Date of Award

Summer 8-7-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

African-American Studies

First Advisor

Akinyele Umoja

Second Advisor

Makungu Akinyela

Third Advisor

Kokahvah Zauditu-Selassie

Abstract

This research seeks to explore the effects that the intersection between Black Nationalism, and Afrikan Spiritual practices had on Afrikan American people in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Particularly, this research will investigate the lives of members of The East organization, a Black Nationalist Organization in Brooklyn, New York founded in 1969, and who later became part of the Yoruba Lukumi religion. Yoruba Lukumi is an Afro-Cuban religious tradition whose roots in Afrikan American communities begin in the late 1950s. Through semi-constructed interviews, this research will identify the historical factors of the religious and nationalistic paths of the development of the Lukumi tradition in The East organizational community, and how the outcomes have affected their families and members over the past fifty years. The methodological questions underpinning this study are: 1. How did the Yoruba Lukumi religion come to The East organization, and 2. What impact has the religion had on the community over the past fifty years?

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/37442287

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