Umoja in Yoruba Culture

Greducator

Created for the Nguzo Saba program at Dr. Charles T. Lunsford School 19, Rochester City Schools, Rochester, NY

Warm-up

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What do you notice in the image?

Does this image remind you of anything?

What do you think it symbolizes?

What questions do you have about the image? Discuss.

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Source: https://guardian.ng/life/the-5-most-influential-orishas/

On the previous slide was an artist’s depiction of Sango, warrior Orisha of thunder and lightning. Where did this figure originate? Today you will meet these learning targets:

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• I can explain how aspects of Yoruba culture relate to the concept of “Umoja” --Unity
• I can draw connections between Yoruba culture and the culture in which I now live.

Who are the Yoruba people?

The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Western Africa. Many Yoruba live in Africa, but also many African Americans and Latin Americans are descended from Yoruba people--including in Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.

Yoruba Cultural Diffusion

The Yoruba people were among the last groups from which Africans were stolen and brought to the Americas for forced labor. As a result, their culture has survived into the Americas and was shared with other members of the African diaspora who had lost some of their cultural connection with Africa.

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The Santeria religion of Cuba is derived partly from Yoruba spirituality.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santer%C3%ADa

Umoja in the Creator

Yoruba religion believes in a creator, a spiritual being called Olodumare.

“ Genderless, or possessing all possible gender expressions simultaneously, Olodumare’s plenitude is permeated by ashe, the divine energy and power that brings things into existence…” (Padilione)

According to Nigerian sociologist Akinsola Akiwowo,

“Olódùmarè created everything in the universe as a unit of individuality, but ensured that their survival hinges on their...bondedness into a harmonious whole:” (Afolayan)

http://www.blackhistoryheroes.com/2015/10/a-west-african-folktale-of-story-of.html

How do Yoruba beliefs about the Creator embody the idea of Umoja?

Orishas

Orishas are powerful divine beings who are personifications of ashe. They act as intermediaries between the creator and humanity. They also have their own specific strengths. For example, Esu Elegbe is a trickster, who embodies both male and female identities. Ayangalu is the patron spirit of drummers.

https://www.djoniba.com/who-are-the-orishas/

Orunmila and Umoja

The Orisha Orunmila is the divine being of knowledge and wisdom in the Yoruba religion.

Nigerian sociologist Akinsola Akiwowo wrote about the Yoruba philosophy of how human society formed. He calls it the “Orunmilaist view of society”

See the next page for how this connects to Umoja and our school vision.

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https://www.orilagba.org/copy-of-ogun

Humans and Umoja

“According to this view...it was ènìyàn (human) that was chosen to convey goodness into the world. And this goodness... include[s] complete knowledge, a state of undiminished happiness, [and] harmonious existence devoid of fears of all types, hostilities, illnesses and diseases, poverty, and wants.” (Afolayan)

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Hmmm….sounds a lot like the last line of our school vision! “We can change the world!”

Song Connection: “Free My People” by Joni Haastrup

Joni Haastrup is a musician born in Sierra Leone, West Africa. His father was a Yoruba king in the town of Ilesa in Western Nigeria. Joni wrote an AfroFunk song in 1978 called “Free My People.” In the song he asks “The Almighty” and “all the gods and goddesses of Africa” to help everyone in the world, especially in Africa and America, who are fighting for freedom.

What was going on in Africa and the United States in 1978?

In Africa, many nations were striving to regain their freedom from European rule. Only 3 years before, Mozambique and Angola had won independence from Portugal. Zimbabwe’s original residents had regained power from the white minority who had settled there. In South Africa, the racist system of apartheid was being challenged. In the United States, the Civil Rights Movement had recently ended, but civil rights activists were still fighting against racial discrimination in many areas of life.

https://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/article_image/163374101.jpg

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Soweto student uprising of 1976, South Africa. They were demonstrating against being forced to learn Afrikaans in school, a language with a mostly Dutch origin

Now listen...

See if you can find any Yoruba influence in this song. The lyrics are on the next few slides for you as you listen to the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1vI9dbAXyY

Lyrics

Lyrics

Listen and discuss

What words stand out to you? What do you think of when you hear them? What emotions do you feel when listening to them?

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What connection can you make between the theme of Joni’s song and the philosophy of his Yoruba roots? What is Joni’s ideal?

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How can you exemplify the ideal of Umoja?

Sources

1. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nigeria/locator-map
2. http://hotcasarecords.com/release/joni-haastrup/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people#Society_and_culture
4. https://news.clas.ufl.edu/introduction-yoruba-philosophy-and-contemporary-nigerian-realities/
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_religion
6. https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2019-march-2020/bigger-africa-tales-yoruba-people
7. https://www.aaihs.org/cosmological-queerness-across-the-yoruba-diaspora/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orisha
9. https://www.aamarchives.org/history/1970s.html
10. https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising

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