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International Association on Black Religions and Spiritualities
Summation of Founding Meeting in Cape Town, January 8, 2006 through January 18, 2006
From 8th January to 18th January, 2006, female and male delegates met in Cape Town, South Africa to launch the International Association on Black Religions and Spiritualities (IABRS). Representatives from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Ghana, India (Dalits), Australia (Aboriginals), Cuba (Afro-Cubans), Brazil (Afro-Brazilians), Jamaica, England (Black British), and the United States of America (Black Americans) came together and agreed that, even with our differences, there are enough commonalities to build an international network on spiritualities and religions for the darker skin peoples around the world. We united together to work on behalf of poor and marginalized communities in our countries and throughout the world. We believed that the positive dimensions in black spiritualities and religions can help to bring about another world for individual healing and transformations of systems. Religions and spirituality have an important part to play in creating a healthy individual self and a healthy collective people.
There already exists several international religious organizations. The World Council of Churches is a Christian organization based on Christian denominations. The Parliament of the World Religions is concerned about religions of the world getting together to know each other better. The Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians is a Christian liberation theology group. The World Forum on Theology and Liberation is a Christian group that works with the World Social Forum.
The International Association on Black Religions and Spiritualities is unique. (1) We see spiritualities and religions as key for a healthy humanity and creation. (2) We are in solidarity with the darker skin peoples of the world. (3) We are sensitive to poor and locked out individuals, communities, and countries. (4) We welcome all types of religions and spiritualities without privileging one type over another. Black people across the globe have many different religions and spiritualities; such as Candomble, black Jews, black Muslims, Santeria, African traditional religions, blacks in the great Asian religions, non-Christian indigenous religions of dark skin people in the Pacific Islands, etc. IABRS includes any dark skin person ("black) who has any spirituality or religion. We also want the IABRS to truly reflect the world. The majority of black (darker skin peoples) have many, many different expressions of spiritualities and religions. And these spiritualities and religions can be found on all continents and island countries in the world. We rejoice with all who accent the positive aspects of their religions and spiritualities, and use them in service to poor and marginalized peoples.
In Cape Town, South, we learned a great deal about each other. We learned about our personal histories and our personal stores. We also began to know more about the situation in each of our countries. What conditions are darker skin peoples and countries faced with both inside their country and in relation to global forces that impact the world?
What role does positive and negative religions and spiritualities have in dealing with the internal conditions and the external forces? Where do women and young people fit into all of this?
The January 2006 meeting achieved the following:
(1) The first time in history this type of group of global representatives had met;
(2) The first time practitioners, academics, and pastors had met together internationally;
(3) The first time, in our collective global memory, that half women and men had met;
(4) The meeting reflected different age groups – youth, middle age, and elders;
(5) The meeting creatively structured both formal country presentations and the telling of personal stories and histories;
(6) The meeting confirmed the necessity of spiritualities and religions of darker skin peoples playing a positive role in the possibility of another world; and
(7) The meeting underscored the importance of linking social change with the change of the individual (i.e., social analysis and self-analysis);
(8) We presented papers and these papers will be published in the Black Theology: An International Journal and in a book.
The January 2006 founding meeting recommended the following:
(1) The theme for the Association is: “Another World Is Possible”;
(2) The development of a web page which will have our theme at the top of the first page;
(3) The creation of an electronic newsletter that would have our theme at the top of the first page. The e-newsletter will also have sections on events taking place in our countries, the role of religions and spiritualities, and updates about our personal lives;
(4) The creation of a logo which would include our theme: Another World Is Possible;
(5) A vision statement;
(6) An organization structure:
(i) The 22 delegates (half women and men) of the existing 11 countries will constitute the international steering committee and will meet every third year starting with a 2008 gathering;
(ii) 8 delegates (half men and women) were chosen as the Standing Committee and will meet twice a year. England, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Cuba, Australia, Botswana, USA. The first meeting will take place this September 2006;
(iii) 2 (Dwight N. Hopkins, USA and Doreen McCalla, England) chosen as Communications Coordinators to handle day-to-day running of the Association
(4) The two main areas of work for the Association are:
(i) Education and Advocacy
(5) 3 year program of action (for 2006, 2007, and 2008)
(i) Education
– publish in an edited book the presentations given at the January 2006 Cape Town meeting
– publish some of the articles in the Black Theology: An International Journal
– Youth and student exchanges to different countries in order to visit different educational institutions or, where possible, have them take classes. Youth and students will represent different spiritualities and religions. We would like to have both a male and a female together. We would like to have both a youth and a student together. The age group is 18 to 25 or possibly 18 to 30.
(ii) Advocacy
– 3 women from 3 different countries will visit select countries of the Association in order to advocate for the issues that are important in their own countries. We choose to start with women due to the extra burden they face as women. And because, usually, when women speak, they also speak for the children. The women will meet with government representatives to advocate policy changes.