Myths on Revivalism Dispelled

Anthropologist and Lecturer at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Allison Berry, is seeking to dispel the myth that Revivalism is a form of witchcraft, noting that the teaching of the faith argues against devil worship and all things evil.
In fact, she said, the majority of Revivalists are Christians. “There are people who will do things that are un-Christian like in the name of Revival, but the majority of revivals are Christian people,” she stated.
Mrs. Berry was delivering a lecture on Revivalism ,organised by the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica/Jamaica Memory Bank (ACIJ/JMB), recently, at the Cecil Charlton Hall in Mandeville, Manchester.
“We, as Revivalists believe in one God, but we also acknowledge our ancestors, and Revival like other religious practices, offers salvation,” she noted further.
According to the Anthropologist, Revivalism involves both Afrocentric and Eurocentric-derived cultures and is practised all over the world. “Wherever a people go, they take with them their religion and customs,” she pointed out.
Senior Research Fellow at the ACIJ/JMB, Dr. Julian Cresser, told JIS News that the lecture was aimed at eroding the negative perceptions that exist about Revivalism.
“The aim is to get Jamaicans to learn more about Revival. It is a very important part of our cultural identity. It represents an Afro-Jamaican worldview on cultural values and these cultural values are not to be denigrated; they must be recognised and celebrated as a cultural heritage,” he stated.
On February 2, the ACIJ/JMB launched an exhibition on Revivalism at its Ocean Boulevard headquarters, downtown Kingston.
The display, which will run until Friday, March 13, forms part of the ACIJ/JMB’s annual February programme, which will also feature lecture presentations and the launch of a CD produced by the ACIJ/JMB titled ‘Afro-Jamaican Religion: Revival, Kumina and Rastafari’. The CD was produced from research done by the ACIJ/JMB over the last two or three decades.
The lecture series continues this week at a location in St. James.