Rainy day in washington, d. C. I am honored to be the chair of this panel which attempts to answer the simple, yet in many ways, complex question, what is africanamerican religion. Africans in america, the vast majority, were by law chattel, to be bought and sold, exploited unapologetically and often cast aside once every ounce of value had been extracted. But unlike the livestock that was listed alongside them on the state inventories and at auctions, this peculiar brand of property fought to assert and preserve their humanity, in their relations with each other, in the establishment and operation of their social institutions, and especially in their sacred beliefs. Peoples of african descent adopted a belief system that adopted their ethnicities in the particular circumstances that shaped their lives and labor. Time and experiences altered and redefined the beliefs and practices familiar to the ancestors. The descendents of these men and women adopted new ways of looking at the world
The 23-year-old Washington woman went missing during a trip to Las Vegas in early December. Two people have been arrested in connection to her disappearance, death.