Embarking on a Spiritual and Professional Journey of the Yoruba Religion

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Over the last 10 years Kameelah Martin, dean of the Graduate School and professor of African American Studies and English, has been researching the ancient Yoruba religion of West Africa, a religious practice that came to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade. The practice has flourished in places with large Catholic communities like Cuba, a country that is known for having the most pristine practice outside of Nigeria.

On this episode of Speaking Of … College of Charleston, Martin discusses her personal evolution from researcher and scholar to initiate of the Yoruba religion. The experience was a spiritual and professional journey for Martin who wanted to evolve as a scholar and learn about African spirituality in real time.

In the summer of 2022, after extensive preparation, she traveled to Cuba to participate in the initiation ceremony and undergo the 375-day process as an initiate.
Featured on this Episode

Kameelah L. Martin is dean of the Graduate School and professor of African American Studies and English at the College of Charleston. She joined the College in 2017 and assumed the role of dean of the Graduate School in 2021. Martin holds a doctorate in African American literature and folklore from Florida State University, a master’s in Afro-American studies from the University of California Los Angeles and a bachelor’s in English with an Africana studies minor from Georgia Southern University. Prior to joining the College, Martin held faculty positions at Georgia State University, the University of Houston and Savannah State University.

Martin’s research explores the lore cycle of the conjure woman, or Black priestess, as an archetype in literature and visual texts. Other areas of interest include the evolution of 20th century Black folk heroes, the fiction of Tina McElroy Ansa, Gullah Geechee heritage and culture, African American genealogical research and the writing of family histories.
Resources for this Episode

Brooks, Kinitra, Kameelah L. Martin, and LaKisha Simmons. “Conjure Feminism: Toward a Genealogy.” Hypatia 36, no. 3 (2021): 452–61.

Gleason, Judith, Elisa Mereghetti, Teresita Martinez, Miriam Cruz, Francisco Rivela, and Judith Gleason. The King Does Not Lie. New York, NY: Filmakers Library, 1993.

Martin, Kameelah. “Envisioning Black Feminist Voodoo Aesthetics: African Spirituality in American Cinema” (2016)

Martin, Kameelah. “Conjuring Moments in African American Literature: Women, Spiritwork, and Other Such Hoodoo” (2012)

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