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**StanWatts** · 11-29-2010, 10:57 AM

Haitian Vodun (Voodoo) - Assata Shakur Speaks - Hands Off Assata - Let's Get Free - Revolutionary - Pan-Africanism - Black On Purpose - Liberation - Forum

Informative article, but she completely left out the Duvaliers and their use of Voodoo for their purposes. I'd be curious how the beliefs and practices of Voodoo were affected by this. Was there a lasting impact on the beliefs and practices of Voodoo?

The documentary mentioned in the post before was great, and very enlightening. As well, I'm curious as to how the rest of the west's thinking regarding Voodoo was influenced by the Duvalier regimes. It seems as if horror film as a genre developed in the United States at the same time that Papa Doc was in power, and with his regime being so close to the United States, there had to have been some influence.

Read it. pretty good overview. She did mention Duvalier bringing Voudou out of the underground and "rehabilitating" it.

For her to go into more detail..she'd need an additional 3 paragraphs to describe Duvalier's background, the historic power struggles in Haiti, the volatility of Haitian politics, and the reasons why Duvalier elected to co-opt so much of voudou's mysticism/imagery.

It's a decent overview of voudou though.

Any book you get your hands on about papa doc's life will go into further detail. and like I said....the Africana encyclopedia is worth getting. I've loaned my copy out or I'd just scan the entry about Voudou, and African faith systems that were transported to the west. hemisphere

The original article by assatashakur is very informative but incorrect on about half of the points she makes.

I suggest those that do want to be informed about the Vodun/Voodoo practices consult a houngan, they should be fairly open to give a general outline of their practices.

Under Duvalier Vodun was state religion of Ayiti. However, it was quickly appropriated by Duvalier as an instrument of supression. During his reign the more darker aspects of Vodun were brought to the fore as opposed to the more lighter aspects. (Red vs white loa's or Preta (hot) vs funfun (cool))..

A good example is his usage of the Ton ton Macoute's militia. Originally ton ton Macoute was an agricultural loa and had many uses in fertilising and as a guardian, unde rDuvalier they turned that image into a thug militia.

Furthermore Duvalier's association with Baron Samedi was used to further his own position of supernatural power.

Both instances should not be condoned against his own people and have left the roles of these loa's permantently altered within the practices.

11-29-2010, 10:57 AM	#35
StanWatts Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 418 Senior Member	Haitian Vodun (Voodoo) - Assata Shakur Speaks - Hands Off Assata - Let's Get Free - Revolutionary - Pan-Africanism - Black On Purpose - Liberation - Forum Informative article, but she completely left out the Duvaliers and their use of Voodoo for their purposes. I'd be curious how the beliefs and practices of Voodoo were affected by this. Was there a lasting impact on the beliefs and practices of Voodoo? The documentary mentioned in the post before was great, and very enlightening. As well, I'm curious as to how the rest of the west's thinking regarding Voodoo was influenced by the Duvalier regimes. It seems as if horror film as a genre developed in the United States at the same time that Papa Doc was in power, and with his regime being so close to the United States, there had to have been some influence. Read it. pretty good overview. She did mention Duvalier bringing Voudou out of the underground and "rehabilitating" it. For her to go into more detail..she'd need an additional 3 paragraphs to describe Duvalier's background, the historic power struggles in Haiti, the volatility of Haitian politics, and the reasons why Duvalier elected to co-opt so much of voudou's mysticism/imagery. It's a decent overview of voudou though. Any book you get your hands on about papa doc's life will go into further detail. and like I said....the Africana encyclopedia is worth getting. I've loaned my copy out or I'd just scan the entry about Voudou, and African faith systems that were transported to the west. hemisphere The original article by assatashakur is very informative but incorrect on about half of the points she makes. I suggest those that do want to be informed about the Vodun/Voodoo practices consult a houngan, they should be fairly open to give a general outline of their practices. Under Duvalier Vodun was state religion of Ayiti. However, it was quickly appropriated by Duvalier as an instrument of supression. During his reign the more darker aspects of Vodun were brought to the fore as opposed to the more lighter aspects. (Red vs white loa's or Preta (hot) vs funfun (cool)).. A good example is his usage of the Ton ton Macoute's militia. Originally ton ton Macoute was an agricultural loa and had many uses in fertilising and as a guardian, unde rDuvalier they turned that image into a thug militia. Furthermore Duvalier's association with Baron Samedi was used to further his own position of supernatural power. Both instances should not be condoned against his own people and have left the roles of these loa's permantently altered within the practices.
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