Select Publications

Books

Spirited Diasporas: Personal Narratives and Global Futures of Afro-Atlantic Religions

First-person accounts that show the expanding demographics of African-descended religions.

Available on Amazon

UP Florida webpage: Click here

Release date: August 16, 2023

“Highlighting both the mystical experiences that drew them to these religions and the intense social relationships that grew from their devotion, twelve white Westerners, Asians, and others without immediate ancestral connections to these Black religions tell the story of why they became devotees and how the secret initiation changed their lives. That is, they have modeled their own struggles against social marginalization, trauma, and alienation not on the religions imposed by the oppressors but on the wisdom of the enslaved and the colonized. This volume contributes brilliantly to our understanding of these dynamic sacred traditions.”— J. Lorand Matory, author of Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé

“There is a great need for accurate textual information on Afro-diasporic religion to counter erroneous and maligned representations. This book sheds light on the fallacy of these misrepresentations and prejudices. The transatlantic and comparative nature of this collection provides an element of novelty, and the life stories herein are heartfelt and honorable.”— Roberto Strongman, author of Queering Black Atlantic Religions: Transcorporeality in Candomblé, Santería, and Vodou

“A remarkable collection of diverse voices among practitioners of religions of the African diaspora. Each tells a story of a respectful crossing of cultural borders to find a place of belonging and fulfillment. As inspiring as they are informative, each is an eloquent testimony to the healing that these misunderstood traditions provide. An important and invaluable contribution to the appreciation of African-inspired religions and the literature of spiritual quest.”— Joseph M. Murphy, author of Botánicas: Sacred Spaces of Healing and Devotion in Urban America

In this focused portrayal of global dispersal and spiritual sojourning, the book draws together first-person accounts of the evolving Afro-Atlantic religious landscape. Spirited Diasporas offers a glimpse into the frequently misunderstood religions of Afro-Cuban Lucumí, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Candomblé, adding to the growing research on the transnational yet personal nature of African diasporic religions.

In these accounts, practitioners from many origins illustrate the work and commitment they undertook to learn and become initiated in these traditions. They reveal in the process a variety of experiences that are not often documented. Their perspectives also show the expanding contemporary demographics of African-descended religions, many of whose members identify as LGBTQIA+ or are part of other minoritized populations, and they counter inaccurate and often racialized portrayals of these religions as being antimodern and geographically limited.

Through the voices of the professionals, scholars, and activists gathered here, readers will appreciate the purpose and belonging to be found in the far-reaching communities of these Latin American and Caribbean spiritualities. As the seekers in these stories discover and come home to their new religious families, Spirited Diasporas displays the relevance and generative power of these traditions.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Tsang, Martin. “Ingesting Indenture: Lydia Cabrera, Yellow Blindness, Chinese Bodies, and the Generation of Afro-Chinese Divinatory Religious Knowledge.” History & Anthropology (2023). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02757206.2023.2249484

Tsang, Martin. “Write into Being: The Production of the Self and Circulation of Ritual Knowledge in Afro-Cuban Religious Libretas.” (2021). Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief. Volume 17, 2021 – Issue 2: Religion and Material Texts in the Americas https://doi.org/10.1080/17432200.2021.1897282

Tsang, Martin. “Jubilant Coral and Jade: How Afro-Cuban Beaded Art Reflects Religion, Heritage, and Anthropology.” Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures 2, no. 1 (2017): 143–63. https://doi.org/10.2979/chiricu.2.1.11.

Tsang, Martin. “The Power of Containing and the Containing of Power: Creating, Collecting, and Documenting an Afro-Cuban Lukumí Beaded Vessel.” Journal of Museum Ethnography. March (2017): 125–147.

Tsang, Martin. “An Archivist and an Anthropologist walk into a Book Fair: Planning a First-time Trip to the Feria Internacional del Libro in Guadalajara, Mexico.” World Libraries Open Journal Systems 5, no. 2. (2017).

Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters/Edited Volumes

Tsang, Martin. “Material Religion.” In The Oxford Handbook of Caribbean Religion, edited by Michelle González Maldonado. New York: Oxford University Press (2024). https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/56208

Tsang, Martin. “Forming Strands and Ties in the Knotted Atlantic: Methodologies of Color and Practice of Beadwork in Lukumí Religion.” In Theorizing Folklore from the Margins: Critical and Ethical Approaches (Activist Encounters in Folklore and Ethnomusicology), edited by Solimar Otero and Mintzi Auanda Martínez-Rivera. Indiana: Indiana University Press ( 2021).

Tsang, Martin. 2019. “Signifying Waters: The Magnetic and Poetic Magic of Oshún as Reflected in Beyoncé’s Lemonade.” InThe Lemonade Reader: Beyoncé, Black Feminism and Spirituality, edited by Kinitra D. Brooks, & Kameelah L. Martin, 123–132. New York: Routledge.

Tsang, Martin. 2019. “La Caridad, Oshún, and Kuan Yin in Afro-Chinese Religion in Cuba.” InReligious Diversity in Asia, edited by Jørn Borup, Marianne Qvortrup Fibiger, and Lene Kühle, 271–289. Leiden: Brill.

Tsang, Martin. 2019. “La Mulata Achinada: Bodies, Gender, and Authority in Afro-Chinese Religion in Cuba.” In Afro-Asian Connections, edited by Luisa Ossa and Debbie Lee-DiStefano, 209–224. New York: Lexington Books.

Tsang, Martin. 2019. “On Becoming the Archive: Lydia Cabrera and the Transnational Production of Afro-Cuban Knowledge.” In Lydia Cabrera: Between the Sum and the Parts, by Lydia Cabrera, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Gabriela Rangel, 60–68. Cologne: Walther König Verlag.

Tsang, Martin. 2017. “Handing on the Splendid Torch: The Continuing Evolution of the Learning Commons.” In A Splendid Torch: Learning and Teaching in Today’s Academic Libraries, edited by Jodi Reeves Eyre, John C. Maclachlan, and Christa Williford. Washington D.C. Council on Library and Information Resources. https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub174/.

Tsang, Martin. 2016. “Yellow Blindness in a Black and White Ethnoscape: Chinese Influence and Heritage in Afro-Cuban Religiosity.” In Imagining Communities: Asians in the Americas, edited by Zelideth María Rivas and Debbie Lee-DiStefano. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Tsang, Martin. 2016. “Spirits and Spirit Possession.” In Culture, and Customs of the Yorùbá, edited by Toyin Falola and Akintunde Akinyemi, 433–445. Austin: Pan-African University Press.

Tsang, Martin. 2013. “A Different Kind of Sweetness: Yemayá in Afro-Cuban Religion.” In Yemoja: Gender, Sexuality, and Creativity in the Latina/o And Afro-Atlantic, edited by Solimar Otero and Toyin Falola, 113–130. New York: SUNY.

Other Publications

Tsang, Martin. 2019. “A Critical Biography of Lydia Cabrera.” In Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Series. Volume 380. Farmington Hills: Cengage Gale.

Tsang, Martin. 2019. “A Breakdown of Cuba’s 2019 Letra del Año, the Santero Guide to this Year.” In Remezcla Magazine. January. https://remezcla.com/culture/la-letra-del-ano-2019/.

Tsang, Martin. 2017. “Anointed in Oil.” In Death Be Gone, edited by Melody Santiago Cummings, 1–4. Miami: Jai Alai Books. https://www.omiami.org/shop/death-be-gone

Tsang, Martin. 2016. “Charms and Sorcery.” In The Encyclopedia of the Yorùbá, edited by Toyin Falola and Akintunde Akinyemi, 59; 307. Indiana: Indiana University Press.

Tsang, Martin. 2016. “¿Tienes Memoria? Have you got Memory? Religious Knowledge Transfers via el Paquete.” In Cuba Counterpoints. https://cubacounterpoints.com/archives/71

Tsang, Martin. 2016. “Chinese Influences on Life and Religion in Cuba” and “A Chinese-Cuban Secret Society in Havana.” In University of Miami Special Report: Cuba and the Caribbean. www.miami.cuba.edu

Tsang, Martin. 2016. “Investigating Afro-Cuban Religious Activity at Biscayne National Park.” American Conservation Experience. http://afrocubanreligion.omeka.net.

Tsang, Martin. 2015. “Pedroso y Aldama, Regino,” “Pérez Sarduy, Pedro,” and “Chuffat Latour, Antonio.” In The Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Franklin K. Knight. New York: Oxford University Press.

Tsang, Martin. 2005. “Osayin” and “The Arará.” In The Encyclopedia of African American Folklore, edited by Anand Prahlad. Westport: Greenwood Press.

Get updates delivered to your inbox.