I get A LOT of hate on YouTube no matter what I talk about on the subject of hoodoo.
First, my race is brought up, not my accuracy, even when I give resources.
Second, when I give resources, they are dismissed as "just a book," and "I was taught better."
Third, I am attacked for being confident in my knowledge, called a bad teacher because I have an ego.
ICK! So, this morning, I responded:
Hi, first. You are absolutely right that much of Black American culture is for sale, abused, and culturally appropriated. You are also very right that our spirituality was created to fight white supremacy. Please don't argue with me any further. Because you have yet to provide any actual evidence, and I have resources to educate you.
It does seem that the only reason for disagreement is my race, not my practice, or my knowledge. Which is why I am forced to bring it up. If you read the comments, the disagreement is lead with YT. Maybe it's my sensitivity to the attacks that put me on the defense. It's common for mixed people to not be accepted by either side. Too white for black people and too black for white people. I'm grateful for @mixedinamerica for having a platform for people like me to belong; however, it doesn't change that my race is brought up before my expertise.
Resources that back what I said:
Please read: The Hoodoo Bible by Mama Marie, The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook by Denise Alvarado with Forward by Doktor Snake, Rootwork by Tayannah Lee McQuillar, and anything by the amazing Cat Yronwode.
Besides these books by BIPOC authors and additional experts on the subjects, some homes are going to say "this is not for white folk." I get it. And, that's out of self-preservation, generational trauma, and a coveting of their beloved practice. That home-value, does not speak for an entire practice, though. Just like one person can't speak for an entire race, but their voice does matter as part of the racial experience.
The issue comes to this, really: Hoodoo is open. "Closed practiced," by definition means that it has initiation rights, which hoodoo does not have because it is not a faith, even if it does have faith as part of the practice. It is a practice. Voodoo is close, Sateria is closed, Umbanda is closed, Tai Chi is even closed in order to access certain kata... Hoodoo is not closed, but is misused, misunderstood, and appropriated. So I think the question is, should it be closed even though it isn't? Your upset comes from accessibility. That non-black, or lets just even take race out for a moment and say non-taught or non-mentored folks who pick up 365 Day of Hoodoo (an arguably terrible book and diluted representation of the practice) and decide they are practitioners, and then those folks try to represent the 405 year creolization of the practice we have today.
This is of course a reason to be upset. However, instead of gatekeeping, and this is my personal opinion, if we educate all those Beckys, Valeries, Kevins, and Laurens as to how to practice an open practice with respect, totality, and cultural competence (and humility), then we help to dilute the stigma of BIPOC magical, folk, or ritual. Can they jump into Voodoo or Santeria? No, they can't. Not without someone to initiate them. Hoodoo, yeah, they can, and they should so we can normalize black practices without the assumption that everything that comes out of hoodoo is a 'curse.' By normalizing an open practice like hoodoo, this one area can help to stop demonizing black magical practices. Also, the history of hoodoo's creolization begins with Native American and enslaved kidnapped people from Senegambia.
After that, creolization of French and Spanish foods and folk practices. And then to add Chinese because of plantation workers (the concepts of karma, yin/yang). We also then add Dutch, German, and Italian as time went on, without even mentioning Catholicism in order to hide many of the practices by renaming the West African gods as Saints. Our ancestors did everything they could to survive, simplify, and practice their ways in the face of murder if they were caught. With respect, all practitioners, regardless of their background, need to honor the ancestors who survived these practices that we can use today. With that all said, it isn't only a black practice, although the purpose was to fight white supremacy and to keep cultural and hereditary practices alive.
Finally, please reroute your attacks away from saying that someone with ego and expertise is not a good teacher. By participating in that narrative, you are supporting that black voices need to be demure and can't fight back (which, ironically is the purpose of hoodoo). I do accept your humility and the use of your time to practice your ways.
Sometimes we have to remember that Esu, Elegua, Papa Legba puts folks in a path to remind us that we are all a joke, especially those who spend so much time commenting on YouTube.
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