2018 Articles

Yorubá and Black Theologies, a Dialogue

Carvalhaes, Cláudio

In gratitude for my great-grandmothers, stolen from me by white supremacy and colonization, I offer this reflection on the connection between Yorubá and Black/Womanist theologies. It is through a lived understanding of Axé that I have found my roots and the connection to both my Latinidad and my Blackness.

In this paper I consider the possibilities of a dialogue between Candomblé, a Yorubá related African Brazilian tradition, and Black and Womanist theologies in the US, trying to go along with several people who have been expanding this relation, like Dianne M. Stewart’s “Three Eyes for the Journey,” Tracey E. Hucks’ “Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism,” and our precious Monica Coleman’s “Making a Way Out of No Way.”