This is just an incredible page on how African Americans practiced Voodoo in the United States... For all of you who seem dead to the notion that we maintained our African roots up until the time when we came north, and began to discard the roots of our culture, read this article, look at the pictures, and relive a little of what life used to be like for Africans in the United States not so long.....

The page cannot be copied or reproduced, so I cannot give any samples... Gone get over there, and you'll not regret it... It's awesome!

www.mamiwata.com/ewe.html#and

Peace!
Isaiah

This is a fascinating read thank you brother Isaiah! I once visited a exhibit on Vodoun at the Baltimore Museum of Art back in 1998. I remember most of my classmates being scared to go, but I learned a lot. I've never looked at Vodoun with suspicion or fear since!

Thanks for sharing this one.. i love reading things liek this.. its kinda liek a blk fairytale.. voodoo.. in my generation.. but to read the actual accounts makes it real for me.

I enjoyed this read...thank you brother Isaiah

Ayibobo Brother Isaiah,

Mamaiisi Vivian was instrumental in leading me to the path of my ancestral Vodu. As I looked into the likely Afrikan sources for many slaves imported to Louisiana, I noticed the Ewe people were heavily represented. I began having dreams of the region in Afrika, along with my Congo dreams. One of my dreams said I was born into Vodou. I attended a Vodou ceremony and the spirits said I MUST be in this, I must initiate into Vodou. I eventually initiated into Vodou and believe as a descendant of Afrikan people, it has enhanced my life and established the connection I needed to be more present on this earthly plane, as well as, the ancestral realm. Vodou is a very beautiful tradition and I love my spirits dearly. I still get excited when I see the spirits come down and typically be one of the few people to run to speak with them. The drums of a ceremony are highly motivating and to be involved in something similar to what my ancestors have practiced sometimes feel as if I've been sucked into a time warp and thrown back in history. Thank you, the addition.

Also, remember Mama Tchamba - patron spirit of slaves and the Mama Tchamba tradition in Benin/Togo.

Blackbird (feeling the call of the Vodu now)

Brother Blackbird so are you initiated into the Haitian Vodun system?

This is in reference to culture

Peace!
Isaiah

This is in reference to culture

Peace!
Isaiah
You seem to be on the bandwagon of the "culture and not history" thread you made that was directed towards Dustyelbow and I,much of the historical data posted is just not history,for example,my "black china" thread seems like plain history,but if you look into it you may see links(though not overt) as to assisted who developed Chinese martial arts and therefore contributed to the Chinese culture.The fact that research has not been done,in totality,as to Afrikan/black contributions to varying cultures worldwide calls for a more historical perspective since the roots today, many world cultures that have been and still are heavely influenced by Afrikans/blacks,is all in one shade and that shade is the shade of the current inhabitants and/or rulers of the land.

Interestting.!!!

You seem to be on the bandwagon of the "culture and not history" thread you made that was directed towards Dustyelbow and I,much of the historical data posted is just not history,for example,my "black china" thread seems like plain history,but if you look into it you may see links(though not overt) as to assisted who developed Chinese martial arts and therefore contributed to the Chinese culture.The fact that research has not been done,in totality,as to Afrikan/black contributions to varying cultures worldwide calls for a more historical perspective since the roots today, many world cultures that have been and still are heavely influenced by Afrikans/blacks,is all in one shade and that shade is the shade of the current inhabitants and/or rulers of the land.

No, my young brother, I-Khan, I am not on any bandwagon - though I asked that THIS BANDWAGON be built... And I did not ask that it be built so that CULTURE would take the same old backseat to who did what when, where, and why...

You see, brother, I asked you guys to do something very specific, and that was to SHOW us WHERE the culture was in the historical data, and you guys keep trying to RE-DFEINE for me, and the rest of us, just WHAT culture is... Hey, man, I don't need culture defined or redefined for me... I need you guys to RESPECT what is being done in this forum, brother, and that is to, yes, OVERTLY present CULTURAL DATA... Instead, you guys refuse to respect my request... You keep on posting this historical data in a forum that SPECIFICALLY and PLAINLY asks us to reclaim our stolen CULTURE... You keep shoving our culture deeper and deeper into an abyss, where it is being hidden from view by all of this historical data...

I ask you, WHERE is it proven in the BLACK CHINA thread that we have actually contributed to Chinese culture??? African contributions to the Chinese Martial Arts???? No, man, Chinese Martial Arts as we know them began out of a necessity of Shaolin Priests to protect themselves from their enemies... Like anything else, it developed and evolved out of necessity, not because these folk needed Africans to come an teach them how to defend themselves... I dig brother Rashidi, and other African historians who are trying to reclaim our history, but I don't believe everything that comes out of their mouths - and I've just about all of 'em...

That notwithstanding brother, I have asked you, and others AGAIN, to respect the stated aims of this forum, and not try to define or redefine for us what those aims should be... This forum does not even exist unless I requested that it exist, and I consider what you are doing as very disrespectful, not just of the forum, but of me, personally... Don't presume me to be deficient in my ability to discern what is, and what is not, cultural...


Peace!
Isaiah

Isaiah,

You see, brother, I asked you guys to do something very specific, and that was to SHOW us WHERE the culture was in the historical data, and you guys keep trying to RE-DFEINE for me, and the rest of us, just WHAT culture is...
AS stated before,not much research has been done into the past contributions of our ancestors to world cultures so the history(where,when,why,how) is taken instead because of the fact that the peoples today would not show all of the facts pertaining to the subject.The culture shapes the history and since the history is the only thing that cannot be changed (if you do enough research to look through the smoke screens.) it must be taken to comprehend the culture.

Hey, man, I don't need culture defined or redefined for me...
I never tried to re-define it at all,what are to implying here?


I need you guys to RESPECT what is being done in this forum, brother, and that is to, yes, OVERTLY present CULTURAL DATA
Pertaining to much of the world,not much of the cultural data exists in a paper format,which is why it is shown through history.I did not think you would take my threads DISRESPECTFULL since they do not meet your requirements.

Instead, you guys refuse to respect my request...
I never overtly said "I refuse to respect his request", I have been searching for the cultural data,and it does take some time.Perhaps you can assist me?


You keep on posting this historical data in a forum that SPECIFICALLY and PLAINLY asks us to reclaim our stolen CULTURE...
Our culture shapes our history,so when our culture is stolen and much research( that some will refuse to do) is required to reclaim it what are we left with to search for the cultural data.Pretty soon Hip-Hop and R&B will be in this thread on "reclaiming our stolen culture".

You keep shoving our culture deeper and deeper into an abyss, where it is being hidden from view by all of this historical data...
What exactly are you accusing me of,I shove NOTHIN into to abyss since it is right in our face and we may not be able to see it depending on our knowledge. If I was to say in 35 years that black/Afrikans created rock and roll( which we did) then the people who would not know would say "when? how ? where? why?" and I would have to give the historical data to back up my cultural claims.


I ask you, WHERE is it proven in the BLACK CHINA thread that we have actually contributed to Chinese culture???
Nowhere overtly,which is a call for more research.

No, man, Chinese Martial Arts as we know them began out of a necessity of Shaolin Priests to protect themselves from their enemies... Like anything else, it developed and evolved out of necessity, not because these folk needed Africans to come an teach them how to defend themselves...
A derived assumption,what is being implied and has been claimed by ("Afrocentrists",etc) is that we were involved in the creation,not the sole creaters.

I dig brother Rashidi, and other African historians who are trying to reclaim our history, but I don't believe everything that comes out of their mouths
Neither do I,but that does call for more traveling and research.


That notwithstanding brother, I have asked you, and others AGAIN, to respect the stated aims of this forum, and not try to define or redefine for us what those aims should be...
I never tried to re-define the aim,I only looked at it and tried to fit it in different ways due to the resources available to me.

This forum does not even exist unless I requested that it exist, and I consider what you are doing as very disrespectful, not just of the forum, but of me, personally
I have explained why I do what I do in the beginning of this response,I do not mean to disrespect you but keep in mind that the way it is given is not necesarrily how it will be recieved.

Don't presume me to be deficient in my ability to discern what is, and what is not, cultural
I never did presume anything,much of what I post is new to me so I share what I learn and if people in this site do not appreciate or take disrespectfull the data I present,even though it has a mask of something different in the title but in reality calls for more research,than I will take myself elsewhere. WE are looking for the same thing and are using different ways to find it,perhaps you can show me how you find your data? I can comprehend that history does not record everything that happens and culture passes down from a people to their descendents,but if certain chains of events takes place that causes a displacement of an indigenous people and the conquerer to make claim to the culture that they took over than that would mean they would own the history.The current debate on a black Egypt and black/Afrikan peoples influence on Greece as well as Rome says something.Without the historical data that was presented by many of our own researchers to prove the black/Afrikan origins of such a place,we would not be able to say that we are the originaters of the culture.