In the South, our folks have long painted their porches a shade of blue known for keeping away evil spirits called haints. Elders warn us not to put purses on the floor because it’s bad luck financially.
And if your grandma dreamt of fish, someone in the family was probably pregnant. These spiritual beliefs are often considered “superstitions,” but here’s why that’s wrong.
Superstition is an anti-Black 1800s invention that describes anything that deviates from acceptable mainstream Christianity.
Enslavers didn’t understand the spirituality we brought across the Atlantic, so they labeled it all as “voodoo,” which they believed was evil, primitive, sexually dangerous, and superstitious. This “othering” weaponized our beliefs, assumed us to be innately naive, and became a reason to deny our humanity.
But many diasporic belief systems, like Hoodoo, aren’t directly opposed to Christianity. In fact, they are often intertwined.
In Hoodoo, folks use Psalms for spell work like blessing a new home, protection, and reconciliation. Brazilian Candomblé synchronized Catholic Saints with Yoruba deities, called orishas, with similar characteristics to continue practicing their African-derived spirituality.
Our people imbued Christianity with an ancestral power and duality that outsiders could never fully grasp.
What’s understood never has to be explained. What’s truly “superstitious” is allowing anyone outside of us to dictate the power and validity of what we believe.