Africa-americas: return trip

摘要

A subject often discussed, albeit only recently, is what American culture owes to African slaves. Much less talked about is what Africa owes to its diaspora. Certain cultural values, customs and social practices the slaves took with them to the American continent returned to Africa, generally in modified but recognizable form. The phenomena of physical or spiritual return to the ancestral homeland began even before the end of slavery. Often the same ship that transported human cargo to the New World returned to the African coast with other people aboard, who carried with them new knowledge, ideas and practices. The latter nonetheless seemed familiar to local populations.