“Witches” of the Twenty-First Century: Invoking the Relevance and Resilient Character of African Spirituality in Changing Times

Abstract

In this chapter, I discuss the revitalization and resilience of African spirituality within African and the African diaspora. I argue that the resurgence of practitioners of African spirituality in Africa and the African diaspora, commonly known to some as “witches” in the twenty-first century, as demonstrated in practices and lyrics of the millennials such as Beyonce, Banks and Nokia is not only illustrative of the ability of African spirituality to evolve and adapt, it speaks to the centrality of African identity in the African experience. Drawing from experiences of Africans in the sub-Saharan region and those in the African diaspora, I argue that the general assumption that relegated African religious beliefs and practices as “savage,” “primitive” and “uncivilized” and therefore destined to decline is disproven by resilient manifestations of African spirituality in modern society. While acknowledging the disadvantage that these religions experience due to their lack of the proselytizing instinct that their monotheistic peer religions like Christianity and Islam possess, their persistence not only speaks to an Afrocentric character that is central to Africans everywhere., It is also an illustration of the basic fact that all social phenomena is bound to evolve and adapt. The chapter concludes that resilient vestiges of African spirituality are indicative of how irreplaceable and un-erasable core African values are and how they speak to an identity that cannot be traded for another.