When Africans were enslaved in the Americas, were they completely stripped of their heritage or do the spirits of their ancestors still influence their lives?

If African American’s were completely stripped of their heritage during enslavement, we would not have the slightest bit of knowledge about their past like we do today. These people of color would have been unknown to the 21st century, textbooks, and any media if their ancestors did not influence their lives. I believe that although the slaves were forced to convert to American traditions, their heritage and spiritual religion still remained intact and is part of our modern day culture today. However, to fully answer this question, I must first give some background knowledge on the two tribes I have selected; the Zulu’s and the Ashanti’s. Living in central Ghana a British colony until 1957. Ancient Ghana trade produced pepper, otherwise known as slaves gold and was famous for urban settlement, architecture, and political reign. The Ashanti’s are a ethnic group of the Akans and barley more than 50 years old. The religion is based off the spiritual and supernatural idea that plants, trees, and animals have souls. There are also beliefs centered around ancestors, higher gods, and Nyame; the supreme being of the Ashanti’s. If you think about it, some of the Ashanti’s beliefs are present in American culture. Take the millions of American’s who are vegan. These individuals feel that animals have souls and should not be consumed. Although they do ingest plants and trees, vegans are very eco-friendly and respect nature. The Ashanti’s follow the rule that a woman may not marry without her parents consent. This is apparent in modern culture among many Christian and Indian families. Most often times than not, a male must ask for permission to marry a girl. There are also special ceremonies that the Ashanti tribe practices for marriage, death, and birth. These traditions can be seen in other regions in which parents preform christenings, memorials, and special ceremonies that have the same characteristics of the Ashanti’s rites. The Zulu’s on the other hand are one of the largest ethnic groups in South Africa. They are well known for their beautiful brightly colored beads and baskets; creations that we still have in stores today. The Zulu spiritual beliefs are centered around a greater god called Nkulunkulu, who does not interact with humans. If we look at present day religion, most groups do not interact with god directly. Instead, like the Zulu people, they pray to their greater being and the fact that he/she is in their everyday life looking down upon them. All bad events area result of offended spirits, and not natural causes. Christian and Islamic religions also look down upon sorcery (which craft) for the same reason.They believe that sorcery, otherwise known as black magic causes unfortunate events. To conclude as stated previously, I can without a doubt conjure that African American’s ancestors and spirits influenced their lives even though they were enslaved. If this was not the case vibrant beads and woven baskets would also not be sold in markets for home use, and we would not have as many religious beliefs that take after the Zulu and Ashanti tribes long before us. In addition, these facts that we now know would be unheard of. There would be no information about the 46 ethnic groups that individuals study today.