The racist colonial legacy has stigmatized African Traditional Religions as savage and uncivilized superstitious practices. Haitian vodou however, has been the recipient of the most vile and harsh denigration. Haitian vodou, characterized as “satanic” devil worship, was blamed for the 2010 Haitian earthquake by Christian evangelists as retribution for making a pact with the devil to free the enslaved from the French . The truth of the power of vodou has been hidden by historians and journalists. The Hollywood version of the religion “voodoo” is the most popular misrepresentation of the religion.

Haitian vodou has empowered four critical forces in the lives of Haitian people: resilience, resistance, rebellion and of utmost importance, revolution.

The enslaved of St. Domingue were brutalized and treated as less than human in every possible way. They were ill-fed, suffered unspeakable tortures, and worked to death. Within ten years of arrival on the island, most were dead from overwork. How did these human beings who felt tremendous pain, sadness, and despair survive day to day in this cruel inhumane environment? Vodou was the force which united the various ethnic and linguistic groups, helped them to remember the memories passed generation to generation of their common traditional beliefs and practices.

Although from different ethnic groups, the core principles of African Traditional Religion; Supreme Being, deities the spirits, and ancestral spirits were brought together to form the religion of vodou. In Fon, the “vodou” means saint or spirit. It was this ability to commune with the saints on an individual but primarily united in a collective or community level sustained the enslaved-on St. Domingue. As a spiritual practice , vodou provided mental and emotional resistance to the hardships, and bestiality of enslavement.

Vodou offered an alternate way to view life for the enslaved. As an oral culture, African cultural traditions, medical practices, and systems of ethics were passed through stories, proverbs, folklore, songs, and dances. Vodou provided a means of ethnic/African identity and a connection to African roots. Vodou through a collective and community consciousness created possibilities for the enslaved.

When Code Noir was passed, the enslaved were forced to be baptized in the Catholic church. With the Catholic church having similar protocols such as saints and amulets for protection, the Catholic church provided a perfect opportunity to use Catholic saints to present their traditional spirits and to practice their religion. Yes, while vodou is most often described as a syncretic religion, the vodouists must be given credit for having the wits to preserve their traditional religious beliefs. Vodou was a means of resistance to cultural genocide.

The fear of the colonial powers was the unity that vodou provided. They recognized that this unity could be the source of rebellion, and of course it was. The houngan or priest and mambo the priestess were able to use the power of their words to connect with and invoke the protection of the spirits for those willing to rebel. The belief in the spirits enabled the enslaved to feel and exercise a spiritual energy focused on freedom.

From 1751-1758, vodou provided Makandal, honored by the Haitian people as the “Messiah” with spiritual guidance and protection. Makandal, a houngan with the spiritual ability to connect with plants and herbs, began a rebellion using poison to destroy plantations.

Some forty years later, on August 14, 1791, enslaved Africans met in the sacred area known as Bwa Kayiman, and organized the plan to free themselves. Dutty Boukman along with Mambo Cecile Fatimah led a vodou ceremony that began the war of independence for Haitians.

Another critical lesson from Haiti the embracement of African Traditional Religions is threatening to white supremacy as it is understood that the power of these religions to unite different ethnic and linguistic groups in ways that organize and promote resistance, rebellion, and revolution against colonial oppression. Vodou was the power that ignited the revolution that ended enslavement and created the first African independent nation in the Western Hemisphere.