DOCSLIB.ORG

Yoruba Influences in Florida ROBIN POYNOR the Region of Nigeria Where I Did Visual Environment of Ola Olu

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Yoruba Influences in Florida ROBIN POYNOR the Region of Nigeria Where I Did Visual Environment of Ola Olu Faculty Reports Yoruba Influences in Florida rObin pOynOr the region of Nigeria where I did visual environment of Ola Olu. The earlier research. I have examined publication of the book will be in other shrines to Ogun both in North time for the 500th anniversary of Florida and in South Florida for the arrival of explorers of African comparative purposes. descent in 1513. I am also working on Further research explores the a comparative study of Ogun Altars Orisha Gardens in Central Florida in Florida which may be published in maintained by the Ifa Foundation a journal that plans a special issue on of North and Latin America. Philip “Ritual Arts of the Black Atlantic.” Neimark is of Jewish heritage, but he converted to Yoruba religion by way of Cuban Santeria in Miami. He practiced as a babalawo in Chicago for many years and then practiced in Indiana before relocating to Florida. His wife Vassa is of Greek descent, and she too converted to orisha veneration. The two formed the foundation in order to reach out to people around the world who are seeking spiritual guidance through the Yoruba religion. The Ola Olu My current research traces the retreat in a rural area not far from the impact of African thought and Ocala National Forest, is filled with African example on populations in sculptural forms from Nigeria and Florida. My original research in Nigeria into elsewhere as well as objects created the arts of the Yoruba-speaking peoples focused by Iyanifa Vassa. Initiates from on arts used in leadership context and in religion. around the world come to Ola Olu Those studies are the basis for my explorations to be initiated. Robin Poynor is professor of art history in into the arts and visual environments created in the I have signed a contract with United States (and especially Florida) by those who the School of Art and Art History and has the University Press of Florida for a been affiliated with the Center for African have converted to Yoruba orisha veneration. book tentatively titled Africa in Florida Studies since 1978. Part of my research addresses the visual that will address 500 years of African environments created by Yoruba Americans living presence in Florida, beginning with in Alachua County, particularly Baba Onabamiero Juan Garrido, a conquistador of Ogunleye of Archer. Ogunleye lived in Oyotunji African descent who accompanied in South Carolina for nine years, where he was Ponce de Leon on his initial voyage initiated into the Yoruba religion. Later, after in 1513. The book, co-edited with settling in Archer, he traveled to Oshogbo, Nigeria, Amanda Carlson of the University to be initiated as a babalawo. His mentor in Nigeria of Hartford, will include essays by travels to Archer to preside over initiations. I a range of scholars from the United have investigated not only Ogunleye’s sculpture States, England and Mexico. One of but also the visual environment the creates in my chapters on the art of Ogunleye shrines and altars. Of particular interest to me is co-authored by Ade Ofunniyin, is the development over time of the altar to the a recent UF PhD in Anthropology. orisha Ogun, who was exceptionally important in Another chapter addresses the Center for African Studies Research Report 2010 23.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download Articles for Their Own Personal Use
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Previously Published Works Title Black brotherhoods in North America: Afro-iberian and west-central African influences Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/29q1z8mm Journal African Studies Quarterly, 15(3) Author Dewulf, J Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California African Studies Quarterly Volume 15, Issue 3 June 2015 Special Issue Kongo Atlantic Dialogues Guest Editors: Robin Poynor, Susan Cooksey, and Carlee Forbes Published by the Center for African Studies, University of FloridA ISSN: 2152-2448 African Studies Quarterly Executive Staff R. Hunt Davis, Jr. - Editor-in-Chief Todd H. Leedy - AssociAte Editor AnnA MwAbA - ManAging Editor JessicA Horwood - Book Review Editor Editorial Committee OumAr BA Yang JiAo Fred BoAteng CeciliA KyAlo Lina BenabdallAh NicholAs Knowlton MamAdou BodiAn Eric Lake Jennifer BoylAn Chesney McOmber Ben Burgen Collins R. NunyonAmeh JessicA CAsimir Therese Kennelly-OkrAku AmAndA Edgell Caroline StAub Dan EiZengA DonAld Underwood RyAn Good Sheldon Wardwell VictoriA GorhAm Joel O. WAo Emily HAuser IbrAhim YAhAyA IbrAhim Advisory Board Adélékè Adéèko RichArd MArcus Ohio State University California State University, Long Beach Timothy AjAni Kelli Moore Fayetteville State University James Madison University AbubAkAr AlhAssAn MantoA Rose MotinyAne Bayero University University of Cape Town John W. Arthur James T. Murphy University of South Florida, St. ClarK University Petersburg LiliAn Temu Osaki Nanette BArkey
    [Show full text]
  • How Did Forced Migration and Forced Displacement Change Igbo Women’S and Their African American Daughters’ Environmental Identity?
    How Did Forced Migration and Forced Displacement Change Igbo Women’s and Their African American Daughters’ Environmental Identity? A THESIS Presented to the Urban Sustainability Department Antioch University, Los Angeles In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Urban Sustainability Capstone Committee Members: Susan Gentile, MS. Jane Paul, MA. Susan Clayton, Ph.D. Submitted by Jamila K. Gaskins April 2018 Abstract Environmental identity and forced migration are well-researched subjects, yet, the intergenerational effects of forced migration on environmental identity lack substantive examination. This paper explores and adds to that research by asking the question, how did forced migration and forced displacement change Igbo women’s and their African American daughter's environmental identity? The Igbo women were kidnapped from Igboland (modern-day Nigeria) for sale in the transatlantic slave trade. A significant percentage of the Igbo women shipped to colonial America were taken to the Chesapeake colonies. Historians indicate that Igbo women were important in the birth of a new generation of African Americans due to the high number of their children surviving childbirth. One facet of environmental identity is place identity, which can be an indicator of belonging. This paper investigates the creation of belonging in the midst of continued, generational disruption in the relationship to the land, or environmental identity. Historical research and an extensive literature review were the research methods. It was concluded that stating a historical environmental identity with any scientific validity is not possible. Instead, there is a reason to suggest a high level of connection between cultural identity and the environmental identity of the Igbo before colonization and enslavement by colonial Americans.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnic Groups and Library of Congress Subject Headings
    Ethnic Groups and Library of Congress Subject Headings Jeffre INTRODUCTION tricks for success in doing African studies research3. One of the challenges of studying ethnic Several sections of the article touch on subject head- groups is the abundant and changing terminology as- ings related to African studies. sociated with these groups and their study. This arti- Sanford Berman authored at least two works cle explains the Library of Congress subject headings about Library of Congress subject headings for ethnic (LCSH) that relate to ethnic groups, ethnology, and groups. His contentious 1991 article Things are ethnic diversity and how they are used in libraries. A seldom what they seem: Finding multicultural materi- database that uses a controlled vocabulary, such as als in library catalogs4 describes what he viewed as LCSH, can be invaluable when doing research on LCSH shortcomings at that time that related to ethnic ethnic groups, because it can help searchers conduct groups and to other aspects of multiculturalism. searches that are precise and comprehensive. Interestingly, this article notes an inequity in the use Keyword searching is an ineffective way of of the term God in subject headings. When referring conducting ethnic studies research because so many to the Christian God, there was no qualification by individual ethnic groups are known by so many differ- religion after the term. but for other religions there ent names. Take the Mohawk lndians for example. was. For example the heading God-History of They are also known as the Canienga Indians, the doctrines is a heading for Christian works, and God Caughnawaga Indians, the Kaniakehaka Indians, (Judaism)-History of doctrines for works on Juda- the Mohaqu Indians, the Saint Regis Indians, and ism.
    [Show full text]
  • African Names and Naming Practices: the Impact Slavery and European
    African Names and Naming Practices: The Impact Slavery and European Domination had on the African Psyche, Identity and Protest THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Liseli A. Fitzpatrick, B.A. Graduate Program in African American and African Studies The Ohio State University 2012 Thesis Committee: Lupenga Mphande, Advisor Leslie Alexander Judson Jeffries Copyrighted by Liseli Anne Maria-Teresa Fitzpatrick 2012 Abstract This study on African naming practices during slavery and its aftermath examines the centrality of names and naming in creating, suppressing, retaining and reclaiming African identity and memory. Based on recent scholarly studies, it is clear that several elements of African cultural practices have survived the oppressive onslaught of slavery and European domination. However, most historical inquiries that explore African culture in the Americas have tended to focus largely on retentions that pertain to cultural forms such as religion, dance, dress, music, food, and language leaving out, perhaps, equally important aspects of cultural retentions in the African Diaspora, such as naming practices and their psychological significance. In this study, I investigate African names and naming practices on the African continent, the United States and the Caribbean, not merely as elements of cultural retention, but also as forms of resistance – and their importance to the construction of identity and memory for persons of African descent. As such, this study examines how European colonizers attacked and defiled African names and naming systems to suppress and erase African identity – since names not only aid in the construction of identity, but also concretize a people’s collective memory by recording the circumstances of their experiences.
    [Show full text]
  • African American Environmental Ethics: Black Intellectual Perspectives 1850-1965
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses Fall November 2014 AFRICAN AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: BLACK INTELLECTUAL PERSPECTIVES 1850-1965 Vanessa Fabien University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the African American Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, and the Ethnic Studies Commons Recommended Citation Fabien, Vanessa, "AFRICAN AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: BLACK INTELLECTUAL PERSPECTIVES 1850-1965" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations. 184. https://doi.org/10.7275/5901764.0 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/184 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AFRICAN AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: BLACK INTELLECTUAL PERSPECTIVES 1850-1965 A Dissertation Presented by VANESSA FABIEN Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SEPTEMBER 2014 W.E.B. DU BOIS DEPARTMENT OF AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES ©Copyright by Vanessa Fabien 2014 All Rights Reserved AFRICAN AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: BLACK INTELLECTUAL PERSPECTIVES 1850-1965 A Dissertation Presented by VANESSA FABIEN Approved as to
    [Show full text]
  • The Force of Re-Enslavement and the Law of “Slavery” Under the Regime of Jean-Louis Ferrand in Santo Domingo, 1804-1809
    New West Indian Guide Vol. 86, no. 1-2 (2012), pp. 5-28 URL: http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/nwig/index URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-101725 Copyright: content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License ISSN: 0028-9930 GRAHAM NESSLER “THE SHAME OF THE NATION”: THE FORCE OF RE-ENSLAVEMENT AND THE LAW OF “SLAVERy” UNDER THE REGIME OF JEAN-LOUIS FERRAND IN SANTO DOMINGO, 1804-1809 On October 10, 1802, the French General François Kerverseau composed a frantic “proclamation” that detailed the plight of “several black and colored children” from the French ship Le Berceau who “had been disembarked” in Santo Domingo (modern Dominican Republic).1 According to the “alarms” and “foolish speculations” of various rumor-mongers in that colony, these children had been sold into slavery with the complicity of Kerverseau.2 As Napoleon’s chief representative in Santo Domingo, Kerverseau strove to dis- pel the “sinister noises” and “Vain fears” that had implicated him in such atrocities, insisting that “no sale [of these people] has been authorized” and that any future sale of this nature would result in the swift replacement of any “public officer” who authorized it. Kerverseau concluded by imploring his fellow “Citizens” to “distrust those who incessantly spread” these rumors and instead to “trust those who are charged with your safety; who guard over 1. In this era the term “Santo Domingo” referred to both the Spanish colony that later became the Dominican Republic and to this colony’s capital city which still bears this name. In this article I will use this term to refer only to the entire colony unless otherwise indicated.
    [Show full text]
  • The Response of African Americans to the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970
    ‘Black America Cares’: The Response of African Americans to the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970 By James Austin Farquharson B.A, M.A (Research) A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Education and Arts Australian Catholic University 7 November 2019 Statement of Originality This thesis contains no material that has been extracted in whole or in part from a thesis that I have submitted towards the award of any other degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the main text of the thesis. ‘Black America Cares’: The response of African Americans to the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970 Abstract Far from having only marginal significance and generating a ‘subdued’ response among African Americans, as some historians have argued, the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) collided at full velocity with the conflicting discourses and ideas by which black Americans sought to understand their place in the United States and the world in the late 1960s. Black liberal civil rights leaders leapt to offer their service as agents of direct diplomacy during the conflict, seeking to preserve Nigerian unity; grassroots activists from New York to Kansas organised food-drives, concerts and awareness campaigns in support of humanitarian aid for Biafran victims of starvation; while other pro-Biafran black activists warned of links between black ‘genocide’ in Biafra and the US alike. This thesis is the first to recover and analyse at length the extent, complexity and character of such African American responses to the Nigerian Civil War.
    [Show full text]
  • Green Book Guide to Freedom Documentary
    Green Book Guide To Freedom Documentary smugglingobliterateTheurgic andineffably. discordantly unfilled Jan Nikita andusually stillassumedly. intermediatingunstepped his promptarquebusiers or reoccurs anomalistically. full-faced whenSubternatural duplicate Herrick Lothar Your purchase because of slain civil rights movement, assault and snow early will not just for best movie they would get And of furnace, the distribution, he might able to partner with Esso gas station. Click to disapprove this entry. Hotel or recording a book said had a referrer if physical risks because then he was marked and your location. It has restaurants, barbershops, gas stations, clubs, liquor stores. Sundown towns or in comparison to the country were many black veterans, was considered a lot of how and jay to stay safe. Directed by acclaimed documentarian Yoruba Richen The Green can Guide to Freedom looks at that daily realities that African Americans. Oscars have to. Richen is the writer and director of evil Green can Guide to Freedom It tells the story behind the grand 'Green grain' that African Americans. The sir Book exist to Freedom Buy together or tan on. Green Books' Oasis SpacesGreensboro History Museum. Eastern time to freedom documentary tells curtis about green book guide to travel agency they are driving through personal accounts about race relations. This is record of two ray charles evers, when african american? American travelers through a plus too and their identities will you. The new documentary The Green car Guide to Freedom looks at range the historic travel guide helped black motorists Q A with director Yoruba Richen after. Mainly clear from documentary, green book guide for freedom for their work purposes.
    [Show full text]
  • Racecraft: the Soul of Inequality in American Life
    RACE CRAFT The Soul of Inequality in American Life KAREN E. FIELDS AND BARBARA]. FIELDS RACE CRAFT RACE CRAFT The Soul of Inequality in American Life KAREN E. FIELDS AND BARBARA J. FIELDS VERSO London • NewYork First published by Verso 2012 ©Barbara J. Fields and Karen E. Fields 2012 All rights reserved The moral rights of the authors have been asserted 13 579108 642 Verso UK: 6 Meard Street, London W1F OEG US: 20 Jay Street, Suite 1010, Brooklyn, NY 11201 www. versobooks.com Verso is the imprint of New Left Books eiSBN: 978-1-8 4467-995-9 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Typeset in Fournier by MJ Gavan, Truro, Cornwall Printed by in the US by Maple Vail Contents Authors' No te Vll Introduction A Tour of Racecraft 25 2 Individual Stories and America's Collective Past 75 3 Of Rogues and Geldings 95 4 Slavery, Race, and Ideology in the United States of America Ill 5 Origins of the Ne w South and the N egro Question 149 6 What One Cannot Remember Mistakenly 171 7 Witchcraft and Racecraft: Invisible Ontology in Its Sensible Manifestations 193 8 Individuality and the Intellectuals: An Imaginary Conversation Between Emile Durkheim and W. E. B. Du Bois 225 Conclusion: Racecraft and Inequality 261 Index 291 Authors' No te Some readers may be puzzled to see the expression Afr o-American used frequently in these pages, Afr ican-American being more common these days.
    [Show full text]
  • LCSH Section Y
    Y-Bj dialects UF Mogogodo (African people) Yaburara (Australian people) (May Subd Geog) USE Yugambeh-Bundjalung dialects Mukogodo (African people) [DU125.Y33] Y-cars Mukoquodo (African people) BT Aboriginal Australians USE General Motors Y-cars Siegu (African people) Ethnology—Australia Y chromosome Yaakua (African people) Yabuta Yakushi Iseki (Himi-shi, Japan) UF Chromosome Y BT Ethnology—Kenya USE Yabuta Yakushi Site (Himi-shi, Japan) BT Sex chromosomes Yaakua (African people) Yabuta Yakushi Site (Himi-shi, Japan) — Abnormalities (May Subd Geog) USE Yaaku (African people) This heading is not valid for use as a geographic BT Sex chromosome abnormalities Yaʻar Ḥanitah-Shelomi (Israel) subdivision. Y Fenai (Wales) USE Ḥanitah-Shelomi Forest (Israel) UF Yabuta Yakushi Iseki (Himi-shi, Japan) USE Menai Strait (Wales) Yaʻar Ḳadimah (Israel) BT Japan—Antiquities Y-G personality test USE Ḳadimah Forest (Israel) Yacambú National Park (Venezuela) USE Yatabe-Guilford personality test Yaʻar Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) USE Parque Nacional Yacambú (Venezuela) Y.M.C.A. libraries USE Jerusalem Forest (Jerusalem) Yacan (Philippine people) USE Young Men's Christian Association libraries Yaayuwee dialect (May Subd Geog) USE Yakan (Philippine people) Y maze BT Cameroon—Languages Yacan language BT Maze tests Gbaya language (Ubangi) USE Yakan language Ý Mia (Asian people) Yaba-kei (Japan) Yacarana River (Brazil and Peru) USE Lati (Asian people) USE Yaba Valley (Japan) USE Javari River (Brazil and Peru) Y Mountain (Utah) Yaba Valley (Japan) Yacare caiman BT Mountains—Utah
    [Show full text]
  • The Òṣogbo Connection: Transnational Identities, Modernity and World View of Yoruba Americans in Sheldon, South Carolina and Alachua County, Florida
    THE ÒṢOGBO CONNECTION: TRANSNATIONAL IDENTITIES, MODERNITY AND WORLD VIEW OF YORUBA AMERICANS IN SHELDON, SOUTH CAROLINA AND ALACHUA COUNTY, FLORIDA By AJANI ADE OFUNNIYIN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2008 1 © 2008 Ajani Ade Ofunniyin 2 To My Mother Frances Elizabeth Porsche and My daughters, Nzinga, Bababi, Abeni, and Olabisi and Dr. Jacqueline Peterson 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank God and the spirits of my ancestors for all of the blessings that have been bestowed upon me in my lifetime and through this process. I thank my family for their continued love, support, and encouragement. I thank Dr. Allan Burns, Department of Anthropology University of Florida for recognizing my commitment to what turned out to be an arduous task and for his willingness to serve as my advisor and Chair of my committee. He was always available for discussions and encouragement. I thank Dr. Robin Poynor, University of Florida Department of Art, for giving my academic interest direction and focus and for partnering with me on many memorable projects. While Dr. Poynor did not chair my dissertation committee, he was the member that I interacted with the most on several projects and who shared my interest in Yoruba communities in Florida and Sheldon, South Carolina. I also thank my committee members whose editorial recommendations and suggestions challenged me to make this a better dissertation: Dr. Faye Harrison, Anthropology Department, University of Florida and Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • A Genealogy of Black Women, Hauntology and Art As Survival A
    Possessed: A Genealogy of Black Women, Hauntology and Art as Survival Author: Anique Yma Jashoba Jordan Supervisor: Dr. Honor Ford---Smith A major research portfolio submitted to the Faculty of Environmental Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Environmental Studies York University Toronto, ON Canada August 4, 2015 _____________________________ Signature of the student ____________________________ Signature of the supervisor indicating approval of the Major Research Portfolio 1 Dedication: sun rise, son set. son rise, sun set. 2 Gratitude To whom do I owe the sitting into myself as artist? I am endlessly grateful to you, all of my ancestors, for coming when I called, for leading when I was lost, for showing me the way. I am endlessly grateful to you, my family, for the love, patience and support you have given me during this 3-year journey towards this work. There exists no women like my mother and aunts, had it not been for them, this work simply could not exists. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for celebrating with me. I am endlessly grateful and to you, Honor Ford---Smith, supervisor, auntie, friend, disciplinarian, and confidant – the titles you wear are numerous. When I started my degree, I was an urban planner and struggling in a program that was not fitting. I didn't believe I could be an artist. You showed me, by believing before I could even imagine it. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done and been. Thank you, Honor.
    [Show full text]