Science-women: Arcane knowledge and African spirituality in independent African-American cinema of the 1990s
Date
2020
Authors
Ebrahim, Haseenah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal
Abstract
This article explores the significant role played by arcane knowledge
and expressions of African spirituality in the iconography of
powerful black women in three films directed by independent
African-American filmmakers in the 1990s: Sankofa (Haile Gerima,
1993, USA), Mother of the River (Zeinabu irene Davis, 1995, USA),
and Eve’s Bayou (Kasi Lemmons, 1997, USA). My discussion draws
on the orature and legendary tales of West African-based
cosmologies in the African diasporas of the Americas and the
concept (and practice) of ‘conjure’ in African–American cultures. It
argues that heroic black women characters possessing
extraordinary or supernatural powers not only predate the current
vogue of cinematic superheroism, but that the iconography of
such ‘science-women’ is embedded in culturally specific, Africanrooted
cosmological, epistemological and spiritual contexts. I
argue that the feminine power celebrated in the films by the
independent African-American filmmakers discussed here draw on
legendary and historical accounts of women in African diasporic
oral, literary and spiritual traditions for their cinematic storytelling
to construct an affirmative and paradigmatic model of black
female heroism based on empowering African spiritual beliefs and
arcane knowledge.
Description
Keywords
Cinema, Film, African American, Spirituality, Independent, Sankofa, Mother of the River, Eve's Bayou, Haile Gerima, Kasi Lemmons, Zeinabu irene Davis
Citation
Haseenah Ebrahim (2020) Science-women: arcane knowledge and African spirituality in independent African-American cinema of the 1990s, African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, 13:1, 1-14, DOI: 10.1080/17528631.2018.1519894