Ijinle, Deep Truth

An ijinle is deep talk. Within the Agbole, however, the ijinle specifically refers to an important meeting held by adult members of the Agbole community. Obafemi Origunwa has introduced the ijinle as a therapeutic intervention whose primary purpose is to heal the spiritual, cultural and social traumas African Americans have suffered during 250 years of slavery, 90 years of Jim Crow, 60 years of segregation and 35 years of state-sanctioned red-lining*. In general terms, an ijinle is a small group dedicated to the discussion of 16 specific principles of spiritual development. Through the ijinle, community members get together to sort out the problems that affect everyone. Everyone has a voice and there is an attempt to find a common mind or a common story that everyone is able to tell when they go away from it. The objective is for all participants to depart from the ijinle and be able to say "This is how we approached the matter at hand. This is what we heard from one another. This is where we arrived as we prayed and thought and talked deeply together."