Ayiti-Forgetting and Remembering

Ayiti-Forgetting and Remembrance
by D.G

Everyone now speaks of the earthquake which reduced Port-au-Prince to rubble,
yet no one remembers the earth shaking revolution in which the slaves freed themselves
and established the first black republic.
Media images of poverty and voodoo, are conjured in our minds, a poisonous magic
that distorts the truth,
of Haiti's rich culture and religious traditions.
The gods of Africa are demonized and despised ,
by those who serve the god of the slave masters.
We rage at the idiocy of one evangelist's words,
yet we still live in ignorance about this island,
the Europeans called Hispaniola, Saint Domingue, Santo Domingo,
once the richest jewel in the Caribbean now known for it's poor.
“discovered” by Columbus, but it is we who need to rediscover this island, where
gods and saints walk among men,
where the raga music of carnival plays,
the sensual rhythms of kompa,
the hard working mothers who keep a spotless house,
a land of vibrant color and beauty
whose true name is Ayiti,
land of mountains,
named by the first inhabitants
put to death by conquistadors' sword and cross,
enriched by the people of Africa who were enslaved
but had the strength to win their freedom.
We forget the exploitation of the isles resources, the occupation of U.S. Marines,
we choose to remember the negative,
and banish Haiti from history's narrative.
Rise Ayiti, from the ashes of history, from the ruins of defeat,
let us remember your glorious past and praise your future.
La Union Fait La Force!

Reading list for Orisa Devotees

Since I composed a list of fiction books relating to orisha and lwa, I decided to do a non-fiction one. I'm going to do a separate list for Vodoun on another post. These are the ones that I own.

Black Gods: Orisa Studies in the New World by John Mason (comprehensive study of each orisha)

Altar of My Soul by Marta Morena Vega (a personal journey and guide to Lukumi and other Afro-Diaspora religions)

Finding My Soul on the Path of Orisa by Melody Tobbe Coreal (this is good for beginners especially)

Sacred Leaves of Candomble, African Magic, Medicine and Religion in Brazil by Robert Voeks (information on herbs used in Candomble and general info on Candomble)

Working the Spirit, Ceremonies of the African Diaspora by Joseph M. Murphy- a look at various traditons of the Diaspora

Santeria by Joseph M. Murphy -(the authors personal journey in the religion of Lukumi/Santeria)

Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomble by James Lorand Matory (an academic study of Candomble)

Africa's Ogun: Old World and New (African Systems of Thought) by Sandra T. Barnes (a collection of essays about Ogun in various traditions)

Osun Across the Waters : A Yoruba Goddess in by Joseph M. Murphy and Mei-Mei Sanford (a collection of essays about Oshun in various traditions)

Manipulating the Sacred: Yoruba Art, Ritual, and Resistance in Brazilian Candomble (African American Life Series) by Mikelle Smith Omari-Tunkara ( a look at the ritual asthetics of Candomble)

Macumba by Bramley Serge (about Brazilian Umbanda)

Osun Seegesi: The Elegant Deity of Wealth, Power, and Femininity by Diedre Badejo (focuses on the worship of Oshun in Yorubaland)

Pataki of Orisa and other Essays for Lucumi Santeria by OTA OMI OLO OSHUN (written by a good friend Baba Ota Omi about the pataki of Santeria)

A Refuge in Thunder: Candomble and Alternative Spaces of Blackness (Blacks in the Diaspora) by Rachel E. Harding ( I don't own this book but it was recommended by a friend. When I read it, I will write a synosis)

Yemaya y Ochun (Spanish Edition) by Lydia Cabrera (if you can read Spanish this book is a classic)

Flash of the Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy by Robert Farris Thompson (an academic overview of the African religions of the Diaspora)

I have a lot more in my collection and will update accordingly

Home Sweet Home

I'm picturing myself in a house. I've never had a home of my own. I've rented an apartment and lived with family. Lately I've been thinking and daydreaming about it. I'm nowhere close to achieving this but that doesn't stop me. I may complain, whine, and shake my fist to the heavens but in the end I rarely admit defeat. I bought a statue of Our Lady of Altagracia last week. In Dominican Vodou or 21 Divisions, She is Ezili Alila. A lwa that walks with Ezili Freda. She is strict, conservative and dislikes loud noise. She is the patron of the home and family love. She is patroness of the Dominican Republic. Maybe I bought her because I have that yearning for a home. Maybe I'm ready to settle down and have a serious relationship. I put her on the same altar as Ezili Freda, who I recently but up a shrine to again. I think I need a little luxury in my life, maybe not of the physical kind. That sense of ease, and leisure that comes from security. Ah that word security, it goes back to what Sra. Altagracia reprsents. I know one day I'll come home, relax, have my orishas in their own temple in the basement, my own office/study upstairs and a handsome husband to sleep next to at night. It could be years from now but I pray to Nuestra Senora de Altagracia/Ezili Alila that my daydreams become reality in the light of day. Ashe.