Rites of Passage Programs

          Rites of passage is an experience ... not an event. Parents play the most critical role in the passage experience. Some parents have commented that they have experienced a transformation themselves during their son or daughter’s passage. Rites of Passage is an African custom that marks a significant change in life. In an effort to reverse dismal trends negatively affecting African-American children, innovative leaders are infusing passage theories with their current efforts to transform African American youth. The transition is complete when the African American male and female student is socialized to value Kemetic values such as spiritual attainment, education, morals and virtue (Warfield-Coppock, 1992). 

          “A rite is a ceremony or celebration. Passage refers to the movement from one stage to another.  Thus, the adolescent rite of passage is a supervised developmental and educational process whose goal is to assist young people in attaining the knowledge and accepting the responsibilities, privileges, and duties of an adult member of a society” (Warfield-Coppock, 1992).  The traditional African Spiritual Life Cycle, or Circle of Life, can be described in five different stages of development:

• Birth (naming ceremony and passage from the spiritual world)
• Puberty (passage from childhood to understanding the body’s changes and sexuality)
• Adulthood (preparation for marriage and interdependent living)
• Elder (wisdom)
• Death (becomes an ancestor and re-enters the spiritual world)

The origin of rites of passage can be traced back to Kemet or Ancient Egypt where candidates had to survive intense challenges before they could be initiated into adult society. These charges spent several years developing their spiritual, physical and intellectual selves before being reincorporated back to the community (Warfield-Coppock, 1992). Since that time ethnic groups, villages and communities throughout the African Diaspora have adapted rites of passage as tools in transforming its men, women and children. Modern passage programs in the United States are administered by faith groups, community based organizations, government-approved agencies, and families. Each program is designed to meet the specific needs of its candidates, which makes each one unique. However, there are some common threads of successful African-centered Rites of Passage programs, including:

• Separation, indoctrination and re-incorporation as the three major phases of passage
• Long period of preparation, or pre-journey
• Intense period where candidates’ mind, body and spirit are challenged
• Minimal standards for completion must exceed mediocrity

The transition of leaving adolescence and taking on responsibilities of an adult is a difficult one, especially when done alone. Structured rites of passage programs require that the candidates interact with a Council of Elders who is responsible for training the initiate to live as an adult. Americans have embraced this same concept and named those elders “role models.” These relationships hold everyone in the village, including the child, accountable for the success of the candidate.

          The Rites of Passage process helps the initiates to realize the three basic life struggles: man versus man, man versus nature and man versus self (Droogers, 1980). In addition to identifying these struggles, passage initiates are given the tools and human resources to overcome these challenges. Finally, an African-centered rites of passage program is a culturally relevant experience for African American youth, many who have lost interest in school because there is no connection between what they are taught in school and what they see as “their” real world (Fordham and Ogbu, 1986).