Joining African religion with Catholicism, women of northeastern Brazil re-enact century-old ceremonies. When forced to practice Catholicism, Afro-Brazilians assimilated their concepts of forces into the belief in Christian saints. Sisterhoods and brotherhoods in Brazil were underground manifestations of religions native to Africa. (VM)

The Black anthropologist, Vera Mae Green, is featured in this analysis of the concept of soul as applied to African-Americans. Music and dance are used to express soul in cultural context. But soul is also a force, an energy which encompasses the Black experience and makes Black culture persevere. (VM)