Black People : What Cultural Rituals do black people need to create? (brainstorming session)

[Ankhur]

I'm not so big on rituals as I am on what works and what doesn't. What nets results and what is merely a theory.

good now you go get a book on Enochian magic, or Thelema and come back and tell us what happened after doing the rituals without reading the warnings, and then tell us what works and what does not

 

[Da Flash]

Peace Knowledge Seed,

I think the thing to keep in mind is the actual psychological condition of African American people.. Truth is, African Americans will never widely accept traditional African religious rituals.. not in any raw form.. I think they would have to be translated to the fit within the contemporary secular social context of African American life.. and they would have to take the particulars of the American African personality into account.. with the vast majority of Africans in America being theoretically christian but fundamentally really just american, I think the rituals, to gain widespread acceptance, would have to be designed to not directly clash with those two identities.. conflicted as they may seem. or better said, they would have to be designed to only clash in ways that African American people can get behind without also seeming to betray the other dimensions of their socio-political identity.. in theory and practice.. talk about complicated.. wow..

Brother skuderjaymes, you said a mouthfull! I think that the first obsticle that we must overcome is the fact that the vast majority of Black people in this country associate more with being american than being of African descent.

Back to the topic at hand, I tend to agree with Ankhur. We already have Kwanzaa around the winter solstice and it incorporates values that I believe are crucial to us as a people. I would also like to see something around the vernal equinox that concentrates on the young and the rituals/customs that we pass on to them. We could also have a day on or around the Autumnal equinox for paying homage to the elders and Juneteenth could be represented by the summer solstice.

But, this is just me...........!

 

[Shikamaru]

good now you go get a book on Enochian magic, or Thelema and come back and tell us what happened after doing the rituals without reading the warnings, and then tell us what works and what does not

I'm still not a believer in rituals.

 

[Da Flash]

I'm still not a believer in rituals.

Would you care to elaborate as to why??

 

[Shikamaru]

Would you care to elaborate as to why??

Personally, I am solutions and results oriented, practical, and material.
Ritual is important in religion which is one of the reasons I am turned off by it.
People performing or participating in these actions without understanding of its symbolism or history.

"Where's the beef ?" would be my motto.

Rituals appeal more, in my opinion, to those minds more superstitious.