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.As oneformer enslaved man asserted:  That religion I got in them way-backdays is still with me.And it ain t this piecrust religion, such as the folksare getting these days.The old-time religion had some filling betweenthe crusts. 43 The effectiveness of traditional African religions was notin their ability to crush the violent day-to-day horrors of American slav-ery, but as Stewart has argued,  they inspired Africans to refuse dehu-manization and oppression and to pursue freedom, control of destiny,and well-being as signs of the life to be experienced on earth. 44Moreover, women s refusal to also lay down their Islamic tradi-tion suggests that they equally saw something life-affirming in thistradition.As one former enslaved Muslim stated:  I had resolved tobe faithful to the religion in which I had been carefully raised.I wasattached to it by conviction: I was attached to it so much more that itwas the only thing left to me from my family and my country. 45Tenets of both traditions traditional African and Islamic werepractical and accessable.Furthermore, enslaved women s opennessto tenets of all three traditions traditional African, Islam, andChristianity demonstrated their willingness to value various faith208 Enslaved Women and the Art of Resistanceperspectives among women.This openness played a key role in unify-ing and sustaining them spiritually in the New World.Perhaps theircommon struggles and hope for freedom and relief were stronger thantheir religious differences.As one former enslaved Muslim womanstated:  I know I was borned in Morocco, in Africa, and was marriedand had three children befo I was stoled from my husband.I don tknow who it was stole me, but dey took me.drugs me with somecoffee, and when I knows anything  bout it, I s in de bottom of theboat with a whole lot of other [Negroes].Irrespective of their various religious beliefs, they were all in thestruggle together and therefore needed practical tools capable oftransforming and transcending their reality tools or practices thatwould strengthen their faith and help them combat oppression.Asthe previous strategies have shown, they found in these varying faithtraditions something accessible, transmittable, and life-affirming somuch so that it helped them to reclaim their worth, fight back, sum-mon the spirit world, and heal and protect themselves.In retaining and adopting tenets of different faith traditions, enslavedwomen were able to find connections with one another.TraditionalAfrican religions, Islam, and later Euro-Christianity held commonbeliefs which included but were not limited to: acknowledgement andhonoring of God and lesser deities or prophets; communalism; ances-tral veneration; visitation or spirit possession; reincarnation or resur-rection; aesthetic expression (song, dance, drumming); sacrifice andofferings; and prayer (incantation, meditation, and invocation).Thesecommon tenets within their various faith traditions united the womenrather than divided them.Prayer, for example, was one integrated religious practice that tran-scended religious dogma and fostered bonds of solidarity among blackwomen.Perhaps this was possible because when daughters were rapedand pregnant mothers were beaten at the whipping post it did not mat-ter what faith tradition the slave community professed.Perhaps whatmattered was the prayer circle of women, who believed in the power ofprayer to summon forth the spirit realm and see women through andbring their enemies to justice.One former enslaved woman recalled: Dey hab big holes out in de fiel dey git down in an pray.Dey done datway  cause de white folks didn want  em to pray.Dey uster pray forfreedom. 46 Both precolonial and antebellum African women believedin the power of prayer (incantation, meditation, and invocation).Itwas the practicality of prayer that made prayer efficacious for theirwell-being.Prayer was an interfaith religious practice that collectivelyMore Strategies of Subversion and Freedom 209sustained and empowered them in times of crisis.Prayer galvanizedthem and helped create community; it connected them across ethniclines, increased their faith, and strengthened bonds of sisterhood.Itreconnected them to God, the spirit world, land, nature, and eachother.It bonded them together in struggle, and later, in pursuit ofhuman valuation and freedom.Prayer was not a New World Euro-American Christian phenom-enon; enslaved women emerged from a legacy of praying women.Mbiti notes that, praying is reported among practically all Africanpeoples.47 West and West Central African women, for example, oftenprayed for harvest and when harvest came, they offered prayers ofthanksgiving by holding festivals and celebrations.They shared thereaped harvest with the community in honor of God s answeredprayers.They also prayed seeking God for: material resources; recov-ery from drought or famine; safety from thunderstorms; blessingsand prosperity; good health and healing; safe travels before taking ajourney or preparing for war or revolt; and deliverance and protec-tion from danger, enemies, and evil forces.They often prayed to themost powerful spirits, the river spirits who were known for defeatingthe enemy and bringing good fortune.Former enslaved women oftenremarked that,  Duh preachuh make a prayuh tu duh ribbuh an duhribbuh would respond on their behalf.48 Notice the phrasing here  tothe river and not  at the river, a common expression in many slavenarrative possibly signifying the river as a spirit or deity.Prayer (salat) was also common among African Muslim womenand their enslaved descendents in North America.On many slaveowning properties enslaved African Muslims were known to  prayweah duh string uh beads at sun-up and face duh sun on duh kneesan bow tuh it tree times, kneelin on a lill mat or pray three to fivetimes  ebry day at sunrise, at middle day, and den at sunset, alluzbow tuh duh sun, praying for blessings, good health, and safety.49Enslaved Christian women were also known to pray and call on Godfrom sun-up to sundown.As one former enslaved woman noted,  Mymother, all de time she d be prayin to de Lord.We d see her wipinher eyes wid de corner of her apron first one eye, den de other.Den,back in de house, down on her knees, she d be a-prayin. 50Enslaved women entered the sacred space of the Invisible Institutionwith modifications, innovations, and syncretisms of their various reli-gious traditions, believing and trusting that the Creator would comeand answer their prayers.As one former enslaved woman stated,  Wehad dem spirit-filled meetings at night on de bank of de river, and God210 Enslaved Women and the Art of Resistancemet us dere. 51 Another woman went on the say,  I ve heard  em prayfor freedom.the old-time folks always felt they was to be free. 52The power and solidarity of praying black women even made whitesfearful [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]