Rev. Oloye Aina Olomo
Good Morning, elders, chiefs, priests, colleagues, and distinguished guests with your permission I will begin.
Introduction
Let me introduce myself, I am a descendant of Africans who left Africa over four hundred years ago. I am the first in my genetic line to return home.
I am a priestess of Ifa, Egungun, and Orisa tradition and an authentic result of the evolution and transformation of Yoruba spirituality in the so-called “New World.” In the spirit of Ifa spirituality, I am issuing a call for humanity to mend the world. Spirituality will be a reoccurring thread in the tapestry I intend to weave on racism, identity, ecology, and conflict. One of the first ideas I will share with you concerns a set of thoughts that pertain to racism.
Instead of tapping African culture to develop our identities, some Africans have self-identities that are built on internalized oppression and self-rejection. Internalized racism like oppression has affected the entire Pan-African organism. African concepts of what is sacred no longer reflect how we define ourselves and we often ignore or feel separate from our environments.
Ifa Spirituality
Now let us take a closer look at spirituality. It moves on a continuum; it is, like the earth and the life the earth sustains, always evolving. Africans are actively searching for methods of storing social, philosophical, and theological experiences. The critical task facing African Spirituality is for the Diaspora to collectively arrive at understandings that are void of imperialistic control and those that have rejected the scrutiny of colonized re-interpretation. There are “Africans” who are no longer restricted to geographical land masses formulated by Africans. Being an African has more to do with how people live, how they interpret, and relate to community, spirit, and nature. African spirituality has reached beyond the limitations of genetics and geography.
It is important that the African Diaspora remember that those who retained African Spirituality in the West were and continue to be the resistance. The call of the ancestors for Africans to return home has played a major role in the reclamation of Africanisms in the Diaspora.
Slavery stripped more than 28 million Africans of their spirituality. In the Americas renewal of African theologies in combination with culture was a method of resisting full enculturation in the “new” lands and situations of the slaves. I am calling for an awakening of the spirit that is unwilling to have its ancestral memories repressed.
Yoruba traditions, in the so-called “New World,” are theologies in action; people and spirit racing toward the future and being directed by the complicated forces of evolution.
Changes in the earth, in spiritual connections and a more in depth understanding of history has developed an awareness that encourages those that embrace Ifa spirituality to prepare the future for a global African.
Racism
First, let me contribute a definition of racism. Racism is a bias that one group holds against another group because of an intrinsic belief of being superior. Racism is the social malady of humanity's betrayal of humanity; a filter that dilutes African global relationships; prejudices dribble ideas of separateness into our collective consciousness.
I will share my spiritual basis for understanding racism by using a Yoruba-based mythology that has been retained in the Western Hemisphere. There is a story about Babaluaiye or Sakpata, the father who strikes the earth. He is a divinity or Orisa who might be viewed as being the spiritual and natural conveyor of the lessons of racism.
What does the mythology of Babaluaiye have to do with helping us to broaden our understanding of racism? His appearance was unlike that of the other gods. Babaluaiye was jeered at by his divine siblings and ultimately cast out of his homeland because he was different. When our skin does not have the “acceptable” color or our external veneer differs, even slightly, this difference has often been the basis of cruel or inhumane treatment even within blood related families. Despite the fact that Babaluaiye is typically associated with epidemics and plagues, his divine consciousness is similar to many divine forces; it is dialectic.
Baba as a divine consciousness, carries not only all the illnesses of the world but also all the healing methods and medicines that can cure them. It is my contention that he is also the source of the solutions to some social maladies.
Betrayal is deception, a denial of an integral connection, and a dismissal of prior presumptions and social contracts: love, family, friendships, fellowship, priesthood, chieftaincies, and particularly our membership in a species.
Racism is humanity's inhumanity to its own species, mistreatment of siblings born of the same Creatrix. The term Creatrix perceives the author of the creation or the Supreme Being as being gender-less. While fear and apprehension have surrounded Babaluaiye, he is a divine energy that is an important part of the Yoruba pantheon.
Like other Orisa, he was produced by the Creatrix with a function, or a job to do. At the time of this story, all the divinities were living peacefully and their relationships were interdependent. Everything on earth was plentiful. The deities decided to get together and have a harvest celebration. All the deities dressed in their finery and assembled what they wanted to bring to the festivities.
Babaluaiye, because of his infectious nature, lived alone. Only the river deity Osun and the Orisa of the wind, Oya, periodically visited him. Both assisted him in the work he was sent to earth to carry out by the Supreme Being. His deformity caused Baba to be crippled so Osun carried him on her waterways and through the circulatory systems of animals and humans. Oya carried Baba on her strong and gentle winds as she swept across land and sea; together they always affected the quality of the air. Both female energies worked hard to get Babaluaiye to attend the party being given by the other Orisa. He finally gave in.
These two female deities dressed Babaluaiye for the party and tried to conceal his pock marked body with dried palm fronds. Once they were pleased with Baba's appearance they carried Baba to the party which was well under way. As they approached, they heard the drums of Sango, the bells of Obatala, the flute of Elegba, the clanking of Ogun's chains, and the melodious voices of all the other Orisa singing praise songs.
Happiness is seldom associated with this deity, but as he approached the celebration, Baba began to feel happy. The music enticed him. He was feeling cheerful and he could not wait to dance. Slowly he limped into the center of the dancing area and began his unbalanced, out-of-rhythm steps. With each move he exposed his pock marked body, which the other divinities viewed with disdain.
Because of Babaluaiye's smell and appearance, the other divinities began to laugh and mock him. At first Baba did not realize they were making fun of him; he thought, like himself, they were simply having fun.
Once he realized what they were doing he confronted them, asking why they were laughing at him. They told him he had an unpleasant odor, he smelled; he was ugly and certainly not as appealing as the rest of them. They were kings and queens with royal entourages.
In fact, being around him was so unpleasant that they banished him from Yorubaland. Thus Babaluaiye was expelled from Yorubaland, and condemned to a life of solitude by many of his divine siblings. However, Sango and Ogun, both compassionate divinities, each gave Baba a dog to travel with him so he would not be completely alone.
Baba left a trail of sickness behind him. Not long after Baba left, the priests who were the depositories of his mysteries were forced to go underground because they were blamed for the sickness that plagued their communities. In spite of the fact that Baba is feared and the powers he carries are frightening forces, our elders tell us that when he reached the land of Dahomey, he was made a king and accepted into the pantheon of Dahomean divinities. As Sakpata, he is the father of forty-one children.
People in the Diaspora also made new discoveries about Babaluaiye. The main one is that he is such an unfathomable force that he should not be ignored or feared, but honored for the gifts he has. You don't have to walk far in the city of Miami to see icons of this divinity. The love that Cuban immigrants display for this divinity in the United States is their acknowledgment of his ability to change the collective mind of a country from one of disdain to one of accommodation and appreciation.
The powers of Babaluaiye are not racist; he is capable of affecting everyone. He acknowledges no status, respects no gender or skin tone distinctions. He infests and heals whole populations. In response to his presence governmental apparatuses move in such a way that it affects all citizens; for example inoculations, vitamins for scurry, and research for AIDS and cancer. Unfortunately, by focusing on his infectious nature, we overlook how plague and epidemics change the consciousness of people and speed-up governmental action plans.
Collectively most of us, regardless of our national origin or skin tones, are not strangers to individual, collective, or spiritual racism. The effects and boundaries created by “racism” include some expressions of nationalism, annihilations, or forced exodus due to ethnic divides. Ethnic nationalism and political tribalism are at odds with a moral approach to global ethnicity.
Identities
Spirituality and identity are not static; they evolve, transforming people and environments. Both changes, altering in form, appearance, and function. Our ability to understand and utilize the gifts of spirit and culture expand and contract. Wisdom as spiritual elevation often stands beside us, whispering fragmented words and concepts into our ear; inspiration and understanding are patient, they wait for us to develop the intellectual space for “new” perceptions. Nevertheless, to arrive at wisdom we must stretch and our ego must get smaller. Both have to happen simultaneously in order to retain what was revealed during the evolution and transformation.
What is the identity of those who are wheels on the vehicle of continuity? Adherents of African religion in the so-called “New World” were and continue to be the resistance. Yoruba-based traditions, Vodoun, Islam and Akan religions and cultures continue to thrive outside of their originating lands because of those who are the “keepers,” who are the warriors where they reside.
Historically these are people who reached back to reclaim, re-generate and re-vitalize the spiritual connections first established by their ancestors. They refused to be entirely submissive to or acculturated by the slaver, the colonizer or the imperialistic power they lived under. I am confident that the spirit of resistance that has carried us through the horrors of slavery, racism, lost identity, and perpetual conflict will ultimately refuse spiritual imperialism in whatever form it takes.
While Yorubaland maintains a connection to the Orisa that is linked to events, people, and locations, the identity, experience, and interpretation of the powers of the Orisa have exceeded time and place. Conversion took place and the issues of conflict changed. In some African countries, Orisa and Orunmila the divinity of Ifa are perceived as ancestors. This perspective sets a foundation that is grounded in ancestral worship. I contend that when we worship the physical incarnations of Orisa, we are giving honor to elevated or deified ancestors, not the Orisa as cosmic and planetary forces. At the heart of the spirituality in the Pan-African Diaspora is the knowledge that divine consciousness brings the people the ability to triumph against odds. That power is not limited to our original homeland or a time long, long ago. It exists today, will exist tomorrow, and goes with us everywhere we go.
While we are on the subject of identity, let me describe my idea of myself.
I consider myself to be an Indigenous Yoruba of the Western Hemisphere which complicates my own identity within my country and Africa. This self definition creates conflicts, causes me to confront the “new face” of racism, and compels me to identify spiritual imperialism. My journey has included being a woman, a mother, a responsible member of society. I am a mother of the ancestors, a mother of the Orisa, a mother of Ifa, and as a chief, a mother of the Yoruba community at-large.
As a priest and minister, I am the person who works to maintain the vows I have set for myself as a priest of traditional religions.
Gender and Identity
However I must add that I am not a full partner in determining the spiritual and cultural policies that affect the people I serve. My interpretations of sacred texts are not taken seriously by those in power, despite the fact that the care and guidance of my communities is something I do everyday. My experience, my compassion, and my intellect are minimized or negated by many male priests throughout the Yoruba Diaspora.
Despite imposed identities and spiritual imperialism it is important to note that there are economic factors involved in the regeneration of cultural and spiritual realities. Merchants of spirituality have built dynasties because of the faith and need of others to re-connect to their ancestral customs.
Although many African Americans were transported to the Western Hemisphere in the bowels of a slave ship, they have subsequently become the richest Africans on the planet. In the United States we have 650 billion dollars of expendable income, and we have used a lot of it to purchase our spiritualities and identity.
Males and females have used their economic power and ability to sacrifice to invest in the reclamation and hope of spiritual and cultural inclusion. These sacrifices has given us priests, chiefs, and scholars and built large communities of devotees. Our relative wealth has allowed us to pay dearly for access to many of the original Diasporic infrastructures of our ancestors. I ask Africans in the West, “What do we do with these purchases, now? Who will these sacrifices benefit, and how will these sacrifices acknowledge our diversity, collective history, and propel our evolution? When will the Diaspora begin to build institutions and bring its own wisdoms to the table, not as a customer but as a full participant and member of the African family?” Future development of community will be determined by how we view and use what we bought.
Pan-Africans have an obligation. Whether we are on the continent of Africa or a small island, everyone must help the human family shift its consciousness to the next level of evolution. The outcome is already taking form in the emergence of new expressions of ancient spiritual realities, or what some might categorize as New Religious Movements.
Notwithstanding the attempts of African descendants to embrace ideologies of Pan-Africanisms, efforts toward cultural and spiritual re-vitalization, self-reliance, and self- determination are often discouraged by members of the originating countries. Extending rules and interpreting spiritual experiences in foreign countries is an aggressive policy designed to repress self- determination.
Some efforts toward self-definition are a continual cause of conflict and retaliatory actions, as if Africans outside the continent are enemies or wayward children. Spiritual imperialism, in this context, can be described as an ideology which controls the spiritual life of others, enforcing policies that stretch across distance and time.
Spirituality, Social Capital, and Gender
This expedition through developing identities would not be a true journey unless I pointed out some of the nooks and crannies along the way.
I will make a brief stop and address the issues of gender identity. Gender restrictions are festering in a crevice of our collective psyche and deforming our perceptions of partnership.
In the Diaspora women have been an integral part in the building of social and religious capital for dominant world cultures and economies. We have been the keepers and dispensers of ethical, moral, and spiritual identities. As a productive being, I am a form of social capital, along with other priestesses and daughters of our societies. We are assets who are available for use in the production of further assets.
It must not be lost that it has been the Mothers of Yoruba-based spiritual traditions who have held on tightly to their memories and developed ways to practice in hostile environments.
Generations of Maes (Mothers) of the Orisa in Brazil's Candomble have kept the tradition going through hundreds of years of slavery and colonization. The spiritual Mothers of Trinidad have been the stronghold and the majority of the caretakers for Sango Orisa traditions. Women may often appear to be a full partner but this partnership does not extend to economics. Spiritual economics and the distribution of work have not reached parity in the Yoruba Diaspora, at least to my knowledge, which may be limited.
For many practitioners of Ifa, our spirituality and its mysteries will be the only inheritance we have to leave our children. Therefore we have a vested interest in the development of Ifa and Orisa traditions in our respective countries because most of us will live and die in the countries where we were born.
As a spiritual mother of Ifa I have many sons and daughters. That is why these conflicts are important to me. The next generation's abilities are being suppressed, even though they have gifts to offer a global spiritual community. Do I need to fear for their safety, and warn them of the feminization of poverty and the masculization of power? What will happen to women when they are assertive and their demeanor reflects power? Will it be what has happened historically? Should I teach them to wage struggle fearlessly, or tell them it is safer to contort and compromise their abilities?
To these questions my answer is clear! Western ancestry has given me inspiring role models that I am obliged to emulate: Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Sonia Sanchez, Josephine Baker, Barbara Jordan, Asunta Serrano, Oloye Iya Gbogbo Melvina Rodney; and more recently Wilma Mankiller, Marta Vega, and Angela Davis. These women, and more, demand that my collective daughters and sons take their rightful place among them.
In rising to this call, I want to share with you the wisdom in two sacred texts of Ifa. The first is Osa Meji which says to everyone,
“Prostrate, prostrate for the women. Woman has placed you in the world, thus you are of humanity. Woman is the intelligence of the earth, prostrate for women. Woman has placed you in the world, thus you are of humanity.”
People in the “New World” have claimed for themselves their own nomenclature out of their spirit of resistance rather than a spirit of compliance. Perhaps this divergence is what makes it hard for those on the continent to understand what motivates many peoples in the Yoruba Diaspora to define themselves. In the United States in 1966 Dr. Maulana Karenga created the only African American holiday, Kwanzaa. This holiday is non-religious. Its intent is to instill character, faith, culture, and a personal trust that would extend beyond the individual into the community.
One of its main principles is Self-determination or Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah). “To define our-selves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves rather than to allow others to do these things for us.” This particular principle of Kujichaguila is critical in terms of gender, spiritual manifestations, and the distribution of assets.
Summary
In conclusion, I realized that trying to find some principles of resolution that would apply to an African global Community was not easy because of the diversity of Africans. So I decided to share my interpretation of the sacred oracle of Ifa Otura Gunda, “ Ifa Mends a Broken World.”
The fear and disdain of difference must evolve into understanding and appreciation of diversity. Evolution is the continual work of the Universe, and as spiritual beings we must be in alignment with forces that we revere.
Our ideas, relationships, and understandings must continue to evolve with other planetary inhabitants and natural energies. While most of us think of evolution as only a physical phenomenon, it is so much more. It is a process in which our human consciousnesses pass by degrees to a more advanced or mature stage. While its process causes many forces of opposition to dissipate and fade into the cloudy landscape of history, the process of evolution is necessary. Part of this evolution causes humanity to take a look at what we are leaving behind. At times we must use the natural processes of progression as opportunities to discard traits and understandings that no longer serve us.
African spirituality is not monolithic. Theological interpretations change the mindset of people; not only for people who practice a particular doctrine, but also for humanity at large. For example, Jesus changed the consciousness of humanity forever with only twelve disciples, and Ifa is now an influence in the every day lives of 20 million people. Whether or not you are a follower of Christianity you know the name of Jesus. Whether you live in Brazil, the United States, or Ireland, Ifa plays a role in the destiny of practitioners of various Yoruba-based doctrines. Whether you are an Iranian Muslim, a Nation of Islam Muslim in the U.S., or a Yoruba Muslim, you are aware of the name and spiritual role of Mohammed.
Whether spiritual people embrace or discard their Core Beliefs, their minds seek connection and understanding with a divine consciousness that is cosmic and planetary in nature. My chosen spirituality advises me that one of its intentions is to make the world better by mending it.
How many people does it take to mend the world? The Christ Consciousness is all about an awakening and the development of a relationship with one's Maker. It has been said that Jesus Himself received His awakening and illumination during His baptism by John the Baptist. The awakening I am hoping for is not limited to Christianity; it includes Islam, Ifa and other world religions.
In conclusion, the earth, our bodies, and societies are showing signs of decay and reactions to abuse. Benjamin Franklin said, “You may delay but time will not.” We can either become a partner in its maintenance or pass into the abyss of extinction.
A spiritual awakening will mend the world by making people more conscious of their humanity, of their care and compassion for one another.
Each person has a responsibility to become a healer, a caretaker, and a steward of the earth. If you are hoping to resolve, repair and restore the spirit and relationships among African people you must be willing to reach outside of yourself, your country, and religious doctrine. I believe in the resilience of the human spirit and know that healing is possible. Creativity and persistence leads to innovative ideas and appropriate resolutions. Together we can give new life and energy to all people:
· Racism—You Can Mend the World
· Tribal purging–You Can Mend the World
· Distorted identities–You Can Mend the World
· Greed and misuse of resources–You Can Mend the World
There are so many opportunities where compassionate people make a difference in the human experience; add your compassion to that of others when you see:
· Gender inequity and domestic abuse–Mend the world
· Alienation of others because of religious preferences–Mend the world
· Denial of the wisdom that has been gathered by the Diaspora–Mend the world
· Spiritual imperialism–Mend the world
· Disease, epidemics, poor health care – Mend the world
· War, death, and weapons of destructions – Mend the world
· Toxic contamination of the food chain – Mend the world
· Dumping Toxic Waste – Mend the world
The world and its creatures have a lot of work to do to heal each other. No matter what our spiritual preference, we can bring the world a healing; we can re-create its natural balance. St. Francis of Assisi advised humanity to give all creatures “…the shelter of compassion and pity.” He reminded us that when we extend compassion to all creatures, mankind will have people who will also deal this way with their fellow men and women. Isaac Bashevis Singer said, “… Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature you slaughter God.”
· Animal extinction and cruelty – Mend the World
· Genetically modified food – Mend the World
· Deforestation – Mend the World
Africans take your place and mend the World!
http://www.afrocentricnews.com/html/kwanza.htm. (2007)
http://www.cbaac77.com/benin/benin-olomo.htm