Magical Negro The Root

Magical Negro: The Root

Where’s the Afrospiritual Practitioners

"effective instruments of empowerment"

By Arthur Flowers

looking back its hard to remember my first knowledge of the conqueror
what i always knew about was the root

the root was big in my family, but i dont know that it was necessarily
connected to the conqueror as entity

it wasnt until i started my own hoodoo studies that i came across the
conqueror himself

and that i think was thru zora neale hurston riff
and later jackie torrence
zoraneale & jackie riffed him as a returning cultural hero
and that riff has stuck with me

what i need to do is ask my northcarolina folk
who are the hoodoo branch what they know
about the conqueror as entity, perhaps they
passed it on when i was too young to catch it

as happened with much of the family hoodoo knowledge
i knew of them but like much of the rest of the family
my baptist upbringing more tolerated them than listened to them

when i was a youngster i just didnt get it
and most of the oldschool ones have died off now

wasnt until i decided to walk the path myself that i had
to dredge up old knowledge, and shame to say
highjohn as entity wasnt part of that

the root always been there though
rickydoc

September 13, 2005

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Where’s the Afrospiritual Practitioners

i went by the narc site to see what they were saying on katrina
i was real underimpressed, both by what they had to say

basically that god is mad at us

and at the site in general http://www.narcworld.com

ran across an article abou their last conference that sent me there
http://www.sfbayview.com/082405/narcprepares082405.shtml

i thought 250 dollars was excessive but then folk know i got issues
with atrs preoccupation with the dollars

dont get me wrong i know folk got to make a living but there
is a difference between payment for services rendered and
being a moneychanger in the temple,

i dont claim thats what
they are but i do believe thats an issue for atr reform
along with issues like potential for abuse in the godparent system and
so on and so forth, but let me not go there

i dont claim these are endemic in atr but these are some of the
reform issues that atr is going to have to address in its effort
to manifest as a mainstream religion

i went through the rest of their site to see what else they were offering
and it was real slack, i mean absolutely nothing of value
except that god is mad at us

and if their site is the public face of what they are and what they about
they got a long way to before they are ready for primetime

i know some of you kinda believe in them and have testified
so i assume they are more primetime than their site indicates

but i didnt see anything on their site that gave me
confidence that they are ready to be competitive
with the christians and muslims or anybody else
for that matter

i assume that they are more than their website shows
but having a functional website is like fundamental in this day and age
and they not covering their fundamentals

all it did was ask for money
and talk about how katrina was cause
god is mad at us - thats tired, thats really tired

with the understanding that new orleans is
one of the afrospiritual centers of the americas
i would expect a lot more from some organization
that wants to represent afrospiritual practitioners

most hoodoos are not that excited
about being 'accredited'

if they want my money/support
'i need a little less moneychanging
and a lot more wisdom

rickydoc

September 13, 2005

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effective instruments of empowerment

i am moved by the response of the black community to the challenge of katrina. i am impressed with the armies of volunteers that have emerged fully armored from the ground. i am impressed by the adhoc networks that have sprung out of thin air. i have noted the adhoc network forged by miriam willis of memphis from resources forged from years of struggle.

i have noted how rudy of chickenbones was able to transform his informal network of intellectual dialogues into an effective clearinghouse of timely and enabling information, an instrument that was not possible before the advent of the net. i have noted how black america web has positioned itself and listserv groups like vivaarts out in california

have suddenly manifested as effective instruments of empowerment in a manner never before possible. what were casual networks have been transformed by adversity into instruments. melvin gibbs of the hoodoo way called it a testing and so far i judge black america to have met the test. i salute you.

i have also noted the lack of timely response by mainstream black organizations, the naacp and the national urban league have been tardy, as have alternative leadership like the nation of islam and the black radical congress. ah but the people, by god the people have done me proud, based on what i know to be happening in memphis, i assume to be

happening in the other sanctuary cities and the Black Net(work) has become a force to be reckoned with. for all the tragedy this has been, the africanamerican community has pulled together in response and shown itself to be an effective force in our first true challenge of the 21st century. i am proud to be part of this moment

in struggle

rickydoc flowers

September 2005

posted September 14, 2005

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update 28 July 2008