This book diversifies the fields of digital religion studies and Africana religious studies by considering the nuanced intersections between digital technologies and the religious experiences of African Americans. While Christianity is a continuous marker of religious identity for many African Americans, this digital approach to examining Africana religion in the US uncovers other non-Christian esoteric traditions that have often been marginalized within academia. The book explores the diverse ways that African Americans employ the Internet, social media, human enhancement technologies, and gaming to construct multidimensional modes of religious identities. It also considers the ways that Africana religious practitioners employ digital platforms to both complement and disrupt religious authority. Ultimately, the book establishes Africana religious experiences as viable entry points in the scholarly engagement of religion in the digital age. As such, it will be a key resource for scholars of Religious Studies, Africana Religious and Esoteric Studies, Religion and Culture and Religion and Sociology.
Introduction: Back Down Memory Lane: A Reflection on Africana Religion, Technology, and Identity; 1. The Telegraphic Mediumship of African American Spiritualists; 2. Digital Mystics: Black Podcasters and Mystical Instances of Becoming; 3. Witches of Color, Social Media, and the Construction of Complex Identities; 4. “Things Have to Change:” Human Enhancement Technologies in Hoodoo; 5. Playing with Vodou/Voodoo: Race, Religion, and Representation in Video Games.
Biography
Margarita Simon Guillory is an Associate Professor of Religion and African American & Black Diaspora Studies at Boston University. She is the inaugural Associate Director of the Digital Humanities Initiative, which is housed in the Boston University Center for the Humanities. Her publications include Social and Spiritual Transformation in African American Spiritual Churches (Routledge, 2018) and Esotericism in African American Religious Experience (2014). In addition to these works, she has published articles in The Black Scholar, Journal of Gnostic Studies, Culture and Religion, and Pastoral Psychology.
