NEW COURSE ALERT!

LIES MY PREACHER TOLD ME: BREAKING THE CHOKEHOLD OF CHRISTIANITY + RECLAMATION OF THE BLACK DIVINE

It's time to have a critical conversation that puppets on the pulpit don't want us to have.

LIES MY PREACHER TOLD ME

"ALL GODS WHO RECEIVE HOMAGE ARE CRUEL. ALL GODS DISPENSE SUFFERING WITHOUT REASON. OTHERWISE THEY WOULD NOT BE WORSHIPPED. THROUGH INDISCRIMINATE SUFFERING MEN KNOW FEAR AND FEAR IS THE MOST DIVINE EMOTION. IT IS THE STONES FOR ALTARS AND THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM. HALF GODS ARE WORSHIPPED IN WINE AND FLOWERS. REAL GODS REQUIRE BLOOD.

– ZORA NEALE HURSTON

NEW COURSE ALERT!

LIES MY PREACHER TOLD ME:

BREAKING THE CHOKEHOLD OF CHRISTIANITY + THE RECLAMATION OF THE BLACK DIVINE

Designed for ATRS newbies and practitioners, Churchy Hoodoos, Deconstructionists and those that still tote the line, this course will interrogate the actual historical trajectory of the indoctrination of Christianity upon the Black World. Through a course of 4-weeks, we will discuss how a foreign faith disrupted the Roman empire and in turn, how the Roman Christian Church colonized the world. LIES MY PREACHER TOLD ME will address the core ideology of Diaspora's devotion to the Christianity and the Church. We will unpack the fundamental principles of Christian ideology that are antitethical to African ontology and cosmology. We will also delve into the pre-colonial beliefs and practices of our ancestors as we explore the principles of African Traditional Religions and liberation technologies that exist today.

COURSE INCLUDES:

4 live weekly sessions
Private community/discussion space
Replay access
Weekly reflection/ prompts
Curated syllabus reading/resource list
Opportunity to extend your learning with the ATRS BOOK CLUB community

Commitment: $125
Dates: Every Wednesday at 7PM EST in October. Class begins Oct. 7th.

Instructor: Iya Shantrelle P. Lewis

FEATURED COURSE

CAN WE TALK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO QUESTION THE RELIGION THAT RAISED YOU?

Many of us inherited Christianity before we were old enough to consciously choose it for ourselves. We were taught to accept foreign and sometimes nonsensical concepts as sacred truths. And indoctrinated to believe that the mere questioning of "our beliefs" was in and of itself, a sin.

But what if there was no such concept as "sin" in a pre-Christian, pre-colonized, pre-enslavement, pre-white Black world?

Most of us have long since questioned doctrines and dogmas that no longer serve us and are no longer aligned with our politics but for many reasons, have chosen to stay connected to the Church. For to break away would violate all that we know to be true.

LIES MY PREACHER TOLD ME is a safe space to explore how Christianity became an integral part of African Diasporan life, the religious baggage that we inherited generationally, what we were taught to believe, and what becomes possible when we give ourselves permission to question and disrupt everything we know.

Meet Your Instructor:

Iya Shantrelle P. Lewis is a multi-hyphen creative and scholar who accesses multiple disciplines to help elucidate African Diasporic history, aesthetics, culture and spirituality. After premiering at BlackStar Film Festival, her critically acclaimed directorial debut, IN OUR MOTHERS' GARDENS, was released on Netflix via Ava Duvernay's ARRAY. Her book, Dandy Lion: The Black Dandy and Street Style, was published by Aperture in 2017. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, LA Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, NPR, BBC, Washington Post, Slate, The New Yorker and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Shantrelle can trace her family lineage back to her GGGG-Grandmother, Agatha Lewis, a free Black woman who migrated to Philadelphia from Ayiti, who was born in Africa in 1762. Her GGG Grandfather Stansilas Goutier, one of the first US diplomats to Haiti. As an initiated Lucumi Sango Priest, Hoodooist and New Orleans native, Shantrelle can be found waxing poetics about all things African spirituality online and in person at BEAUCOUP HOODOO in Philadelphia, the annual BEAUCOUP HOODOO FEST in New Orleans and within her community, ATRS BOOK CLUB.

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LET THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN: DECOLONIZING YOUR ACTIONS, BEHAVIORS, SPIRIT AND YOUR MIND

A HIERARCHY OF TRUTHS

One of the primary objectives of LIES MY PREACHER TOLD ME: BREAKING THE CHOKEHOLD OF CHRISTIANITY + RECLAMATION OF THE BLACK DIVINE is to outline reliable sources of instruction and moral discourse as people identify safe spaces to learn, grow and develop their relationships with their ancestors and an understanding of the Black divine.