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DIVINING A FUTURE

Spirituality & Afro-Latinx

Cultural Expression

Spirituality has provided a continuum for Afro-Latinx expression as the culmination of both African, Indigenous, and European belief systems have given birth to a reinvented and authentic part of Afro-Latinx culture.

Candomblé, Macumba, Santería, and Voodoo are among the names of a few of the manifested African diasporic religions that exist throughout the Americas. Often taking more modern imagery from the Roman Catholic tradition, these African diasporic religions in Latin America have persisted as a cultural phenomenon (and at times, an act of cultural resistance) in the lives of many Afro-Latinx individuals.

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Carried over to the Americas via slavery with a variety of origins in many African tribes, many of the religions are often a form of self-care and self-preservation for the practicioners. Botanicas (literally meaning "plant store" for its history as an apothecary for medicinal herbs in Latin America) still serve as a central point for many individuals to find this restorative spiritual connection.

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In the United States, these botanicas, their patrons and their various spiritual leaders such as santeros and babalawos continue to add to the endless and historic thread of Afro-Latinx identity in the spiritual sphere.

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