Source: Essence

In January, 2001, Essence published an article by Marta Moreno Vega on her grandmother (abuela), who was one of the thousands born to generations of Africans in the Americas who practice Espiritismo in secret. These African-Americans hide "their beliefs behind images of the captors' religions, masking their orishas [the African gods and goddesses of creation] with the faces of their enslavers' saints. For this reason," Vega writes, "my ancestors' religion came to be known as Santeria, the Way of the Saints." Vega was intrigued by her abuela'...

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On December 26, 2000, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published its interview of Maulana Karenga, the black nationalist and professor of black studies at California State University in Long Beach who started Kwanzaa in 1966. "Rooted in East African harvest festivals," Kwanzaa is "a festival of music, drama, dance, readings and mask-making" that is observed from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Each day focuses on one of the nguzo saba, the seven principles of living: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility,...

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On December 23, 2000, the Omaha World-Herald reported that the Rev. Larry Menyweather-Woods of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church and his congregation are expecting roughly 200 people at this year's Kwanzaa celebration. "The weeklong observance will focus on 'positive reaffirmation, information, inspiration and fellowship,' Menyweather-Woods said. Each of the seven principles of Kwanzaa (unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith) is represented by a...

Source: Star Tribune

On December 22, 2000, the Star Tribune reported that Kwanzaa, created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 as "as a time for black families to focus on community responsibility, commerce and self-improvement; 34 years later, the New York Times reports, it is observed by 15 million people worldwide." Modelled after first fruits festivals in Africa, Kwanzaa includes a focus on gathering together and introspection. Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday, but it allows people to feel the spirit of the season and the new year. "Kwanzaa is...

Source: The Buffalo News

On September 24, 2000, The Buffalo News reported that a "member of the Rastafarian religion claims that he was turned down for a bus driver's job in Buffalo because his hair hung halfway down his back in dreadlocks. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit in Buffalo last week against Greyhound Lines on behalf of Kevan Sheppard, 43, of Rochester. The federal anti-discrimination agency charges that Sheppard was the victim of religious discrimination when Greyhound officials in Buffalo turned down his...

Source: The Times (London)

On September 23, 2000, The Times (London) published an article entitled, "Magic of the Deep South" about the importance of voodoo in New Orleans' culture.

Source: The Financial Times (London)

On August 19, 2000, The Financial Times (London) published an article entitled, "Voodoo for Tourists: Kevin Pilley Takes a Trip Around New Orleans and Sees no Zombies but Gets Some Interesting Advice."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On August 15, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported on Marty Mayer, president of Indio Products. Mayer "oversees the transformation of several tanker-cars full of wax into candles...every week at his Long Beach factory." He also boasts an "inventory of nearly 7,000 magic candles, oils, essences, soaps, aerosols, and floor washes flowing to distributors throughout the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Japan." While Mayer himself does not believe in magic, many of his customers do; most of his "customers are wholesalers running...

Source: The Baltimore Sun

On July 17, 2000, The Baltimore Sun reported on Christopher Obas, a Haitian-American who "heads a five-member dance troupe, Anba's Lakay." Obas "feels the spirits have given him and his dancers a...mission...to spread the true word about Haitian Vodou culture in the United States, where many associate the religion with evil and spells. Vodou, in fact, is one of several religions combining West African deity worship and elements of Roman Catholicism practiced in the Caribbean and Brazil today."

Source: The Washington Post

On January 4, 2000, The Washington Post published an article on the presence of Santeria in the Washington, DC area. Santeria, which now attracts several thousand adherents in the region who cross ethnic, racial, professional, and religious lines, became a more visible presence in the Washington area about 20 years ago, when the Mariel boat lift brought Cubans to the District. Santeria is an Afro-Cuban faith with roots in the Yoruba region of Nigeria. The religion began when West African slaves who were brought to the New World...

Source: Newsday

On October 21, 1998, Newsday reported on an exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History entitled, "Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou." The exhibition, which runs through January 3rd, has come to New York as the last stop of a two-year tour. With more than 500 objects, it is the "most exhaustive exhibition ever devoted to the artifacts of voodoo." Vodou art "sanctifies the ordinary" such that mundane objects, like Coke bottles and tin cups, can be transformed into devotional objects. Vodou, which fuses the beliefs and practices of...

Source: American Journal of Public Health

In the January 1996 edition of the American Journal of Public Health, a letter to the editor was published that stated, "As providers of community health and mental health services in underserved areas, we recognize the public health threat of dispensing mercury. However, we recommend also that the dangers of mercury be sensitively separated from the social-psychological benefits of spiritualism. In inner-city Hispanic communities, espirtismo is an indigenous source of community socialization and support....