Conjuring Moments and Other Such Hoodoo: African American Women & Spirit Work

228 Pages·2015·1.61 MB·English

by  Kameelah L. Martin

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2006
Conjuring Moments and Other Such
Hoodoo: African American Women & Spirit
Work
Kameelah L. Martin
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

CONJURING MOMENTS AND OTHER SUCH HOODOO: AFRICAN
AMERICAN WOMEN & SPIRIT WORK

By

KAMEELAH L. MARTIN

A Dissertation submitted to the
Department of English
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Awarded:
Summer Semester, 2006

Copyright ' 2006
Kameelah L. Martin
All Rights Reserved
The members of the Committee approve the Dissertation of Kameelah L. Martin
defended on June 29, 2006.

___________________________________
Darryl Dickson-Carr
Professor Co-Directing Dissertation

___________________________________
Jerrilyn McGregory
Professor Co-Directing Dissertation

___________________________________
Matt Childs
Outside Committee Member

___________________________________
Tomeiko Ashford Carter
Committee Member

Approved:

____________________________________
Hunt Hawkins, Chair, Department of English

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named
committee members.

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To the Unborn Child I lost during this process. May Spirit help you find your
way back to me.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my appreciation and thanks to Darryl Dickson-Carr for his
unwavering support and mentorship during my tenure at Florida State University. I
am very pleased and honored to be the first doctoral graduate from the Dickson-Carr
school of thought!!!! You have taught me how to be a scholar and how to be a
professional. You taught me that Ishmael Reed(cid:146)s Mumbo Jumbo can be conquered(cid:151)a
task in itself! I wish you well as you embark on your new position at Southern
Methodist University. FSU does not know the gem they are losing. I(cid:146)ll be sure to send
only the worthiest students your way. Thank you for challenging me. May the Force be
with you!!! I would also like to thank the other members of my supervisory committee
Tomeiko Ashford Carter, Matt Childs, and Jerrilyn McGregory, for their valuable time
and priceless advice in my pursuit of an academic career. Your collective advice gave
me the confidence and preparation that landed me a competitive position for next year.
Thank you, kindly.
In Spring 2005, I had the opportunity to teach LIT 2081: Exploring the Conjure
Trope in 20th c. African American Literature where my students and I pondered the role
of conjure relentlessly. Thank you those students for allowing me to share my research
and for challenging me to rethink some of my choices(cid:133).whether they realized it or not.
I promised them a (cid:147)shout-out(cid:148) in my first book(cid:133)until I conquer that hurdle, I hope that
this recognition will suffice. Your feedback was invaluable!
I owe a large part of my collegiate success to Georgene Bess Montgomery and
Alfred Young who nurtured me as an undergraduate at Georgia Southern University
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and have continued to teach me long after I left their classrooms. Georgene, thanks for
exposing me to the secrets of the spirit world. Your influence eventually set me on the
path to studying women and spirit work. (cid:147)Al(cid:148) Young, you took me under your wing
and so many times provided calm in the hostile world of graduate studies. Thank you
for making my skin tough. No one has been as influential in my college career as you
and Georgene. This is just as much your accomplishment as it is mine. My association
with Georgene and Dr. Young introduced me to the National Council of Black Studies
(NCBS) to which I am indebted to for offering a safe, critically engaging space to
present my research even at its meager beginnings. Many thanks to NCBS(cid:133)you raised
me right!
Lastly, I would not have been able to get through the trials of a doctoral program
without the love and support of my family and friends. To my Grandma and Mom,
there are simply no words to express my gratitude for everything you have done to get
me here and more importantly, to KEEP me here. To my nieces Maria and Yanni, thank
you for keeping Auntie sane with your hugs, kisses, and silliness. Auntie loves it!!!! To
my fellow graduate students, Lisa Lakes, Heidi Marshall, and Julia Roundtree
Livingston(cid:151)you all have been my academic, emotional, and mental support. Thank
you for your friendship and kindness. Thanks for cheering me on and celebrating the
milestones with me. Thanks for the midnight runs to Coldstone. To my life long
friends, Sorors, and any others who I lost contact with over the last three years: Thank
you for not holding it against me!!! To my best-friend and future husband, Keith, thank
you for being my number one fan. Thank you for being patient. I(cid:146)m done. It(cid:146)s over.
Now, let(cid:146)s finally start our life together!!!!!!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ................................................................................................. vii

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 1

1. (cid:147)DO NOT SUFFER A WITCH TO LIVE": RECONSTRUCTING THE
STIGMA AGAINST WOMEN & SPIRIT WORK............................ 14

2. RESURRECTING THE CONJURE WOMAN........................................ 53

3. TROUBLING THE WATER: CONJURE & CHRIST.............................. 90

4. (cid:147)[CONJURE] WOMEN DON(cid:146)T WEAR NO BLUES(cid:148)............................ 133

5. CONJURIN(cid:146) UP AN IMAGE: BLACK WOMEN(cid:146)S FILM..................... 164

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 205

REFERENCES ............................................................................................ 207

FILMOGRAPHY .......................................................................................... 214

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ......................................................................... 215

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ABSTRACT

Taking the intersection of African American folklore and literature as its focus,
this project investigates the conjure woman as a literary figure. African American
healing women are prominent in African American literature, but are largely
underrepresented in the discourse surrounding African American women,
representation, and literary figures. My research reconstructs the negative connotation
attached to women healers in the United States which, in part, recounts the life of
Tituba, a female slave of African or Indian descent, who figured at the center of the
Salem Witch Trials controversy. The historical lives of Marie Laveau, mother and
daughter, are also interrogated as evidence of the othering of conjure women by the
dominant culture. I examine the lore cycle of conjurers in early African American
literature and suggest that a movement away from Eurocentric representations to a
more culturally specific rendering of the conjure woman occurred during the twentieth
century. Citing Charles Chesnutt(cid:146)s The Conjure Woman as a precursory text and
employing Tituba and Marie Laveau as ancestral figures, I argue that contemporary
authors like Gloria Naylor, Arthur Flowers, Jewell Parker Rhodes, and Ntozake Shange
resurrect the conjure woman by reinscribing the figure into their works in such a way
that undermines the negative connotations that have been associated with conjuring
and African-based religions.
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I reference several African American novels to evidence how writers are re-
appropriating a once negative image. Specific issues addressed in such an analysis
include the community involvement of conjure women, the effectiveness of healing
practices, the legitimacy of power, moral character, the influence of Christianity, and
the debunking of stereotypes. I also take into account the relationship between conjure
and blues music in a discussion that positions African American authors and film-
makers as agents in reclaiming conjure women as folk heroes. This dissertation project
provides a historiography and an in-depth analysis of conjure women, one that is
intended to aid in the critical and cultural understanding of African American women
and spirit work within the African American literary tradition.
INTRODUCTION

(cid:147)Where there are preachers, there are also Conjurers;
where there are conversions, there are dreams and
visions. And where there is faith, there is, and ever
continues to be, magic.(cid:148)
~Yvonne Chireau

Chireau(cid:146)s assertion that there is a thin differential line between religious fervor
and the supernatural speaks loudly about the permanence of folk magic among people
of African descent. In May 2003, that permanence moved to new levels of acceptance
when the American Express credit card company aired an advertisement on primetime
network television in which two African American members of the NBA team, the New
Orleans Hornets, paid a local conjure woman(cid:151)with their American Express card, of
course(cid:151)to put a (cid:145)fix(cid:146) on the jersey of Los Angeles Lakers player, Kobe Bryant, in
anticipation of the first round of the post-season playoff series. As the commercial
aired, I began jotting down ideas on how I planned to turn my fascination with women
and magic into a dissertation project for the completion of a doctoral program I had not
yet entered.
This research project takes as its focus African American literature and folklore. I
am most interested in the point where these two fields intersect, particularly as it relates
to the African American woman healer, or conjure woman. My project seeks to
investigate the conjure woman(cid:151)a character that figures prominently in the African
American literary tradition, but who has only recently joined the discourse surrounding
African American women, representation, and literary figures. For instance, Valerie
Lee(cid:146)s Granny Midwives and Black Women Writers: A Double-Dutch Reading (1996) explores
the historical and literary lives of midwives in African American communities in the
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