Full Description
This Spot of Ground: Spiritual Baptists in Toronto represents the first detailed exploration of an African-Caribbean religion in the context of contemporary migration to Canada. Toronto is home to Canadas largest black population, a significant portion of which comprises Caribbean migrants and their descendants.
This book shows how the development of the Spiritual Baptist religion in Canada has been shaped by the immigration experiences of church members, the large majority of whom are women, and it examines the ways in which religious experiences have mediated the members' experiences of migration and everyday life in Canada. This Spot of Ground is based on a critical ethnography, with in-depth interviews and participant observations of church services and other ritual activities, including baptism and pilgrimage and field research in Trinidad that explores the transnational linkages with Spiritual Baptists there. The book addresses theoretical and methodological issues also, including the development of perspectives suitable for examining diasporic African religious and cultural expressions characterized by transnational migration, an emphasis on oral tradition as the repository of cultural history, and linguistic and cultural hybridity.
This Spot of Ground contributes new information to the study of Caribbean religion and culture in the diaspora, providing a detailed examination of the significance of religion in the immigration process and identity and community formations of Caribbean people in Canada.
Contents
This Spot of Ground: Spiritual Baptists in Toronto by Carol B. Duncan
Preface
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
The Research Setting
The Study as a ""Talking Book""
Travessao
Book Overview
1. ""A PASSPORT TO HEAVEN'S GATE""
Introduction
""Heaven's Gate"": Canada in the North American and Caribbean Black Imaginary
Church-Ship: Spiritual Voyaging
Spiritual Baptists in Multicultural Canada: Considering Religious and National Identities in Migration
Countercultures of Modernity and the Problem of Multiculturalism
A Historical Overview of Multiculturalism in Canada
Multiculturalism in the Spiritual Baptist Church
Spiritual Baptist Perceptions and Experiences of Multiculturalism in Canada
Conclusion
2. ""THIS SPOT OF GROUND"": THE EMERGENCE OF SPIRITUAL BAPTISTS IN TORONTO
Introduction
Origins of the Spiritual Baptist Church in the Caribbean
""This Spot of Ground"": The Spiritual Baptist Church as ""Homeplace"" in Toronto
The Founding of the First Spiritual Baptist Church in Toronto (1975-1980)
Toronto Spiritual Baptist Church Organization
Conclusion
3. ""SO SPIRITUALLY, SO CARNALLY"": SPIRITUAL BAPTIST RITUAL, THEOLOGY, AND THE EVERYDAY WORLD IN TORONTO
Introduction
""So Carnally, So Spiritually""
Ritual as Performance and Social Commentary
Joining the Spiritual Baptist Church in Toronto
Coming to Canada
Work Experiences
""It Hurt Me Feelings"": Naming Racism
""I Say You Can Call Me 'Damn Bitch'...Just Don't Call Me 'Madam'!"": Challenging Sexist Racism
The Church as Community: Support Networks in the Spiritual Baptist Church
Conclusion
4. ""AFRICALAND"": ""AFRICA"" in TORONTO SPIRITUAL BAPTIST EXPERIENCE
Introduction
Africaland
Sacred Space and Place in the Spiritual Baptist Church
Sacred Time in the Spiritual Baptist Church
Travelling to Africaland
Africa as Eden
Africaland and the African Diaspora
Conclusion
5. ""DEY GIVE ME A HOUSE TO GATHER IN DI CHIL'REN"": MOTHERS AND DAUGHTER IN THE SPIRITUAL BAPTIST CHURCH
Introduction
An Overview of Domestic Service in Canada
The Mothers of the Church
Family in the Spirit: Extended Family in the Spiritual Baptist Church
""If You Don't Come to Me, I'm Coming to You"": Ancestral Mother
""Dey Give Me a House to Gather in di Chil'ren"": Spiritual Mother/Carnal Mother
""God Has Work for You to Do"": Nation Mother
""It Makes You Feel Like Home"": Spiritual Daughter
Conclusion
6. AUNT(Y) JEMIMA IN TORONTO SPIRITUAL BAPTIST EXPERIENCES: SPIRITUAL MOTHER OR SERVILE WOMAN?
Introduction
""Seeing"" Aunt Jemima
(Re)Turning the Gaze on Aunt(y) Jemima
Re-reading Aunt(y) Jemima and the Creole Woman
Tie-head Woman
Head-ties and the Social Construction of Identity
Conclusion
CONCLUSION
""To Pick It Up and Take It Forward""
Bibliography
Index
