What can be learned from African spirituality?

In The Spirituality of African Peoples: The Search for a Common Moral Discourse, ethicist Peter J. Paris takes up a task to give a detailed explanation of “the common features implicit in the traditional worldviews of African peoples as foundational for an African and African American moral philosophy”(Paris 19).  In his efforts, he determines that there is an underlying thread of spirituality that forms a social ethic of moral virtue for Africans and African Americans even if both groups may be culturally different (21-22, 129-130, 132, 133, 162).  This spirituality, which is consistent of the interconnected experiential realms of God, community, family, and personhood in African life, provides the foundation of virtue ethics for Africans and African Americans (21-22, 129-130).

The origin of moral virtue within the African and African American experiences can be said to begin with that which is divine and spiritual, for life is given and maintained from this realm (25, 28, 33).  At the root of the relationship between the spiritual being(s) and African peoples, however, is a principle of covenant.  Covenant between the divine and humans considers the idea of sustaining life on the hand of the divine in exchange for devotion from living people (28, 44).  This idea of covenant permeates into the realm of community which primarily seeks harmony within physical and even cosmological relationships with ancestors (51, 56), and into the familial realm which considers all relationships to be reciprocal in respectful accordance to age-based hierarchy (86-87).  Upholding this network of relationship encourages the production of a person who exemplifies character that is reflective of the greater good of their community (88, 109-111).

Posing as some challenges to African spirituality and the moral life that comes from it have been Western notions and practices that have disturbed and questioned structures embedded in African communities and people.  For example, slavery had a dynamic impact on both African territory and the embodied souls of those who were exported out of her bosom (61).  Moreover, the Western focus on individualism has stood as something quite contrary to an African’s ability to find personal identity in community (11, 114-115).  Yet perhaps one of the more significant notions taken up by Westerners revolves around the Christian conversion of slaves without the recognition of Africans as humans or their African religion (28, 36, 62-63).  Although African Americans in particular were able to appropriate Christianity to their own African understanding of spirituality (e.g., developing spirituals and sorrow songs) and their American experience of slavery (e.g., finding theological justification for abolitionist efforts), there was no initial care about their well-being as people or what their own beliefs held (63-67, 29).

Paris’s focus on the components of African spirituality seems to inform me as an African American and as a human being about how important—or rather necessary—it is for these interlocked factors to be in operation in order for a social ethic of moral virtue to be existent.  Without spirituality that is inclusive of the interconnectedness of God, community, family, and personhood, the formation of “morally virtuous” character is impossible for African peoples (129-130, 133, 134).  Formation of virtuous character only becomes possible through the intentional and habitual behaviors within the components of African spirituality (133-134).  By being a part of a community that esteems covenant with the sacred through practices and upholds values for family members, the character of a person has the ability to be developed and understood by those within the community and be deemed as “good” (89-90, 43-44, 134).  Individuals such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr. are examples that Paris points to as people who have embodied these behaviors and have thus been viewed as figures of virtues such as beneficence, forgiveness, and justice to name a few (136-156).  For example, Mandela is recognized for his neighborly heart for his people in South Africa and towards his former enemies (139), and King is known for his belief in all people living in “beloved community” (154).  Moreover, Africans and African Americans have been said to promote forgiveness towards oppressors by displaying kindness over hatred (148-149).  Imagine how much our world would be different if we were all transformed by a spirituality that has the ability to yield a virtue such as forgiveness.  Think about what it would mean for everyone to live in a society where they could truly look to their neighbor who is hospitable enough to share her resources regardless of whether or not she has enough for herself.  Moreover in this regard, what might equality and justice for all look like? 

It may not have all the answers to insights such as these that have been mentioned; however, I believe that the spirituality of African peoples has moral virtue within it from which we all can all learn and grow together.  It would be wonderful if we could all challenge ourselves to either be or remain immersed in community that seeks to uphold relationship with God, neighbors, and family as a means to truly know each other and to know our true character.  Emulating the practices from African spirituality may be a critical force in producing moral change in our world.

Paris, Peter J., The Spirituality of African Peoples: The Search for a Common Moral Discourse. 

Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995.