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African Spiritual Religion: Mermaids, Ancestors and Spirituality | 4 Elements

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Mami Wata: In Search of the Water Spirits in Nigeria

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West African Mermaids and New Orleans Vodou: The real Little Mermaid

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New Orleans is home to a belief system of voodoo and in that belief system, water deities and spirits are paramount, as a source of power, and also are believed to be Black.

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International African American Museum Official Site

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International African American Museum Official Site

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Charleston, SC

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Honor The Untold Stories of the African American Journey - IAAM

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The museum documents the journey that began in Africa centuries ago, and still continues today. Where history comes alive.

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First African Baptist Church Official Site

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First African Baptist Church Official Site

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Savannah, GA

Includes information about their preservation of elements such as the pipe organ, light fixtures and baptismal pool, the pews -- some with writings in Cursive Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic -- and the holes in the floor, Bakongo Cosmograms disguising breathing holes for the hidden lower level safe house.

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that have allowed the congregation to preserve much of its rich history. The stained-glass windows installed during the pastorate of the 5th Pastor, Reverend George Gibbons, can still be found along the edifice. A stained-glass window of Rev. George Leile is located on the external front wall of the church.

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History of First African Baptist Church, Savannah, GA. The oldest Black Church in North America. Constituted December 1777. Rev. Thurmond N. Tillman, Pastor.

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This symbol, which also goes by yowa cross, dikenga cross, or dikenga dia Kongo (in Kikongo), is a central belief in Bakongo spirituality, practiced by the Bantu ethnic group the Bakongo people for centuries. It depicts the connection between the physical and metaphysical, the fabric of life itself from conception through death and then again. The symbol has shown its influence not only in Central Africa but has expanded to into other spiritualities such as Hoodoo in Southern Black communities descending from enslaved Africans, including the Gullah Geechee people, Palo (or Las Reglas de Congo) in Cuba, the Comfa folk religion in Guyana, Myal in Jamaica, and Espiritismo throughout Latin and Caribbean America.

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Article: Igbo Landing Mass Suicide, 1803

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Article: Igbo Landing Mass Suicide, 1803

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The mass suicide by captive Africans at Igbo Landing marks one of the most significant acts of resistance by enslaved people.

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The flooding of the wealthy rice plantations, dug and harvested by hand by enslaved Africans

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Combahee River Area, SC

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Trivia: a lesson on Gopher Wood in the Bible and the history of the Church

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First African Baptist Church
Savannah, GA

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A dedication to the liberation efforts of enslaved Haitians, who established the first and only modern state governed without slavery by free people of color

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Haitian Revolution Monument (1791-1804)
Franklin Square, Savannah, GA

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Hand-stitched quilt with various African diasporic traditional textiles and adornments, including cowrie shells symbolizing fertility and wealth

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Gullah Geechee Museum
Georgetown, SC

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The entrance, which is ironically not what the "front" of the church would be considered, equipped with hidden passages on either side of the immediate foyer

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First African Baptist Church
Savannah, GA

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Huntington Island State Park, SC

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"Emen" by Kimberley Cartwright (top) and "Saint Yemaya" by Asake Denise Jones (bottom)

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"Yemaya Will Catch You" by Christopher Malone

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Penn Center Museum
St. Helena Island, SC

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Near the Harriet Tubman Bridge, where many of the enslaved African mariners escaped rice plantations

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Combahee River Area, SC

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Huntington Island State Park, SC

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Underground Railroad quilt with cryptic codes to help enslaved Africans escape and find safe houses

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First African Baptist Church
Savannah, GA

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Penn Center Museum
Saint Helena Island, SC

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Jam session at guitar shop in Georgetown, SC

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Stone sculptures look into their reflections, their solemn expression only visible in the cold black granite

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First International African American Museum
Charleston, SC

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Built at the site of one of the largest and last operational wharfs during the Atlantic Slave Trade, no photos were allowed inside at the time of our visit

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First International African American Museum
Charleston, SC

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Spending time with local Gullahs just before sunset on James Island, SC

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Water trickles down a map from West Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas, each region affected by the Slave Trade

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First International African American Museum
Charleston, SC

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Gullah Geechee shop
Charleston, SC

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Hampton Park, Charleston, SC

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"Ode to Ancestors That Never Were" by Laura Gadson

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"African Warrior Mermaid" by Tony Williams

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"Vetitum" (top), "Seraphic" (left), and "Elysian" (right) by Paola Rodriguez

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ouroboros, or the snake eating its own tail, a symbol for the circle of life, death, and rebirth

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One day playing pool I realized that the 11-ball, my favorite number and highly spiritual and intuitive in numerology, is Mami Wata's colors (coincidence?)!

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Haiti: Flooding leaves at least 42 people dead and thousands displaced

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The town of Leogane, 40 kilometers southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince, was particularly badly hit by the heavy rains over the weekend.

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Opinion Piece: Is The Little Mermaid Adaptation Harmful?

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Opinion Piece: Is The Little Mermaid Adaptation Harmful?

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‘The Little Mermaid’ Review: The Renovations Are Only Skin Deep

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Disney’s live-action remake, with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, is a dutiful corrective with noble intentions and little fun.

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Article: Spoletto + Piccolo Black Mermaids Exhibition 

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Article: Spoletto + Piccolo Black Mermaids Exhibition 

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May 26th, 2023
Charleston, SC

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Torreah "Cookie" Washington of Charleston deliberately set the opening of her latest fine art curation as a bit of clever counterprogramming.

The weekend of May 26 marks the opening of Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid but also - as a corrective to what she described as Disney's "cutesiness" - it's the opening of Celebrating Black Mermaids: From Africa to America, an exhibition of more than 120 mixed-media works.

As a celebrator of Black mermaid mythology and a mother and grandmother to girls, Washington says she isn't fond of the fairy tale's overarching message.

"Black mermaids are regarded as goddesses, and I don't think any of them would give up being a goddess to get out of the water and marry a prince," Washington said. "I'm hoping that African American little girls come away from the show with a sense of pride, rather than wanting to be Ariel."

Ranging from photography to fiber art, the Celebrating Black Mermaids exhibit enlivens stories of African goddesses as mermaids and water spirits. On view at City Gallery at Waterfront Park until July 9, the exhibit will have its opening reception from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 27 at the gallery, preceding an ancestor blessing by Ashanti Kingdom High Chief ​​Nathaniel B. Styles Jr. earlier in the day.

40 centuries of worship

Mermaid and water spirits have been worshiped for more than 4,000 years, predating the worship of Jesus Christ, Washington said. Over time, the half-human, half-creature depiction of African water spirits combined with the European depiction of the half-human, half-fish we know today. Celebrating Black Mermaids delves into these millenia-old beliefs, which are passed on through oral traditions, and honors the significance of Black mermaids historically as well as in the belief systems of those forcibly removed from Africa.

"We have seen a large array of what European cultures deem is what a mermaid is, but all cultures have some form of water deity, and from those water deities, mermaids exist," said Ohio artist Tony Williams. "It's important that all those cultures be celebrated. It's important to see the representation of oneself."

Williams, internationally recognized for his indigo works, made three pieces for Washington's show: "Mermaid Warrior," a life-size quilt with cowry shell and iridescent fabric detailing; "Yemaya Black Mermaids," a painting on dyed pulp paper; and "Olokun," an articulated paper work that captures the swimming motion of the African deity. His work explores indigo, batik and African kola nut dying practices, all rooted in his own ancestral studies.

Michigan fiber artist Toya Thomas's featured quilt, "Better Than Bondage," conceptualizes a scene from the movie Amistad of a mother throwing herself and her child overboard. Having experienced the pains of enslavement overseas, many forcibly removed Africans chose to end their lives to escape, she said. Thomas's quilt retells this story by adding a mermaid who receives them and carries them to a better place. As a tribute to the journey of her ancestor Thomas from Africa to America, she crafted the mermaid in her own likeness.

"I hope that people come away with an appreciation of the art, but also become more knowledgeable of the stories that each piece has to tell," Thomas said.

California-based textile and installation artist Patricia Montgomery's mermaid doll Alabaster portrays the mysterious African water goddess Mami Wata, whose powers were known to grant wealth, power and fertility. Before ritual dances were outlawed in America, enslaved Africans worshiped Mami Wata by playing music and dancing into a trance-like state.

"She's the doll that can dance with us today," Montgomery said, "allowing us to have that same feeling of being connected to something bigger than ourselves." The doll's body is fabricated with batik fabric that Mongomery said embodies Alabaster with rhythm and movement, and is embellished with alabaster and cowry shells, beads and crystals.

Washington said the show, which includes more than 80 artists, will be even bigger than a Black mermaids exhibit she mounted in 2012, also at City Gallery.

"In history books we are not talking about Black women," Washington said. "And I want Black women and girls to know that the story of Black women doesn't start on a plantation somewhere in the South. We are not coming up from slavery. We are descended from being worshiped as goddesses and queens."

Natalie Rieth is an arts journalism master's degree student at Syracuse University.

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'Black Mermaids' exhibition offers 120 works to combat 'Disney cutesieness' - Charleston City Paper

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The weekend of May 26 is the opening of Celebrating Black Mermaids: From Africa to America, an exhibition of more than 120 mixed-media works.