The parallels between the two conceptual schemes raise aquestion: Is the worldview of women of African descent moreintensely infused with the overlapping feminine/Afrocentric stand-points than is the case for either African-American men or whitewomen?
Lorde, Lugones, and the CRC would all say yes to this
Africanist analyses of the Black experience generally agree on thefundamental elements of an Afrocentric standpoint. In spite ofvarying histories, Black societies reflect elements of a core Africanvalue system that existed prior to and independently of racialoppressi
Black peoples were not a blank slate when they were brought to the New World...
Finally, adversarial debates, whether written or oral, become thepreferred method of ascertaining truth-the arguments that canwithstand the greatest assault and survive intact become thestrongest truths
when the dominant group has created the structures and systems of knowledge in which truth is that which lines up within these manufacturings the most "objectively" despite being man made frameworks, then perspectives which challenge the legitimacy of these systems is almost automatically invalidated
ss. Byfollowing strict methodological rules, scientists aim to distancethemselves from the values, vested interests, and emotions gener-ated by their class, race, sex, or unique situation and in so doingbecome detached observers and manipulators of natu
yet they never really can undergo that separation fully...
9 Positivist approaches aim to create scientific descriptions ofreality by producing objective generalizatio
which is ironically an incorrect way to go about it objectively, its a lack of understanding about how much of our reality is socially constructed and thus non-objective as a result
African-American women academicians who persist in trying torearticulate a Black women's standpoint also face potential rejec-tion of their knowledge claims on epistemological grounds. Just asthe material realities of the powerful and the dominated produceseparate standpoints, each group may also have distinctive episte-mologies or theories of knowledge. It is my contention that Blackfemale scholars may know that something is true but be unwillingor unable to legitimate their claims using Eurocentric masculinistcriteria for consistency with substantiated knowledge and Eurocen-tric masculinist criteria for methodological ade
this is literally the typa shit charlie kirk would do, just constantly try to delegitimize these experiences under these frameworks and his following was either unwilling or unable to understand how their "objective reality or truth" was simply a single episteme that they were effectively trapped within
t. T
and then, like in current times, when some institutions have tried to undo this treatment, the federal government or white society at large will then go onto attack these institutions and try to delegitimize them and defund them
ful. This is precisely because subordinate groupshave long had to use alternative ways to create an independentconsciousness and to rearticulate it through specialists validated bythe oppressed themsel
as opposed to your thought lining up directly with the dominant perspective
More important, this rearticulated conscious-ness gives African-American women another tool of resistance to allforms of their subordination.1
resistance because there is a deeper understanding of the systems at play due to the articulation of the everyday experience
Interestingly, escaping to Spanish Santo Domingo and seeking out othercommunities of runaways or free people of color were the least commondestinations – each accounting for only 0.62 percent of the sample obser-vations
Makes sense given the oftentimes tumultuous history of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
seeks to makeis to disrupt not only the idea that enslaved people were “socially dead”without meaningful interpersonal relationships among other things
the revolution would have never happened had this been the case
Marronnage was a dangerous endeavor – runaways rarely had accessto food or clothing, were chased by hunting dogs and the maréchausséefugitive slave polic
Very similar to the US, the infrastructure for Southern police departments was literally a direct carry over from slave-catching departments.
For example, Cécile Fatiman led thesacralizing ceremony for the August 1791 mass revolt, “Princess”Amethyste galvanized women fighters under the symbolism of vau-doux to help Boukman Dutty attack Le Cap
I've read about this, there was also a prominent revolutionary who didn't subscribe to the gender binary who was largely erased from the historical record for a while.
Africa-inspired ritual gath-erings in Saint-Domingue may have been strictly coordinated on ethniclines in the early eighteenth century,1 but there was more than likely inter-ethnic collaboration and exchange
I feel like this would be necessary considering the diversity of Africans brought to Haiti
The Code Noir intended to restrictenslaved people’s everyday movements and activities, while the hierarchyof commandeurs and plantation managers readily used torture as punish-ment aimed to prevent rebellious behaviors. H
similar to the US
. This is the first personal account of an encounter with thereligion of Vodou on a deeply personal level in the United States. It is also a record ofZora Neale Hurston’s courage and insight as a woman of the spirit world. She was thefirst African-American to put herself out there in the uncharted waters of Vodou ini-tiation and to emerge from her profound experience
I can't even imagine how stigmatized this work was.
Belief in magic is older than writing. The way we tell it, Hoodoo started way back therebefore everything. Six days of magic spells and mighty words and the world with its ele-ments above and below was made. And now God is leaning back taking a seve
Very interesting to see the Christian influences/explanations on potentially much older African/Taino belief systems in Haiti
esoteric knowledge, both simple and complexthat originates in the spiritual experiences of initiates and mystics and is expressedintuitively in the healing and magical rituals of the religion. H
very interesting to think about, especially in the context of Western epistemic domination.
The belief is widespread in Haiti that Ague' T'Royo carries off people whom he chooses to a land beneath the waters.
A lot of symbolism here considering the horrors of the Middle Passage of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Guedé is a powerful loa. He has charge of everyone within the regions of the dead,and he presides over all that is done there. He is a grave-digger and opens the tombs and when he wishes to do so hetakes out the souls and uses them in his service.
I guess this is an alternate spelling of the Gede division of Lwas in the lecture
in the domestic servant who now and then appears before her employer "mounted" by this god who takesoccasion to say many stinging things to the boss.
We talked about this symbolism of the Lwas choosing their person in class
A was awakened because somebody required his body as a beast of burden. In his natural state he could never have beenhired to work with his hands, so he was made into a Zombie
Interesting symbolic and historical call-back to the horrors of chattel slavery manifested in the "Zombie"
family and friends, to contemplate the probability of his resurrected body being dragged from the vault -the best that loveand means could provide, and set to toiling ceaselessly in the banana fields, working like a beast, unclothed like a beast,and like a brute crouching in some foul den in the few hours allowed for rest and food. From an educated, intelligentbeing to an unthinking, unknowing beast. Then there is the helplessness of the situation. Family and friends cannot rescuethe victim because they do not know. They think the loved one is sleeping peacefully in his grave. They may motor pastthe plantation where the Zombie who was once dear to them is held captive often and again and its soulless eyes mayhave fallen upon them without thought or recognition. It is not to be wondered at that now and then when the rumorspreads that a Zombie has been found and recognized, that angry crowds gather and threaten violence to the personsalleged to be responsible for the crime
Very interesting perspective on the complex, often not portrayed in Western media, fears behind the idea of being brought back from the dead.
They are the bodies without souls. The living dead. Once they were dead, andafter that they were called back to life again
Reminds me of the symbolic significance of the cemetery and the Gede Lwas
Vixama
? Looked it up and this may have something to do with Bois Caiman.
For the firsttime I heard about the sacred stones of Voodoo.
Further manifestations of the Lwa
blancs (unimportant whites or mulattoes) are coming." The crew blew again and sat down as the sun was rising. At 11:00o'clock we landed at Ansa-a-galets.
Seems as though US recolonization reinstated or re-emphasized the Code Noir.
A study of the Marassas and the Dossou or Dossa, the twin gods represented by the little joined plates are worthy of avolume in themselves. The same could be said of the Ogouns, the Cimbys, and the ramifications of Agoue'ta-Royo, theMaster of Waters, the Erzulies, the Damballas and the Locos
I'm wondering if Vodou is similar to traditional Indian religions in the respect that certain places of worship are dedicated only to a few spirits/deities because there are so many? I'm also wondering if there are people who know the complexities of each and every single one because that would be incredible.
Though the picture that is bought of him is thatof St. Patrick, he in no way resembles that Irish saint. The picture of St. Patrick is used because it has the snakes in itwhich no other saint has.
Further evidence of the previous point.
And right here, let it be said thatthe Haitian gods, mysteres, or loa are not the catholic calendar of saints done over in black as has been stated bycasual observers.
From what we've learned, it actually seems as though the opposite is the case. To clarify, it appears as though the symbols and meanings the saints are manifestations of were pointed at and seen as parallel FROM the traditions that were already practiced by the African people of Haiti, leading to a relabeling of Vodou dieties as similar saints AFTER the Catholic faith was imposed upon them.
There is no mystery beyond the mysterious source of life.
Wow.
The split body is representational of my splitting as I witnessed andexperienced the earthquake and its subsequent event
An interesting aspect of Vodou is its dynamism, its belief system allows for the rapid assimilation of new experience and ways of being into its practices because of how deeply symbolic and interconnected its components are.
the drawing of vèvè or cosmogram-like objects.
It is amazing how intertwined the central figures of Vodou are to the universe itself. It seems as though BonDieu is to the cosmos what the Lwa are to the phenomena of nature, the soul, and humanity. Further, it appears as though the cosmos or nature don't solely inform the practices and beliefs of Vodou, rather they coexist and build upon one another harmoniously.
While post-quake discussions on Vodou were quick to either dispar-age Vodou for its role in producing the January 12, 2010, earthquake
I remember seeing a white American pastor talking about this as the cause for the Haitian earthquake.
Theseburial rites allow devotees—whom I refer to as religious citizens—tostabilize the universe following the ricochets of a natural disaster.Such rituals enable a community to assure the ancestors that they willbe taken care of as tenderly and devotedly as possible by the familymembers who could not protect them from (super)natural disasters,the subsequent negligence of the state, or the inadequacies of foreigninterventions
The deep spirituality tied to the journey of the dead back over the sea to be reunited with their ancestors and the rites required for such a journey makes the earthquake even more tragic. Then you combine this with how mishandled the relief efforts were by Western powers and it deepens the tragedy even more.
Comparative religion scholar Kimberley C. Pattonsuggests that within the scope of human evolution—from fishy pres-ence to amphibious creature and later, land mammal—all of us longfor the primordial home in the sea (Patton 2006). This can certainly beobserved in the myths and rituals of African descended populations inthe Americas.
Interesting how this combines with the historical fact of being taken from the homeland and transported over the sea to create a deep symbolic significance tied to the water and, subsequently, mirrors.
imes regard these rituals as “superstitious.” 7 However, it is imperative thatwe come to consider these ritual practices that lovingly tend to the deadas part of a wider cultural philosophy
The fundamental disconnect between Western portrayals of any aspects of Haitian culture and reality.
n the creolizing cauldron of the slavery experience, thesedifferent groups of Africans merged their religious and cultural practicesso that all might survive.
It is interesting to compare this development with the experiences of Black Americans who suffered under U.S chattel slavery. Maybe the different nature of slavery in Haiti, one which had an incredibly high rate of turnover of newly enslaved people compared to the US, along with the Haitian Revolution as a temporary stoppage to the attempted destruction of the culture and identities of the enslaved people that unfortunately did not occur in the U.S, helped contribute to these different outcomes.
would imply, "serving the Lwa" is Vodous cen-rral practice.
When connected back with the metaphysical and symbolic elements the Lwas are manifestations of, this takes on an even more powerful meaning of serving the spiritual forces that connect all people and things within the grander world ecosystem.
the life force or archetypal orsymbolic force of natural elements like fire, mountains, rivers, trees, and thesea
This aspect of the Lwas stood out to me in our class on Tuesday. It seems as though some of the Lwas are the spiritual power behind certain phenomena, others the roots of certain personality types, while some are also the symbolic representations of the revolutionary fervor present in the Haitian masses. Most importantly, however, it seems as though all the Lwas blur the lines between these distinctions, instead embodying all of these elements and more within their individual identities.
This mute condition, well known in Haiti andgenerally seen in young women, is considered especially difficult to treat.
Beyond being spiritual guides, it appears as though mambos have been filling the role of "therapist" or "psychologist" long before the term was coined by the West.
When the considerable wealth of the 8 to 9 percentof the population known as “the elite” is taken into account,
It is insane to me, but it makes sense how the poverty of Haiti in Western media is never depicted alongside the incredible wealth gap within the nation largely caused by Western intervention. Haiti is not actually poor, its riches are simply kept in the hands of a small few.
For example, a traditional healer may advise a patientto go to a hospital or get a shot of penicillin from the local clinic. Unfortunately, therehas not been the same openness in the other direction.
This reminds me of a reading from Fanon where he posits that the Western world uses its works (like medicine, technology, etc.) as a justification for the acts of brutality it commits against its enslaved people and colonies. Further, he mentions that during a truly revolutionary struggle, Western forms of medicine become adopted into the traditional belief system harmoniously in the creation of a new national identity.