African Wisdom

The Living Dead

In African thought, ancestors remain present and active in the lives of the living. Death is a transition, not an ending. The 'living dead' continue to influence and protect.

In African thought, ancestors remain present and active in the lives of the living. Death is a transition, not an ending. The 'living dead' continue to influence and protect.

The dead are not dead. They are in the rustling tree, the flowing water, the crying child.

Pan-African Ancestralism

Written about in

• What African traditions say about elders and ancestors

  The dead are held to remain present and involved in the lives of the living, so death is a change of state rather than an exit. The library gives this entry a line from the Senegalese poet Birago Diop.