian Identity, Tim Hartmann;  Section 2: Arts, Aesthetics and Culture;  8 From Selma to Ferguson: Embodied Performance, Social Change and Political Organizing within the United States, Joy R. Bostic;  9 Sounds of Blackness? Struggles for Freedom in 21st Century Congregational Songs in South London, Pauline E. Muir;  10 The Cornel West Theory: prophetic criticism and the cultural production of hip hop, Michael Brandon McCormack;  11 Politically Freed Yet Mentally Enslaved! Reflecting on Psalm 8 by way of Steve Biko's Notion of Black Beauty, Madipoane Masenya (Ngwan'a Mphahlele);  12 Rape, Rage and Culture: African Men's Indigenous Knowledge and Resolutions to the Rape Crisis, Baba Amani Olubanjo Buntu;  13 Responding to Black Youth Invisibility: The Black Church Nurturing the Artist Within, Sarah Farmer; 14 Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter and the Educational Empowerment of Muslim Women, Rizwana Latha