Africa

United States of America

Ph.D

Institute for Research in the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean, City University of New York

imiller@hampshire.edu

IRADAC (Institute for Research in the African Diaspora in the Americas
and the Caribbean)
City University of New York--Graduate Center.

Nigeria ; Cuba

Examines the Yoruba-derived Santeria religion of Cuba, focusing particularly on the status of African-derived religions, cultural traditions, and identities in Cuban history, particularly during the post 1958 Revolution (Northwestern, 1995).

Miller's current project documents the little known history of the Cuban Abakua, a society derived from the Cross River region of Nigeria. Working in collaboration with Abakua elders, he has documented the foundation of the society in the 19th century, and its continual role as a symbol of Cuban national culture. Abakua lore in Cuba may prove useful to Cross River peoples as they reconstruct their own past. In July 2001 he helped facilitate an historically first-ever encounter between the Efik of
Nigeria, and the related Abakua of Cuba at the Efik National Association meeting in Brooklyn, NY.

2002 Aerosol kingdom: subway painters of New York City. Jackson,
Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, c2002. (218 p.)

2000 "A Secret Society Goes Public: The Relationship Between Abakua
and Cuban Popular Culture." African Studies Review. vol. 43, no. 1
(April 2000): 161 - 88.

"Religious Symbolism in Cuban Political Performance." TDR: A
Journal of Performance Studies. Vol. 44, no. 2 (T166): 30 - 55.

1997 Ifá Will Mend Our Broken World: Thoughts on Yoruba Culture
in West Africa and the Diaspora: Wande Abimbola, Interviews and Introduction
by Ivor Miller. -- Roxbury, MA: AIM Books. (206 p.)

Latino ; Yoruba ; Efik ; religion ; cultural tradition ; traditional religion.