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Afroindigenization

A Theory of Grassroots Cultural Practice

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Religious Cultures of African and African Diaspora People

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Book

Pages: 246

Illustrations: 2 illustrations

Release Date: August 25, 2026

In Afroindigenization, Catherine A. John addresses the underbelly of spiritual resilience shaping a range of African diasporic institutions, traditions, and practices. John argues that repressed forms of indigenous African knowledge systems manifest in a myriad of culturally embodied ways in African diaspora spaces and places. From mermaid lore in rural Jamaica to hip-hop trance-induced dance in Los Angeles to the stories of two debaters-turned-social-media-influencers, John shows how the descendants of enslaved Africans express the signs and substance of their Afroindigenous power through collective creativity. Drawing from scholars such as Vèvè Clark, Hortense Spillers, Dianne Stewart, and Sylvia Wynter, Afroindigenization exposes the cultural and spiritual ancestries that lie at the heart of modern black identities and practices.

Praise

“A welcome expansion of the terrain. Catherine John has offered an original, rich, and nuanced interpretation of Afroindigeneity in our time. In the words of John’s mother, quoted in the book: ‘the world needs this one.’” - LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant, Director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center and Professor of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, UNC Chapel Hill

Afroindigenzation is a transdisciplinary study by a senior scholar that demonstrates with originality, finesse, and power African spiritual modes of habitation, survival, and thriving among African descendants past and present across the Americas and the Caribbean. Catherine John’s skill at elaborating a new theory of African diaspora religiosity, spirituality, and cultural production/performance is truly exceptional.” - Dianne M. Stewart, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Religion and African American Studies, Emory University

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Author/Editor Bios

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Catherine A. John is Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Rhode Island and author of Clear Word and Third Sight: Folk Groundings and Diasporic Consciousness in African Caribbean Writing, published by Duke University Press.

Table Of Contents

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Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction. KRIK: Afroindigenization and Marasa Consciousness  1
1. Mermaids in Woodside, Jamaica: Submerged Consciousness  37
2. Mountings in Rize: Becoming the Horse and the Turn Loose in Hip-Hop  64
3. Ìyá but Not Western Woman: A Grassroots Formulation of the Afrospora Feminine  106
4. Enter the Dragons of Debate: Rashid Campbell and George Lee’s 2014 Run  149
Afterword. KRAK: “Jack Mandora Mi Nuh Choose None”  184
Notes  189
Bibliography  213
Index

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Additional Information

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Paper ISBN: 978-1-4780-3898-6 / Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4780-3343-1 / eISBN: 978-1-4780-6259-2 /