As the world protests the police killings of persons of African descent George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others, it’s time to turn our attention to systemic oppression against persons of African descent throughout the continents, specifically, the continent of Africa. There, men, women, and children are experiencing a cultural crisis.

For more than 5 centuries, the traditional faith and practices of many Africans have been under assault by people who do not share a commitment to equal access to religious freedom. Falsely accused of containing demonic practices, on the contrary, one of the oldest traditions, Ifa, is a scientific system of divination that does not rely on psychic soothsaying. The United Nations, which has placed Ifa on its list of endangered cultures, describes the religion as: “The Ifa divination system, which makes use of an extensive corpus of texts and mathematical formulas, is practiced among Yoruba communities and by the African diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean. In contrast to other forms of divination in the region that employ spirit mediumship, Ifa divination does not rely on a person having oracular powers but rather on a system of signs that are interpreted by a diviner, the Ifa priest or babalawo, literally ‘the priest’s father’. The Ifa divination system is applied whenever an important individual or collective decision has to be made.”**

During colonialism, imperialists, Muslims and Christians, bent on conquering and dividing, infiltrated Africa and rather than co-exist with traditionalists, sought to destroy them and any knowledge of their practices. Those efforts continue today in various forms of subterfuge; thus, the breach has never been repaired or even questioned. Amends (by acknowledgment and forthright dialogue) are critical for healing. Join our effort to ensure traditional African religions have the right to peacefully co-exist and thrive.

SIGN THIS PETITION AND PASS IT ON!

**United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Ifa divination system, https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ifa-divination-system-00146

Photo: Earth Metropolis African Art, http://www.earthmetropolis.com/Earth/yoruba_ifa.html No copyright infringement intended.