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A crucial telling of American history centering the Black women whose magic gave rise to the rich tapestry of American culture we see today. Emerging first in the American South during slavery, conjure women who were enslaved on plantations used their magic to treat illnesses of the enslaved. These women brought their ancestral spiritual beliefs from West Africa and combined it with herbal rituals and therapeutic remedies to create conjure, forging a secret well of health and power hidden to their oppressors. From the moment enslaved Africans first arrived on these shores, however, this conjure was heavily regulated, outlawed, and even coopted.
In
The Conjuring of America, Black feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart exposes a vital contour of American history. These women, in secrecy and subterfuge, courageously and devotedly continued their practices and worship to conjure up modern-day staples from Vicks VapoRub and Aunt Jemima’s pancake mix, to the magic of Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2023), and the all-American blue jean. As they struggled against slavery, Negro Mammies fashioned a legacy of magic that begat herbal experts, fearsome water bearers, and powerful mojos—roles and traditions that for centuries have been passed down to respond to Black struggles in real time. And when Jim Crow tried to make us slaves again, conjure women emerged again as the Granny Midwives and textile weavers who leveled their techniques to protect our civil and reproductive rights, while Candy Ladies opened their home and restaurants to feed a generation of crusaders for freedom.
Sourcing firsthand accounts the of enslaved, dispatches from the lore of Oshun, and the wisdom of beloved Black women writers, Stewart proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that conjure informs our lives in ways remarkable and ordinary. Above all,
The Conjuring of America is a love letter to the magic Black women used to sow messages of rebellion, freedom, and hope.
About the author
Lindsey Stewart is a Black feminist philosopher and an Associate Professor of philosophy at the University of Memphis. She is the author of
The Politics of Black Joy. Her work has been featured in
Blavity, Signs,
Hypatia, and the
British Journal for the History of Philosophy, and sheholds a 2021 Michael Beaney Prize. She lives in Memphis, Tennessee.
Summary
From a Black philosopher and the author of The Politics of Black Joy, an epic retelling of American history from slavery to Jim Crow from the perspective of the Black women who used magic and spirituality to gain freedom and reshape the culture of the nation.
The Conjuring of America tells the epic story of conjure women, who, through a mix of spiritual beliefs, herbal rituals, and therapeutic remedies gave rise to the rich tapestry of American culture we see today. Feminist philosopher, Lindsey Stewart, tells the stories of Negro Mammies of slavery; the Voodoo Queens and Blues Women of Reconstruction; and the Granny Midwives and textile weavers of the Jim Crow era. These women, in secrecy and subterfuge, courageously and devotedly continued their practices and worship for centuries and passed down their traditions.
Emerging first in the American South during slavery, these women were thrust into the heart of national conflicts over generations of African American life. They combined ancestral magic and hyperlocal resources to respond to Black struggles in real time, forging a secret well of health and power hidden to their oppressors. As a result, conjure informs our lives in ways remarkable and ordinary—from traditional medicines that informed the creation of Vicks VapoRub and the rise of Aunt Jemima’s Pancake Mix, to the original magic of Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2023), and the true origins of the all-American classic blue jean.
From the moment enslaved Africans first arrived on these shores, conjure was heavily regulated and even outlawed. Now, Stewart uncovers new contours of American history, sourcing letters from the enslaved, dispatches from the lore of Oshun and other African mystics. The Conjuring of America is a love letter to the real magic Black women used: their herbs, food, textiles, song, and dance, used to sow rebellion, freedom, and hope.
