Earl Lewis, Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of History, Afroamerican and African Studies, and Public Policy, recently provided historical context for an MLive story.
“On plantations, African Americans would gather beyond a watchful eye of the owner, and began to blend in some aspects of Christianity with some aspects of traditional African religious traditions and practices,” Lewis explained. “Sometimes religious leaders were also medical leaders, and may use the same kinds of roots and other herbs to cure disease as well as provide a spiritual outlet.”
