African Diaspora Heritage in the Americas

This chapter addresses a remarkable diversity of legacies and heritage for African diaspora populations in the Americas. Overcoming the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, captive Africans further developed myriad forms of cultural knowledge and practices drawn from their homeland cultures and conveyed those aspects of heritage to their descendants and social affiliates. Special knowledge of agricultural industries led to transformed landscapes. Resilience and fights for freedom were represented in self-emancipation, rebellion communities, reverence of burial grounds, and commemorations of lost settlements and ancestors across terrains and seascapes. Elements of cosmologies from multiple African cultures were integrated to form new religions and forms of cultural heritage. Over the past six centuries African diaspora peoples have pursued vitality in their cultural heritage and continue to fight for reparative justice to address European colonial wrongs.