"Washington writes supple and thoughtful prose and creatively integrates African and African-derived terminology, which never distract the reader. I consider Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts not only a brilliant study, but also a model to be emulated." —Ousseynou B. Traore, William Patterson University
Àjé is a Yoruba word that signifies a spiritual power of vast potential, as well as the human beings who exercise that power. Although both men and women can have Àjé, its owners and controllers are women, the literal and cosmic Mothers who are revered as the gods of society. Because of its association with female power, its invisibility and profundity, Àjé is often misconstrued as witchcraft. However, as Teresa N. Washington points out in Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts, Àjé is central to the Yoruba ethos and cosmology. Not only does it underpin the concepts of creation and creativity, but as a force of justice and retribution, Àjé is essential to social harmony and balance. As Africans were forced into exile and enslavement, they took Àjé with them and continued its work of creating, destroying, harming, and healing in the New World.
Washington seeks out Àjé’s subversive power of creation and re-creation in a diverse range of Africana texts, from both men and women, from both oral and contemporary literature, and across space and time. She guides readers to an understanding of the symbolic, methodological, and spiritual issues that are central to important works by Africana writers but are rarely elucidated by Western criticism. She begins with an examination of the ancient forms of Àjé in Yoruba culture, which creates a framework for innovative readings of important works by Africana writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka, Jamaica Kincaid, and Ntozake Shange. This rich analysis will appeal to readers of Africana literature, African religion and philosophy, feminist studies, and comparative literature.

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Àjé in Africana Literature (Blacks in the Diaspora)

Washington, Teresa N.

Reference

Indiana University Press

"Washington writes supple and thoughtful prose and creatively integrates African and African-derived terminology, which never distract the reader. I consider Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts not only a brilliant study, but also a model to be emulated." —Ousseynou B. Traore, William Patterson UniversityÀjé is a Yoruba word that signifies a spiritual power of vast potential, as well as the human beings who exercise that power. Although both men and women can have Àjé, its owners and controllers are women, the literal and cosmic Mothers who are revered as the gods of society. Because of its association with female power, its invisibility and profundity, Àjé is often misconstrued as witchcraft. However, as Teresa N. Washington points out in Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts, Àjé is central to the Yoruba ethos and cosmology. Not only does it underpin the concepts of creation and creativity, but as a force of justice and retribution, Àjé is essential to social harmony and balance. As Africans were forced into exile and enslavement, they took Àjé with them and continued its work of creating, destroying, harming, and healing in the New World.Washington seeks out Àjé’s subversive power of creation and re-creation in a diverse range of Africana texts, from both men and women, from both oral and contemporary literature, and across space and time. She guides readers to an understanding of the symbolic, methodological, and spiritual issues that are central to important works by Africana writers but are rarely elucidated by Western criticism. She begins with an examination of the ancient forms of Àjé in Yoruba culture, which creates a framework for innovative readings of important works by Africana writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka, Jamaica Kincaid, and Ntozake Shange. This rich analysis will appeal to readers of Africana literature, African religion and philosophy, feminist studies, and comparative literature.

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence: Divinity in Africana Life, Lyrics, and Literature is a remarkable study and the first of its kind. Teresa N. Washington eschews popular culture’s pimp myths and thug sagas and traces the Africana man’s power, creativity, and consciousness to his inherent divinity. Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence takes the reader to the source of power with an analysis of African Divinities and divine technologies. Washington explores the permanence and proliferation of African Gods from oppressive plantations to the empowering proclamations of such leaders as W. D. Fard, Marcus Garvey, Father Divine, and Allah, the Father. Washington analyzes the summonses to and from the Gods that resonate in the music of such artists as Erykah Badu, The RZA, Sun Ra, X Clan, and Rakim. Using literary analysis as a prism to display the diversity of Africana divinity, Washington reveals the literature of such writers as August Wilson, Walter Mosley, Toni Morrison, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Ishmael Reed to be three-way mirrors that eternally reflect and project the Gods, their myriad powers, and their weighty responsibilities. Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence will prove indispensable to independent scholars as well as scholars of Comparative Literature, Hip Hop Studies, Gender Studies, Africana Studies, Literary Criticism, and Religious Studies.

Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence: Divinity in Africana Life, Lyrics, and Literature

Oya's Tornado

The Architects of Existence: Aje in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature

Teresa N. Washington’s first book, Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature, reveals the Pan-African power and profundity of Aje and its myriad sister systems in Pan-African literature and culture. In The Architects of Existence: Aje in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature, Washington undertakes an in-depth exploration of Aje’s Yoruba Gods, origins, and manifestations to reveal the force’s vast depth, complexity, and scope. By analyzing diverse sources, including published studies, historical texts, divination verses, and interviews with Yoruba wisdom keepers, Washington elucidates the multifaceted and complex nature of Aje and reveals the power to be extraordinarily dynamic, influential, and logical. Washington’s meticulous exposition of Aje includes chapters on the multifold power of Odu, the Great Mother Aje; Aje’s signs, symbols, and orders of operation; manifestations of Aje in the Odu Ifa; the roles of Aje in Yoruba secret societies and sacred institutions; and the impact of Aje on some of the Yoruba world’s most influential sons, including Olatubosun Oladapo, Wole Soyinka, and Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The Architects of Existence is a groundbreaking study that will be essential reading for scholars of Yoruba Studies, Philosophy, African Studies, Gender Studies, and Religious Studies. Initiates and practitioners of Yoruba spiritual arts and sciences will find this book to be indispensable.

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence: Divinity in Africana Life, Lyrics, and Literature is a remarkable study and the first of its kind. Teresa N. Washington eschews popular culture's pimp myths and thug sagas and traces the Africana man's power, creativity, and consciousness to his inherent divinity. Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence takes the reader to the source of power with an analysis of African Divinities and divine technologies. Washington explores the permanence and proliferation of African Gods from oppressive plantations to the empowering proclamations of such leaders as W. D. Fard, Marcus Garvey, Father Divine, and Allah, the Father. Washington analyzes the summonses to and from the Gods that resonate in the music of such artists as Erykah Badu, The RZA, Sun Ra, X Clan, and Rakim. Using literary analysis as a prism to display the diversity of Africana divinity, Washington reveals the literature of such writers as August Wilson, Walter Mosley, Toni Morrison, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and Ishmael Reed to be three-way mirrors that eternally reflect and project the Gods, their myriad powers, and their weighty responsibilities. Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence will prove indispensable to independent scholars as well as scholars of Comparative Literature, Hip Hop Studies, Gender Studies, Africana Studies, Literary Criticism, and Religious Studies.

With her first book, Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations Aje in Africana Literature, Teresa N. Washington reveals the Pan-African power and profundity of Aje and its myriad sister systems in Pan-African literature and culture. In The Architects of Existence: Aje in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature, Washington undertakes an in-depth exploration of Aje's Yoruba Gods, origins, and manifestations to reveal the force's vast depth, complexity, and scope. By analyzing diverse sources, including published studies, historical texts, divination verses, and interviews with Yoruba wisdom keepers, Washington elucidates the multifaceted and complex nature of Aje and reveals the power to be extraordinarily profound, influential, and logical. Washington's meticulous exposition of Aje includes chapters on the multifold power of Odu, the Great Mother; Aje's signs, symbols, and orders of operation; manifestations of Aje in the Odu Ifa; the roles of Aje in Yoruba secret societies and sacred institutions; and the impact of Aje on some of the Yoruba world's most influential sons, including Olatubosun Oladapo, Wole Soyinka, Toyin Falola, and Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The Architects of Existence is a groundbreaking study that will be essential reading for scholars of Yoruba Studies, Philosophy, African Studies, Gender Studies, Religious Studies, and Comparative Religions. Scholars, initiates, and practitioners of Yoruba spiritual arts and sciences will find this book to be indispensable.

This is the revised and expanded edition of Teresa N. Washington's groundbreaking book Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature. In Yoruba language and culture, Aje signifies both a phenomenal spiritual power and the human beings who exercise that power. Aje is the birthright of Africana women who are revered as the Gods of Society. While Africana men can have Aje, its owners and controllers are Africana women. Because it is an African female power, and due to its invisibility, ubiquity, and profundity, Aje is often maligned as witchcraft. However, as Teresa N. Washington reveals in Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts, Aje is central to the Yoruba ethos, worldview, and cosmology. Not only is it essential to human creation and artistic creativity, but as a force of justice and retribution, Aje is vital to social harmony and balance. Washington analyzes forms, figures, and forces of Aje in the Yoruba world, in the Caribbean Islands, in Latin America, and in African America. Washington's research reveals that with the exile and enslavement of millions of Africans, Aje became a global force and an essential ally in organizing insurrections, soothing shattered souls, and reminding the dispossessed of their inherent divinity. From her in-depth exploration of Aje in Pan-African history and orature, Washington guides readers through rich analyses of the symbolic, methodological, and spiritual manifestations of Aje that are central to important works by Africana writers but are rarely elucidated by Western criticism. Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts includes innovative readings of works by many Africana writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka, Jamaica Kincaid, and Ntozake Shange. This revised and expanded edition of Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts will appeal to scholars of Africana literature, African religion and philosophy, gender studies, and comparative literature. Devotees of Africana spiritual systems will find this book to be indispensable.

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature

The African World in Dialogue: An Appeal to Action!

The African World in Dialogue: An Appeal to Action! is a probing and politically timely collection of essays, interviews, speeches, poetry, short stories, and proposals. These rich works illuminate the struggles, triumphs, impediments, objectives, and diversity of the contemporary African world.
The African World in Dialogue contains five sections: " Listen: The Ink Speaks"; "Restitutions, Resolutions, Revolutions"; "Africanity, Education, and Technology"; "Life Lines from the Front Lines"; and "Gender, Power, and Infinite Promise." Each section brims with provocative and compelling insights from elder-warriors, wordsmiths, journalists, and academics, many of whom are also activists.
The volume's contributors include Tunde Adegbola, Muhammad Ibn Bashir, Jacqueline Bediako, Charlie Braxton, Alieu Bundu, Baba A. O. Buntu, Chinweizu, Ricardo Cortez Cruz, Oyinlola Longe, Jumbe Kweku Lumumba, Morgan Miller, Asiri Odu, Chinwe Ezinna Oriji, Kevin Powell, Blair Marcus Proctor, Ishola Akindele Salami, Aseret Sin, Teresa N. Washington, and Ayoka Wiles. The book also features interviews with Hilary La Force, Mandingo, Kambale Musavili, and Prince Kuma N’dumbe.
With selections designed to critique and in many cases upend conventional political thought, educational norms, fantasies of social progress, and gender myths, The African World in Dialogue challenges its audience. The book’s “Appeal to Action” is literal: Rather than offering eloquent elaborations of African world woes, The African World in Dialogue offers detailed plans and paths for emancipation and elevation that readers are urged to implement.
Activists and scholars of African studies, African American studies, Pan-Africanism, criminal justice, Black revolutionary thought and action, gender studies, sociology, and political science will find this book to be both inspirational and indispensable.

Social Sciences

This is the revised and expanded edition of Teresa N. Washington's groundbreaking book Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature. In Yoruba language and culture, Aje signifies both a phenomenal spiritual power and the human beings who wield that power. Aje is the birthright of Africana women who are revered as the Gods of Society. While Africana men can have Aje, its owners and controllers are Africana women. Because it is an African female power, and due to its invisibility, ubiquity, and profundity, Aje is often maligned as witchcraft. However, as Washington reveals in Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts, Aje is central to the Yoruba ethos, worldview, and cosmology. Not only is it essential to human creation and artistic creativity, but as a force of justice and retribution, Aje is vital to social harmony and balance. Washington analyzes forms, figures, and forces of Aje in the Yoruba world, in the Caribbean Islands, in Latin America, and in African America. Washington's research reveals that with the exile and enslavement of millions of Africans, Aje became a global force and an essential ally in organizing insurrections, soothing shattered souls, and reminding the dispossessed of their inherent divinity. From her in-depth exploration of Aje in Pan-African history and orature, Washington guides readers through rich analyses of the symbolic, methodological, and spiritual manifestations of Aje that are central to important works by Africana writers but are rarely elucidated by Western criticism. Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts includes innovative readings of works by many Africana writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka, and Jamaica Kincaid. Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts will appeal to scholars of Africana literature, African religion and philosophy, gender studies, and comparative literature. Devotees of Africana spiritual systems will find this book to be indispensable.

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature:Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Washington, Teresa N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Washington, Teresa N.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Washington, Teresa N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Àjé in Africana Literature (Blacks in the Diaspora)

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Àjé in Africana Literature (Blacks in the Diaspora)

Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence: Divinity in Africana Life, Lyrics, and Literature

The Architects of Existence: Aje in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature

Manifestations of Masculine Magnificence: Divinity in Africana Life, Lyrics, and Literature

The Architects of Existence: Aje in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature

The African World in Dialogue: An Appeal to Action!

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature:Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature

Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Aje in Africana Literature