The conjuring of America : mojos, mermaids, medicine, and 400 years of Black women's magic / Lindsey Stewart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stewart, Lindsey (Lindsey L.), Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American magic--United States--History.

African American magic.

African American women healers.

Magic--United States--History.

Magic.

Herbs--Therapeutic use--United States--History.

Herbs.

African American women social reformers.

Enslaved women--United States.

Enslaved women.

Women, Black--United States.

Women, Black.

African American inventors.

New products.

Herbal treatments.

Genre:

Informational works.

Physical Description:

xi, 388 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Mojos, mermaids, medicine, and 400 years of Black women's magic

Mojos, mermaids, medicine, and four hundred years of Black women's magic

Place of Publication:

New York : Legacy Lit, 2025.

Summary:

"Emerging first on plantations in the American South, enslaved conjure women used their magic to treat illnesses. These women combined their ancestral spiritual beliefs from West Africa with local herbal rituals and therapeutic remedies to create conjure, forging a secret well of health and power hidden to their oppressors and many of the modern-day staples we still enjoy. Black feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart exposes this vital contour of American history. In the face of 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 was born, Granny Midwives and textile weavers leveled their techniques to protect our civil and reproductive rights, while Candy Ladies fed a generation of freedom crusaders. Above all, The Conjuring of America is a love letter to the magic Black women used to sow messages of rebellion, freedom, and hope"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: How to keep that shit off you

Part one: The herbal cures of negro mammies. An alternative history of Vicks VapoRub salve

"An old woman, who doctored among the slaves"

Negro mammies, botany, and American home remedies

A doctor's visit in the nineteenth century

What history will we choose to remember?

Part two: The voodoo queen's mermaid. Why can't Disney's Ariel be black?

Juliette and the Voodoo Queen

Mermaid history

Conjure fuels rebellions

Oshun, Mami Wata, and a pantheon of Africa water deities

The Gris-Gris of the downtrodden

"She was hard on the men"

Our mermaids, our stories

Part three: The mojo of Aunt Jemima. Aunt Jemima's grand debut, the Chicago World's Fair of 1893

From Negro mammy's hoecake to Aunt Jemima's pancake mix

Sarah Byrd's cakewalk

Aunt Caroline Dye's mojo

Aunt Jemima, the black power revolutionary

Part four: The quilts of granny midwives. Our ancient textile tradition

Enslaved midwives as weavers

Black midwives and the nineteenth-century brawl over abortion

The quilt of Motherwit

The midwife's bag, a tool of rebellion

Black women's hair, the everlasting textile

Part five: The candy lady's soul food. Oshun's legacy in the new world

The Candy Lady

From black-eyed peas to red beans and rice

Wild lettuce, the greens in my gumbo pot

Black women put their foot in this

Conclusion: Where did all the conjure women go?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-368) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Stewart, Lindsey (Lindsey L.). Conjuring of America.

ISBN:

9781538769508

1538769506

OCLC:

1467868705