Many of my spiritual beliefs have changed over time. When I was younger I believed that in order to go to haven a person had to loyally attend and be actively involved in church. But, as I grew older I was taught that church is just the building in which we praise the lord. I was taught that the lord could be praised without the building. As a child I also had this image and belief that God was white. This white image that I had of God came from pictures that I saw as a child. These images and beliefs changed, as I got older because I was exposed to new information and a new way of thinking and I was able to investigate these things on my own.

In my opinion, there isn’t much of a difference between being a spiritual person and a religious person. If there is a difference it is so minimal that I cannot distinguish the difference between the two. I believe that spirituality and religion go hand in hand. They are the same because a person cannot be one without the other.

Last but not least, in my opinion the spirituality of African people in America has hindered the quest for liberation and empowerment. I believe that we as a people will never find liberation and empowerment through our spirituality. The same people who brought us to this country and made us slaves have taught the spirituality of African people to us. Therefore, by seeking liberation and empowerment through our learned spirituality we are traveling down a dead end road. I’m not saying that it is wrong to believe in the religion that we have been taught. I just think we should consider the source in which we learned this religion. These ideas were introduced to me while I was taking history of Africa. My professor brought forth the idea that we had been faithful believers of a religion that had been taught to us by our enslavers. Many people don’t really think about the way in which we learned this religion. We just grew to accept it as a religion of our own as the years past. Now personally I feel that this issue alone could cause a serious conflict in our religious beliefs, if brought to people’s attention. Having this brought to my attention has caused some conflict in what I believe. I haven’t totally abandoned the religion that I was taught but I have had questions. Although, sometimes I may question my religious teachings, I have never questioned my faith in God. Because, I know despite the cruelty of the people who taught my ancestors their religion, I still believe there is a higher power, something greater than us all. As far as that quest for liberation and empowerment goes, I don’t feel it will be found through spirituality. I may be wrong about this whole idea of not finding liberation and empowerment through spirituality, because I don’t know exactly where we as a people can find liberation and empowerment, if not through our spirituality.