Abstract:In America, no religion better exemplifies the power of the individual than Hoodoo. Within these peripheral communities in the South, enslaved persons created spaces in which individual practitioners could choose which rituals, objects, and beliefs they prioritized for their own salvation. Out of this tradition of "selection" came the development of adornments like Mojo Bags, an amalgamation of objects, both natural and manufactured, that connect the individual directly with the sacred. When adorned with these Mojo Bags, primarily under clothes to assure contact with the skin, practitioners are provided with the power they have previously been denied. I will argue in my paper, therefore, that this method of adornment provides the locus of power needed to address the psychological and physical bondage practitioners faced during the period of enslavement, highlighted by the case of Frederick Douglass' use of a root that led to his success in fighting with Mr. Covey.
Though African‐led engagement with persons with disabilities (PWDs) within varying African churches has been an ongoing project since the 1990s, recent developments in the study of PWDs remain notably absent from mainstream African, religious, or disabilities studies. Calling attention to the interrelation between these three important scholarly fields can help scholars and PWDs alike to conceptualize of the treatment of PWDs in Africa and, more specifically, their role in the Christian Church on the continent. Focusing on the theological and ecclesiological solutions to the ongoing oppression and segregation of African PWDs, this article therefore seeks to define the lived experiences and scholarship that sit at the intersection of these three important scholarly fields. In doing so, this article seeks to aid in the development of a better understanding of how PWDs in variable African churches are understood and how novel African scholarship aims to define or modify this understanding.
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