Vodou and Political Activism

I was listening to this young woman on a podcast a few years ago suggesting that African Americans and practitioners of ATR's shouldn't be voting in U.S. elections because it's a ritual. This is a long over due discussion but before we can get into it we need to agree on some terms.

Vodou is an umbrella term for the indigenous West African Spiritual Religious Traditions of the Gbe speaking peoples in West Africa. It is characterized as the worship of the Infinite, Incomprehensible Creator through veneration of our Ancestors and obedience to the Spirits of the Elements and Human Enterprise, the vodous. Vodou defines worship as the alignment of individual will to divine Purpose as revealed by the vodous either directly or through their priests.

Politics, from Greek: Πολιτικά, politiká, or 'affairs of the cities', is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.

Activism is the use of direct and noticeable action to achieve a result, usually a political or social one.

Being in agreeance of what it is I'm about to talk about lets get into the question at hand:

Should exponents of Vodou be Politically active? Should we vote or engage in activism for political causes?

First, lets address this assertion. If the elections are a ritual (& I'm not saying they are or aren't) then as a resident you are in the ritual space. So if you subscribe to this perspective you need to determine if you are a participant in the ritual or the ritual's sacrifice.

Personally, I don't subscribe to this perspective as it suggests a poor understanding of both politics & rituals, and it encourages you to not use one of our tools of social power; the vote.

See, one of the biggest benefits of Vodou is that it obliges the pursuit of mastery of our environments. Vodou abjures personal weakness, demanding you develop yourself in all ways. Politics is one such venue of said power.

Society is the relationship between people and politics is the power dynamic of those relationships; If you want to end police brutality you must attend to the power dynamic between the citizens & the police; If you want to limit government overreach you must influence the relationship between the citizens & the government; and if you're still desiring reparations...

But what, if anything, does this have to do with Vodou?

Understand, there is a faction of radical Christianity, Theoconservatives, Christian Identikits, Christian Nationalists; Dominionists, that seek to take control of the government and they have every intention to deprive us of our right to peacefully practice our religion. If we are not politically informed & engaged the Dominionists will deprive us of our spiritualities, our traditions, and redefine religion so as to exclude us explicitly from Constitutional protection. And be clear, they don't just want you to not worship in Vodou, they want you deprived of employment, denied access to resources, goods & services, homeless, and incapable of securing shelter, food, or medicine. In short, they want you either dead or in bondage.

So you see, being apolitical is an affront to the Royal Divinities like Nana Densu & Toxoxu because it is poor statecraft and undermines the legitimacy and authority of Their exponents. It is an affront to vodous of peace & justice Like Mama Tchamba & Mami Ablo because it is a missed opportunity avoid bloodshed, promote freedom, and bringing justice to restore harmony within society. And finally, it is the greatest sin to the hunters & warriors like Adela and Etsu Koffi as surrendering initiative ensures the prey escapes and the cause is lost. If and when war begins we will be unawares & unarmed. By sunset the leaders will be dead and by sunrise the people will be slaves again.

So in Vodou, you will not hear vote for this candidate or that party. But we will discuss matters of concern for the temples and existential threats in the public square.

So seek divination for the will of the ancestors & vodous. I'll see you at the polls or I'll see you on the frontlines.