Lori > Recent Status Updates

“If I call a white person a cracker, the worst I can do is ruin their day. If a white person thinks I’m a n*****r, the worst they can do is get me fired, arrested, or even killed in a system that thinks the same—and has the resources to act on it.”

“If we can’t address our own anti-blackness with friends and family, how can we possibly fight racism in a larger white supremacist society?”

Why am I always longing for that which is lost? Where are my kindred who value the same things that I do?

"An ever-sealed lid of secrecy covered what older folks said and did. Later I learned that this secrecy had been a survival mechanism. Under slavery, the penalty for retaining African ways and beliefs was death. The Black Codes of Louisiana forbade Black people to gather in large numbers unsupervised."

Started off slow and boring. And good god, I cannot stand Quentin. But when it picks up, it feels like the set up was worth it for what the author is trying to do. I'm enjoying much more than I thought I would.

"Because the Voudou is African-based, it views spirituality as an integral part of every day life. Because the Voudou of New Orleans was nurtured by a "servant class," it's magic is practiced as household acts. Because it survived uprooted from its motherland, it teaches adaptability. Because its truth is found in the oral tradition, it teaches respect for the elders."