Three Eyes for the Journey African Dimensions of the Jamaican Religious Experience

Studies of African-derived religious traditions have generally focused ontheir retention of African elements. This emphasis, says Dianne Stewart, slightsthe ways in which communities in the African diaspora have created and formednew religious meaning. In this fieldwork-based study Stewart shows that Africanpeople have been agents of their own religious, ritual, and theologicalformation. She examines the African-derived and African-centered traditions inhistorical and contemporary Jamaica: Myal, Obeah, Native Baptist, Revival/Zion,Kumina, and Rastafari, and draws on them to forge a new womanist liberationtheology for the Caribbean.

Dianne M. Stewart is Assistant Professor of Religion at Emory University