Pinn/Embodiment and Black Religion, 9. Every-Body's Truth

Chapter 9 argues that contemporary understandings of racial genetics and its links to identity construction can function as part of a stronger push for an expanded sense of meaning. Looking at the practice of African American “ancestor tracing,” this chapter shows that knowledge of the body at the genetic level—which stands as an expansion of the biochemical dimension of the compound body—provides an occasion for experiencing the mysterium tremendum.