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Formation of an African American Lucumi Religious Subjectivity "I Worship Black Gods": Formation of an African American Lucumi Religious Subjectivity The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Norman, Lisanne. 2015. "I Worship Black Gods": Formation of an African American Lucumi Religious Subjectivity. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17467218 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA “I Worship Black Gods”: Formation of an African American Lucumi Religious Subjectivity A dissertation presented by Lisanne C. Norman to The Department of African and African American Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of African American Studies Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts April 2015 © 2015 Lisanne C. Norman All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Jacob Olupona Lisanne C. Norman “I Worship Black Gods”: Formation of an African American Lucumi Religious Subjectivity Abstract In 1959, Christopher Oliana and Walter “Serge” King took a historic journey to pre-revolutionary Cuba that would change the religious trajectory of numerous African Americans, particularly in New York City. They became the first African American initiates into the Afro-Cuban Lucumi orisha tradition opening the way for generations of African Americans who would comprehensively transform their way of life. This dissertation examines the inter-diasporic exchanges between African Americans and their Cuban teachers to highlight issues of African diasporic dissonance and differing notions of “blackness” and “African.” I argue that these African Americans create a particular African American Lucumi religious subjectivity within the geographical space of an urban cosmopolitan city as they carve out space and place in the midst of religious intolerance and hostility. The intimate study of these devotees’ lives contributes new understandings about the challenges of religious diversity within contemporary urban settings. These African Americans cultivated a new religious subjectivity formed through dialogical mediation with spiritual entities made present through material religious technologies, such as divination, spiritual masses, and possession. Through the lens of lived religion, I examine the experiences of African American Lucumi devotees to better understand how their everyday lives reflect the mediation between a private religious life, defined and structured by spiritual entities, and their public lives in the contemporary sociocultural, economic and political context of urban American society. Based on more than 8 years of intense participant observation and semi-structured interviews and discussions, I analyze how religious subjectivities and religious bodies are cultivated as these African Americans leave their mark on this religious tradition, their geographical surroundings, and African American religious history. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Christine Margaret Crewe; the iwaros (priestesses and priests) who made it possible for the orisha to reach American shores; Karen McCarthy Brown; and all the ancestors upon whose shoulders I stand. Moferefun bobo orisha! There are so many individuals without whom this dissertation would not be possible. I thank all the orisha devotees in the New York metropolitan area who spoke with me, danced with me, cried with me, and invited me into their homes and into their lives. You trusted me with your most intimate moments and I hope I have done them justice here. Here at Harvard, the intellectual guidance I received in classes with J. Lorand Matory, Steve Caton, Marla Frederick, and Aisha Beliso-De Jesus was invaluable to my scholastic development. The discussions with and perceptive feedback from my committee members Vincent Brown and Tracey Hucks proved inestimable to the shaping of the dissertation. My colleagues in the trenches were often wonderful sounding boards for ideas, good drinking companions, or simply a friend with whom to commiserate. From the bottom of my heart I thank you: Andrea Murray, Lauren Parker, Charita Gainey, Carolyn Roberts, Jared McCormick, Esra Gokce Sahin, Federico Pérez, Anand Vaidya, Mateo Munoz, David Amponsah, Devaka Premawardhana, Jody Arthur Benjamin, Lizzy Cooper Davis, Erin Mosely, Stephanie Bosch Santana, K-Sue Park, Maria Stalford, Lowell Brower, Ernie Mitchell, Christina Knight, Ashley Farmer, Venise Battle, Adam McGee, Carla Martin, and Grete Viddal. My incomparable advisor, Jacob Olupona, has been a role model, a guiding light, and a steady source of support and intellectual inspiration. I have learned so much from you over the years. You have taught me the true meaning of the word generosity. I am eternally grateful to the ancestors, and David Ogungbile, for guiding me to your office that late August day. Being your student has been one of the greatest honors in my life. I must thank my family for all their support and nourishment over the years. My father, Orville B. Edwards, raised me to embrace my adventurous spirit and was always there to pick me up when it got me into trouble. Thanks, Daddy! To my best friend/sister-in-law turned dissertation coach, Erika Norman, thank you for reading every word and for calling me every day and reminding me of what is really most important in this life: love and friendship. To my partner and soul mate, my husband, Ilan Norman, thank you for the love and light that nourishes and sustains me daily. You are my everything. We made it! Eternity awaits. iv And to Don Ordones Abencerrages, you changed my life and opened my eyes to a greater universe. Without your love, guidance, and support, I would not be where I am today in life. This is just as much your degree as it is mine. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………. ……….iv Glossary……………………………………………………………………….vii List of Figures …………………………………………………………………xi Introduction……………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 1: Uncompromising Blackness……………………………………….28 Chapter 2: Power and Meaning of Materiality in African American Lucumi Devotion……………………………………………………………56 Chapter 3: Making Community with the Dead and the Living…………………85 Chapter 4: Becoming Orisha People…………………………………………...131 Chapter 5: Reconfiguring Space and Place in African American Lucumi Devotion……………………………………………………………207 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..251 References……………………………………………………………………..258 vi Glossary achés (Lucumi) ritual items that all the warrior orishas receive particularly before a blood sacrifice adupe (Lucumi) thank you Africanos (Sp.) African spirits enslaved in the Spanish Americas ajubona (Lucumi) second priest that assists to perform an initiation albaca (Sp.) sweet basil aleyos (Sp.)/alejo (Yr.) an orisha devotee who is not an initiated priestess/priest arimus (Sp.) the delicacies for the orisha ashe (Yr.) spiritual power/special talent/energy asho (Lucumi) clothes clothes worn during priestly initiation aso oke (Yr.) Yoruba hand-woven cloth babalawo (Yr.) priest of Ifa divination system banquito (Sp.) small wooden stool bembe (Yr.)/ tambores (Sp.) drumming ceremony for the orisha botanica (Sp.) supply stores for orisha devotees boveda (Sp.) Spiritist shrine canteros (Sp.) singers caracolero (Sp.) diviner of the sixteen cowries divination system, dilogun clavos (Sp.) railroad nails cocinera (Sp.) cook coco dulce (Sp.) sweet coconut candy cuchillo (Sp.) knife vii cumpleaños (Sp.) the celebration day of priestly initiation dilogun (Lucumi) 16 cowrie shells divination used by santeros ebos (Yr.) sacrifice or offering ede (Lucumi) beaded bracelet for the santero’s tutelary orisha that a santero receives during the initiation ceremony efun (Yr.) cascarilla (Sp.) crushed egg shells egbe (Yr.) association eguns (Yr.) blood ancestral spirits and spirit guides el monte (Sp.) bush/wilderness epo (Yr.) palm oil Espiritismo (Sp.) Kardec’s Spiritist system espiritista (Sp.) Medium specialist who performs misas estera (Sp.) a straw beach mat ewe (Lucumi) restrictions/taboos garabatos (Lucumi) a hooked staff guerreros (Sp.) warriors hutia a large rodent native to the Caribbean and found in abundance in Cuba that is sacrificed to the orisha during initiation hutia y pescado (Sp.) pulverized dried hutia and fish Ifa (Yr.) system of divination used only babalawos Iku (Yr.) death ile (Yr./Lucumi) religious house ilekes (Lucumi) orisha beads indio (Sp.) Native American viii ire (Yr.) positive energy or blessings ita (Lucumi) your personalized guide to life iyawo (Yr.) bride/newly initiated priestess/priest iyawoage time period in which one is an iyawo jicara (Sp.) calabash made from a gourd kimbombo (Lucumi) okra la montana (Sp.) the mountain libretas (Sp.) small notebooks from a master priest with religious notes, usually on divination madrina (Sp.) godmother maiz tostado (Sp.) toasted corn maniguas (Sp.) overgrown abandoned lot matuerzo (Sp.) type of weed that is sacred to the deity Ogun misas espirituales (Sp.) spiritual masses morena (Sp.) dark-haired woman muerto (Sp.) dead spirit mulato adelantado (Sp.) elevated mulatto obi (Lucumi) divination with four pieces of coconut ocha (Sp.) priestly initiation/initiation ceremony ocha cloths spiritual
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