The òrìṣà priesthoods of Brazil, Cuba and the United States, the Ọ̀yọ́túnjí experiment, and the Yoruba-descended public figures of Britain and America from Kemi Badenoch to David Oyelowo.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Two different Yoruba diaspora dey, and apart from where dem come from, almost noting dey wey join dem together. Di first one start through Atlantic slave trade, e dey mostly for Brazil and Cuba, e don reach between two to four centuries, and e preserve òrìṣà religion for ways wey don become authority on dia own today. Di second one na di voluntary migration wey happen for di last sixty years go Britain, United States, and Canada; na people wey get education and professional skills, and dem mostly be Christian and Muslim. Dis file treat di two, but e start with di religious leaders of di older diaspora first, because dia own institutions older pass most of di ones for Nigeria.
Di relationship between di two diaspora and di homeland no be one-way thing. Since di 1970s, Brazilian, Cuban, and African-American practitioners don dey travel go Ilé-Ifẹ̀ and Ọ̀yọ́ to find initiation and authority, and Nigerian babaláwo don travel go outside to serve communities wey dey grow. Part of di new interest wey Yoruba Christians for Nigeria get now inside òrìṣà tradition dey come from di fact say dem discover say people abroad dey take di tradition serious.
Di Kétu nation of Candomblé na di branch wey directly come from Yoruba practice pass, and women na dem dey lead dia main terreiros for Salvador da Bahia, di iyalorixá, wey dia authority dey equal to di one of Yoruba ọba inside her house.
Maria Escolástica da Conceição Nazaré, wey people know as Mãe Menininha do Gantois, na di most famous Candomblé priestess for Brazilian history, and na her make di religion move from something wey dem dey persecute go reach level of national cultural prestige.
Dem born her on 10 February 1894 for Salvador, Bahia, and she die on 13 August 1986 when she dey ninety-two years [S1]. Dem make her iyalorixá when she dey twenty-eight years on 18 February 1922, and she lead Ilê Axé Iyá Omin Iyámassê, di Terreiro do Gantois, for sixty-four years [S1]. Her grandmother Mãe Pulquéria build di house for 1900, and e be one of di most prominent houses for di Kétu tradition [S1].
Her importance dey political as e dey religious. Police bin dey disturb Candomblé well well for Brazil reach di 1970s; terreiros bin need police permit to hold ceremonies. Di respect wey Mãe Menininha get for public, plus di artists and intellectuals wey publicly stand with her, like Jorge Amado, Dorival Caymmi, and Caetano Veloso (wey his song "Oração a Mãe Menininha" be national standard), help make am impossible for police to continue dat repression.
Maria Stella de Azevedo Santos, wey dem born on 2 May 1925 for Salvador and die on 27 December 2018, na di fifth iyalorixá of Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá, another one of di great Kétu houses, wey Eugênia Ana dos Santos, Mãe Aninha, found for 1910, and wey IPHAN now recognize as Brazilian cultural heritage [S2].
Dem initiate her for 1939 and she become iyalorixá for 1976 [S2]. She be trained public health nurse and also priestess, and she be writer wey publish E daí aconteceu o encanto (1988), Meu tempo é agora (1993), and Òsósi: o caçador de alegrias (2006) [S2].
Her most important stand na on theological matter. She campaign publicly against syncretism, say di way dem take mix òrìṣà with Catholic saints for past, wey dem do to hide during persecution, no dey necessary again and make dem stop am, and say make dem practice Candomblé as African religion on its own terms instead of behind Catholic cover. For 1983, she and other iyalorixá sign public declaration about dat matter. Dis position na wetin people still dey argue about inside Candomblé, where plenty houses believe say di syncretism don become tradition on its own now, and dis argument just resemble di one wey Yoruba Christians for Nigeria dey drag about wetin dem fit separate and wetin dem no fit separate.
Verger case different small: a Frenchman wey turn Yoruba priest and serious scholar of di tradition, and one of di main channels wey Bahia and Yorubaland use connect back with each other for di twentieth century.
Dem born am on 4 November 1902 and e die on 11 February 1996 [S3]. E come Bahia as photographer for 1946 and e remain there, and e travel go West Africa, Cuba, and Haiti many times [S3]. Dem initiate am into Candomblé and, for Bénin, into Ifá, so e turn babaláwo of Ọ̀rúnmìlà and dem give am di name Fátúmbí, "person wey dem born again through Ifá" [S3]
His academic work, especially Flux et reflux de la traite des nègres entre le golfe de Bénin et Bahia de Todos os Santos (1968) and Orixás (1981), na primary source on top di Bahia-Bight of Benin connection, and his photo archive na di biggest visual record of both Candomblé and Yoruba ritual life for di mid-twentieth century. E carry message, materials, and people between Bahia and Lagos, Ifẹ̀, and Ouidah for four decades, and plenty of wetin Bahian houses know about dia Yoruba background pass through his hand. Dat one put am for one kind awkward but real position: European person wey be both initiated authority inside di tradition and one of di main people wey document am.
Di Cuban tradition, wey dem dey call Regla de Ocha, Lucumí or as pipo dey commonly call am Santería, na di oda big branch and na im di North American practice mostly come from. Di language wey dem dey take do ritual, Lucumí, na liturgical form of Yoruba wey dem preserve without Yoruba speakers, and im lineage system, di rama, dey trace initiations go back to di founders from di nineteenth century wey get name. Dem talk about di major figures inside di diaspora religion files; wetin belong here na di point say Cuban practice na im don be di source of authority for United States since di Cuban migration of 1959 go front, and say di tension between Cuban-derived Lucumí authority and Nigerian-derived Ifá authority na di central institutional argument inside di North American òrìṣà world. Di argument about weda women fit get initiation as iyanifá, wey Nigerian practice wey connect to Wándé Abímbọ́lá dey allow and Cuban Lucumí dey refuse, na di sharpest expression of am.
Ọ̀yọ́túnjí na di most ambitious attempt to rebuild Yoruba polity for outside Africa.
Ọba Ẹfúntọlá Ọ̀ṣèìjẹ̀mán Adélabú Adéfúnmi I [S4] na im start am for 1970 near Sheldon inside Beaufort County, South Carolina. Dem born am as Walter Eugene King for Detroit on 5 October 1928, e study Haitian and Egyptian traditions as young man, and on 26 August 1959 Afro-Cuban priests initiate am enter di òrìṣà priesthood for Matanzas, wey make am di first African-American wey dem fully initiate [S4].
E set up temples for Harlem and move di community go South Carolina for 1970 [S4]. Di village occupy twenty-seven acres, get seven Yoruba temples, and e grow from five pipo to about two hundred and fifty residents within ten years [S4]. Dem arrange am as kingdom wey get ọba, council of chiefs, Ògbóni society and market, and e dey operate on Yoruba ritual and social styles instead of Cuban ones, wey be deliberate break from di Lucumí lineage wey dem initiate im founder inside.
Di name mean say Ọ̀yọ́ return, or Ọ̀yọ́ rise again [S4]. Adéfúnmi I travel go Nigeria, dem receive am for Ifẹ̀ and di Ọ̀ọ̀ni Ṣíjúwadé recognize am for 1981. E die for 2005 and im son, Ọba Adéjùwọ̀n Adéfúnmi II, take ova from am.
Im historical importance na say na im be di first Black nationalist settlement for United States wey dem build around òrìṣà practice, and say e make one break wey Cuban tradition no make: e go Yorubaland go carry im patterns instead of to go Havana. Di pipo wey dey live dia now no plenti, but im role as place for initiation and pilgrimage for African-American practitioners don continue for over fifty years.
Di òrìṣà revival for United States na largely Yoruba export project, and Wándé Abímbọ́lá's role inside am, as Àwíṣẹ Awo Àgbáyé, as academic for Boston University and Harvard, and as founder of di International Congress of Ọ̀rìṣà Tradition and Culture, dey central [S5]. Di Congress, wey dem first hold for Ilé-Ifẹ̀ for 1981, na di main institutional link between Nigerian, Brazilian, Cuban and North American practice.
Yoruba migration go Britain and North America happen for three waves: colonial-era students for di 1940s and 1950s, wey majority of dem return; di professional exodus of di 1980s and 1990s wey structural adjustment and military rule cause, wey majority of dem no return; and di current student and skilled migration, wey plenti and still dey continue. Na di second wave produce di British-born generation wey dey prominent now for public life.
| Name | Born | Field | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olukẹ́mi Olúfúnto Badenoch, née Adégòkè | 2 January 1980, Wimbledon | Politics | Dem born am for London when im mama dey dia for medical treatment; e grow up for Lagos and United States, and e return go Britain when e dey sixteen. Member of Parliament from 2017, e hold cabinet positions including Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and dem elect am as leader of di Conservative Party for November 2024, wey make am di first Black leader of major British political party. E dey identify specifically as Yoruba instead of generally as Nigerian, and di things wey e talk publicly about Nigeria don cause big controversy for Nigeria; dem note say di dispute dey, but dem no judge am here [S6] |
| David Oyètókunbọ̀ Oyèlowò | 1 April 1976, Oxford | Acting | Two parents na Yoruba; e grow up partly for Lagos. E act Martin Luther King inside Selma (2014); na di first Black actor wey act English king for Royal Shakespeare Company, as Henry VI for 2001. E hold di title of Ọmọba inside Yoruba chieftaincy system. OBE [S7] |
| John Adédayọ̀ Bamidele Adégbóyèga, John Boyega | 17 March 1992, Peckham, London | Acting | Two parents na Yoruba; im papa Samson Adégbóyèga na Pentecostal pastor. Attack the Block (2011) and di Star Wars sequel trilogy. Im 2020 Black Lives Matter speech for Hyde Park and di criticism wey e later give publicly about how di Star Wars production treat am dey part of im public record [S8] |
| Adéwálé Akínnúoyè-Agbájé | 22 August 1967, Islington, London | Acting and directing | Yoruba parents; im autobiographical film Farming (2018) focus on di practice, wey common among Nigerian students for Britain for di 1960s and 1970s, of privately giving pikin make white British families foster dem, wey be wetin happen for im own childhood [S9] |
| Yẹmí Olúlékè Òṣinbàjọ | 8 March 1957, Lagos | Law and politics | Senior Advocate of Nigeria, professor of law, Attorney General of Lagos State under Tinúbú, and Vice President of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. Pastor for Redeemed Christian Church of God. Married to Dolapo, granddaughter of Ọbáfẹ́mi and HID Awólọ́wọ̀ [S10] |
Two oda people still dey inside Yoruba list based on proof. David Olúṣọga, wey dem born for Lagos for 1970 to Nigerian papa and British mama, na historian and broadcaster wey him book Black and British: A Forgotten History and di BBC series wey follow am change how public dey look Britain imperial past; di surname na Yoruba and dem born am for Lagos, even though di sources wey dey accessible for dis work no state him papa ethnic group directly, so di way we take put am as Yoruba here depend on him name and where dem born am, and make person take am say e likely rather than say e dey documented. Kúnlé Adéyẹmí, wey dem born on 7 April 1976, na Nigerian architect and founder of di Amsterdam practice NLÉ and di designer of Makoko Floating School for Lagos, and na Yoruba person.
Di novelist Diana Evans, wey her book 26a win di Orange Award for New Writers and wey her book Ordinary People get plenty praise, na Nigerian mama and Yorkshire papa born am; sources wey dey accessible no state her mama ethnic group, and na why we put her name here without to link am to any ethnic group.
Apart from dis people wey we mention their names, plenty Yoruba professionals dey inside medicine, engineering, academia, and finance across Britain, United States, and Canada. Dis population big well well in terms of number even though dem no document each person name, and person fit even talk say na dis fact important pass any of their celebrities for dis diaspora.
Di first one na say to be "Nigerian" for diaspora no mean say person na "Yoruba". Public figures wey come from Nigeria wey dey Britain and United States include people from Igbo, Edo, Ijaw, Hausa, and many oda origins, and even though Yoruba people plenty among dem, no be dem be everybody. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby na Igbo. Yoruba name na good evidence say person come from Yoruba lineage; but just any kind Nigerian name no be evidence.
Di second one dey touch di claims about African-American ancestry. Yoruba people form very big part of di people wey dem carry from Bight of Benin during di last phase of Atlantic trade, especially after Ọ̀yọ́ collapse for di 1820s and 1830s, and Yoruba ancestry dey common among African-Americans, Brazilians, and Cubans. But to know one specific person ancestry na matter of documented lineage or nothing at all. Commercial genetic ancestry percentages only dey show regional signals, e no fit prove say one particular ancestor na Yoruba. Dis work dey treat "of likely Yoruba descent" as claim wey dem never verify unless particular ancestor name, family record, or lineage transmission dey, and readers suppose use dis same standard for plenty of dis kind claims wey dey circulate about American public figures.
Di earliest documented movement of Yoruba-speaking people across ocean water start for sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when dem carry captives from Bight of Benin cross Atlantic [S14]. Under di expansion of Ọ̀yọ́ Empire for seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, war campaigns and tributary networks push war captives go coastal ports, wey make òrìṣà devotion, royal lineage concepts, and liturgical speech enter deep inside early diaspora settlements for Bahia and Cuba [S14].
Di collapse of Ọ̀yọ́ and di nineteenth-century Yoruba civil wars between di 1820s and 1890s cause di biggest forced migration for Yoruba history [S14]. Dem sell hundreds of thousands of displaced people enter transatlantic trade or dem resettle dem across West Africa, wey make Kétu and Lucumí institutions stand gidigba for Brazil and Cuba while e create repatriate Sàró community for Freetown and Lagos [S14]. At di same time, Christian missionary contact for mid-nineteenth century bring European literacy and Roman script orthography, wey lead reach Samuel Ajayi Crowther translation work and how pan-Yoruba collective identity take emerge [S14].
British colonial rule from 1900 to 1960 establish indirect rule and create new educational pathways, wey make di first wave of student migrants travel go Britain for di 1940s and 1950s [S14]. After Nigerian independence for 1960, postcolonial economic shocks and military regimes for di 1980s make plenty professionals migrate in large numbers go North America and di United Kingdom [S14].
Today, Yoruba diaspora dey operate across two different circuits wey dey connect more and more with each other [S14]. Di older religious diaspora dey maintain sacred lineages for di Americas, while di modern professional diaspora dey lead institutions for global politics, academia, and di arts [S14]. Initiations across national borders, transnational academic exchanges, and global heritage movements dey continue to connect diaspora communities directly with Yorubaland [S14].
Wándé Abímbọ́lá and the transcription of the Ifá corpus, Bọlájí Ìdòwú and diffused monotheism, J. Ọmọ́ṣadé Awólàlú, Jacob Olúpọ̀nà, Ṣóphì Olúwọlé, Ṣégun Gbádégẹṣin, Kọ́lá Abímbọ́lá and Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí.
The history and structure of Candomblé in Brazil, why the nations matter, the great Bahian terreiros and the women who led them, the regional variants, Umbanda as a distinct formation, and the current situation under evangelical pressure.
Rashidi Yékínì, Ṣẹ́gun Ọdẹ́gbámi, Anthony Joshua, Israel Adésànyà, Bukayo Ṣaka and Adémọlá Lookman, with the ethnicity of each verified and the widely repeated but unverified claims named as such.
The history and structure of Yoruba-derived religion in Cuba, from the cabildos de nación to the modern casa-templo, including initiation, Ifá, diloggún, the saint correspondences and the traditions it is wrongly conflated with.
A scholarly clarification of the distinct ethnolinguistic roots, theological frameworks, liturgical structures, and institutional histories separating West African Yorùbá religion from its American diaspora counterparts and related traditions.
The Yoruba people who came back, from Sierra Leone and from Brazil and Cuba, and what they built in Lagos: the mosques, the Brazilian quarter, the newspapers, and a babaláwo who carried Ifá back across the Atlantic.