blog 3

Voodoo In New Orleans

Highlight 3 examples from the chapter that you see to be the strongest examples that challenge or dispel the common misconceptions people have about Voodoo. Support your position with discussion. Be sure also to point out what misconception you think many people have about Voodoo.

If, prior to this reading, I had been asked “What is Voodoo?” I do not believe I would have attempted a response. My only previous knowledge of Voodoo comes from trinket stores in the French Quarter and pop fiction. However, in conversation I have observed that a lack of knowledge need not prevent one from giving an opinion, and the universal opinion of Voodoo seems to be cartoonish at best and bigoted at worst. Voodoo seems to bring up horror movie-esque dread, filled with visions of witch doctors, pin-filled dolls, and zombies.

The fact that Voodoo is an established, organized religion as put forth by the author challenges popular notions. Gaston  writes: “Vodu has a highly organized hierarchy of deities, with vodun priests, priestesses, novices and other persons devoted to serving and protecting them,” and goes on to state that “the religious system is rigid, and its methods of worshipping the various deities appear to be unchanging.” (115)

The best example that Gaston gives is that of anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, who in the 1920s was initiated into the religion of Voodoo. Hurston describes a fantastically elaborate ceremony that the Vatican could appreciate, and possibly learn a few things about ritual from. But the ritual portion of the narrative, as impressive as it is, does less to do away with ill-informed views on Voodoo, than does Hurston’s description of the feast before the final ceremony. Hurston describes the scene:

            “Eat first the spinach cakes,” Samuel exhorted and we did. The meal began. It was full of joy              and laughter even though we knew that the final ceremony waited only for the good hour of twelve  midnight. About ten o’clock we piled into the old Studebaker sedan – all but Samuel who led us in a truck. (120)

Although the animal sacrifice that completes Thurston’s narrative almost certainly conforms to prevailing ideas of what Voodoo is, the point is this: the parts of Voodoo that make it a target for fear and/or derision are not representative of the religion as a whole. Every religion subscribes to notions that make non-believers queasy.

Cosmology and Ontology

My knowledge of cosmology is limited, but the knowledge I do possess is because of physicist friends, astronomy classes, and an occasional Youtube lecture/debate series. However, I perceived what may be an analogous structure, and that is the Gullah’s though processes regarding the hereafter.

Through a mingling of Christian and African religion, slaves used logic to develop ideas as to what happens after death. Margaret Washington writes

            In Christian belief the finality of death was often negated. One of the most appealing aspects of       Christianity for Gullahs was the expectation of a better life after death. This afterlife was not      visualized in the African sense, which held that an individual’s status would not differ from one’s     mortal position. Instead, Gullahs strongly adopted the Christian concept of heaven, where all      “true believers” would sit on “Christ’s right side.”

This adoption of Christianity was tempered, however, with other more logical ideas. Washington goes on to state that “slaves were convinced that the ‘Kingdom of God’ would have almost no white subjects. Gullah Christianity was one of recompense.” (169)

Regarding ontology, the study of “what is,” the Gullah approach seems in turn subversive and synonymous with the acculturation process. Washington puts forth that “Gullahs maintained a passionate love of humanity and confronted the masters without motives of revenge. Yet they also displayed a keen sense of revolutionary rationalism through a calm realization that masters and slaves were natural enemies.” (160)

Conversely, Joseph E. Holloway notes that the Gullah, through their ongoing study of  “what is,” continued the acculturation process in a somewhat heady fashion. A good example of this is the tradition of cooperative labor. Holloway writes that in the Sea Islands, “Gang labor survived because it was reinforced by similarities with the European mode of gang or cooperative labor. African institutions and customs seem to have been able to survive when they did not directly conflict with European customs.” (203) Although, as stated by Holloway, due to technological advances, cooperative labor is not needed as it was practiced in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, his descriptions of the various African roots from which this practice sprung are illuminating.

Florida and the Sea Islands

In the cases of the Sea Islands and Florida, the Gullah seem to have retained similar cultural artifacts in differing manners. Margaret Washington writes: some cultural homogeneity was retained as Africans passed from the Old World to the New. In the Sea Island region of South Carolina, cultural similitude was coupled with relative isolation and resulted in a tendentious process of African provenance, American acculturation, and intergroup socialization.” (153) With regards to Florida, Robert L. Hall states that “Africans transformed themselves into African Americans without totally losing their African past but also helped transform and enrich Western culture itself,” only, rather than through isolation, this occurred through what Richard Wright is quoted as observing: “the portals of the church.” (243)

2nd week's blog

A key shortcoming of early scholars of Black English, as described by Asante is their lack of knowledge of African cultures, or their misunderstanding of African language. Asante illustrates this with the example of Ambrose Gonzales, who “like many white American linguists, misunderstood the Gullah language and arrived at the wrong conclusions.” Gonzales, according to Asante, interpreted African words to be corruptions of English. (66)

Asante writes that “white American linguists refused to consider the possibility that blacks used African words in their vocabularies,” when in fact, the converse was true. The author quotes George Krapp, who wrote in 1924 that “it is reasonably safe to say that not a single detail of Negro pronunciation or Negro syntax can be proved to have other than English origins.” Krapp’s notion was seconded by other writers, and, as stated by Asante, “represented the prevailing American notions about race, cultural retentions, and African intelligence.” (67)

The key criticism that Asante makes is certainly up for debate. The author writes that “It is my contention that black Americans retained basic components of the African experience rather than specific artifacts,” and goes on to state that “to seek distinctive retention of African words in black America as Turner, Herskovits, and Romeo Garrett attempted to do is to search amiss.” (68)

Asante makes a convincing case in this essay by detailing his analysis of the transition of language from its West African form through the stages of pidginization and creolization, and its arrival at Englishization-Ebonics, but I find his criticism of Turner, Herskovits, and Romeo Garret less so. However, if Asante’s point is that by searching for specific African words that have been retained, we miss the bigger picture (or search amiss), than he is putting forth an ambitious, thought-provoking statement.

Asante’s most powerful moment in this essay, in my opinion, is the description of serial verbs. Clearly, the author is a master of this material, and his break-down of both African languages, Ebonics, and regular English is nothing short of fascinating. There is data here, and Asante presents it in an organized fashion and uses it well to make his point that “black Americans retained basic components of the African experience rather than specific artifacts.”

In my opinion, Asante is on shakier ground when describing “harmonizing” as  “a principal function of black speech behavior.” (72) Describing audience interjections such as “Amen,” and “Pray on,” the author puts forth the notion that “a certain noticeable communicative style is transmitted in ton, rhythm, or pitch in these cases,” and goes on to write that “the so-called black voice can be recognized by other Ebonics speakers by pitch and tone.” This seems to me that rather than being used as support for the author’s points, this section should have been a point unto itself, with data to back it up, as Asante did in the case of serial verbs.

Holloway writes that “African cultural and linguistic acculturation into the American culture took several generations,” and goes on to state that “after about 8 generations of country-born Africans, successful Americanization had taken place.” However, Holloway also writes that “the linguistic exchanges were mutual and reciprocal: the process also brought about the Africanization of the South. (85) The “distinct white Southern accent” is, Holloway writes, the result of “generations of interaction with African speech patterns.”

Africans, according to Holloway, traditionally named their children for days of the week, months and seasons in which they were born. This practice did not cease immediately upon forced importation to America.

Holloway writes that “after the first and second generation, Africans began to substitute African day names for English translations,” and uses examples such as an ex-slave named Thursday Jones. This strange juxtaposition of the English-language version of African naming practices and the last name of a former slave owner is highlighted in the next example given by the author: that of Martin Jackson. Jackson took his name because of an African relative named Jeaceo, which the author posits is a corruption of the original Quaco, which is a male day name for Wednesday.

Of the Africanisms listed at the end of Holloway’s essay, the ones I find to be of particular interest are banana, massa, and bad. Although, banana is interesting primarily because of its bland description: “Wolof word for fruit and was first recorded in 1563, and entered British English in the seventeenth century via Spanish and Portuguese.” There is no symbolism; it is just a word that is used every day.

Massa I find to be illuminating. The word is always, in my experience, presented in movies and books with no explanation, and it is probably safe to say that it is generally assumed that “massa” is a corruption of “master,” rather than an African word for chief.

And finally: bad. Holloway notes the “African use of negative terms, pronounced emphatically to describe positive extremes. There is much to be said on this, and I don’t think I am smart enough to say it. However, this seems to me to be quite astute on one level, and humorous on another.

First Week's blog

 As Joseph E. Holloway states in the opening sentence of his essay "The Origins of African American Culture,"The history of the New World is a story of cultural interaction, integration, and assimilation. Upon first reading this statement, I was at a loss as to how respond to the questions raised by these 3 terms, but after considering the suffix "cultural," Holloway's meaning became more clear. I will tackle them in order, one at a time.

interaction

Holloway writes that in the early years of the slave trade, that "Africans were imported to South Carolina predominantly from 'Guinea,'" and that the largest single group among these West Africans were the Wolofs. Holloway state that the Wolofs "were mostly house servants who had extensive and close contact with European Americans." (22) This interaction of cultures led to assimilation, which I will discuss below.

By way of contrast to the experience of the Wolofs, Central Africans imported to South Carolina were largely field workers, and kept isolated from European Americans. Holloway illustrates that during one 5 year period, between 1735-40, "70 percent of all incoming Africans were Bantu from the Angolan region. This forced migration coupled with the relative homogeneity of language spoken and relative isolation demonstrates the effect of the absence of interaction. According to Holloway, "Bantus were able to maintain a strong sense of unity and to retain a cultural vitality that laid the foundation for the development of African American culture." (24, 27)

One direct symptom of the interaction between cultures is indicated by the prejudices and preferences of the planters that purchased slaves. Slave owners were intimately acquainted with different peoples from varying regions of Africa. In South Carolina, for example, slave-purchasers did not want to purchase Angolans after a rebellion. Holloway shows that, after the Angolan revolt, importation of slaves from the region fell from 70 percent to 40 percent of slaves imported. Other peoples were prized for being "less rebellious," and for certain skill sets specific to their culture. (26, 32)

integration

Much of the cultural integration of various African slaves appears to be due to languages, both those that brought slaves together and those that held them apart. Holloway posits that in the case of the Bantu, "they were able to retain much of their cultural identity," because of enforced isolation as field workers. Holloway notes that Africanisms as varied as religion, philosophy, culture, folk tales, naming practices and home economics were retained in America by Central African slaves bound together by a common language. He goes on to write that these Africanisms and more were eventually "shared and adopted by the various African ethic groups of the field slave community, and they gradually developed into African American cooking, music, language, religion philosophy, customs, and arts. (36, 37)

Before the large Bantu immigration of the 1730s, the Senegambians of West Africa were the the most numerous of African slaves. Holloway makes note of the importance of bilingualism as pertaining to this era as well, describing the example of a specific slave named Rajmam Ibrahim (who was a prince in the kingdom of Tambo in Gambia) who spoke Arabic,Wolof, and Mande, which were the most prevalent languages spoken in Senegambia. This, he puts forth, "suggests that Wolof was the lingua fraca of the plantations before the 1730s. (36)

The European American slave-owners integrated a great many African techniques into their day-to-day operations. An example of this is the case of animal husbandry. Holloway writes that "while settlers felt uneasy about open grazing at first, numerous Africans coming into South carolina had witnessed and understood the success of this practice from their African experience. This became standard practice in the American animal husbandry industry. (34) Many other technologies were imported to the Americas by African slaves, such as netcasting and farming techniques.

assimilation

Holloway states that "because the Wolofs were predominantly house servants and artisans, having extensive contact with European Americans, they were the first Africans to have elements of their language and culture retained within the developing culture of America." Many Wolof words have been assimilated into the contemporary American lexicon, such as Ok, bogus, googie woogie, bug, phoney, yam, and many more. It is telling that Holloway refers to these "linguistic retentions" as "Americanisms," rather than "Africanisms," signifying the depth of assimilation into the general culture these words represent.

The Wolof also brought with them many folk tales that "are common in black folklore in the United States," and several that are common tales in the United States in general. Among them are Brer Rabbit, Brer Wolf, Brer fox (all of which were in picture books on the shelf in my kindergarten home-room), Sis Nanny Goat, and others. Holloway writes that "the Anansi (spider) stories were Akan in origin and remained completely intact in the New World." (36) Indeed, these stories have been assimilated to such a degree that Anansi is a character in the novel "American Gods," and the protagonist of the sequel, "Anansi Boys," both written by the British author Neil Gaiman.

According to Holloway, "a Swiss newcomer, Samuel dyssli, observed in 1737 that Carolina 'looks more like a negro country than a country settled by white people.'" Although Holloway states that the Wolof "were, perhaps, the first Africans whose cultural elements ad language were assimilated by and retained witin the developing culture of America," he also writes that because of the large scale importation of Senegambians, the fact that the majority of West Africans were house slaves, as opposed to the majority who were field slaves, and the heterogeneity of their culture, they were "at a disadvantage in influencing African American culture." (22, 24) The more culturally homogeneous and numerous Bantu speaking peoples of Central Africa laid the foundations for the African American traditions of soul food, jazz, blues, spirituals, and gospels.

What Africans Have Given America

Joseph Holloway writes in "What Africa Has Given America" that "Africans, and their descendents, contributed to the richness and fullness of American culture from its beginnings." He goes on to describe the marginalization of these contributions and the varied nature of them. One of the most striking passages in this essay occurs in the third paragraph: Holloway writes that "enslaved Africans, not free to openly transport kinship, courts, religion, and material cultures were forced to disguise or abandon them during the middle passage." However, he goes on to describe something remarkable: "they dematerialized African culture on their arrival in the New World. Africans arrived in the New World capable of using Old World knowledge to create New World realities."

Holloway describes the process by which Brer Rabbit, a traditional character in Wolof folklore may have become Bug Bunny. More certain is the source of Chicken Little and Walt Disney's "Song of the South." African folktales not only survived the Middle Passage and centuries of slavery, but became integral parts of American Culture as a whole. These stories and characters that entertain and enlighten us today have roots in Africa, and our American life would be emptier without them. (50)

A medical advance brought to America by African slaves that is crucial to our way of life today is inoculation. Anthropologist R.S. Rattray is quoted as saying that this practice was in use "since time immemorial by the Akan of Ghana." (53). This and other cures (among them, snakebite antidotes) were introduced by African slaves who were occasionally given their freedom and a cash stipend by local colonial governments. Imagining an America that had never benefitted from these techniques is to imagine a place where many of us were never born. (54)

Influences on American language are many. The example that is most pervasive in my opinion is the word "O.K.," which is a Wolof/Mande word that is not only used in the United States, but across the entire world. Words as diverse as dig, guy, hippie, and yam all have African Origins. In addition, as noted by Holloway, "white Southerners have adopted and assimilated African speech patterns and have retained Africanisms such as baton twirling, cheerleading, and expressions and words that were once Africanisms but are now Americanism." (59) This is significant: that what was African has become American.

The Turner-Herskovits Connection

Turner and Herskovits shared an interest that drew them together, and inspired them to both indulge their intellectual curiosity and to realize new areas they should be curious about. This in itself is inspiring, as is their sharing of information and correspondence. As early researchers of Africanisms, they often seemed to be acting on hunches, especially in the beginning of their journey. Reading the excerpts of their correspondence provided in the paper by Maragaret Wade-Lewis gives the reader a feeling of anticipation and excitement; these two men were on the brink of a wonderful education in what it truly means to be an American.

That so much of American culture springs from African culture is illuminating, in that despite the horrors of slavery and its effects on those enslaved, Africa itself, and its negative impacts on America, imported African slaves managed to give a wonderful gift to future generations of all ethnic back rounds in the form of culture. This is instructive, as it makes me wonder, not for the first time, but with more conviction: Why did I have to wait to get to college to learn any of this? It seems that at least some of this should be a core inclusion for any 3rd grade history textbook.