Conjure Women are Alchemists Who Can Transform Bright Green into Blue Gold

Abstract

Lindsey Stewart’s book, The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women’s Magic, is a unique historical exploration of the ways in which Black women contributed to the building of America. Stewart identifies and defines what conjure is, who constitutes a “conjure woman,” and illuminates how enslaved and/or subjugated Black women’s skills, talents, and labors were irrefutably integral to sustaining the colonial economy. Stewart posits that conjure women are a distinct part of American culture. Using lore, oral histories, and biographies, she reconfigures the iconography of five historical figures (who have been interpreted as demeaning representations of Black women) thus requiring the reader to reassess these figures as savvy, intelligent, radical agents who developed a liberatory theology grounded in West African spiritual practices. In addition to history, The Conjuring of America contributes to Black Feminist discourse contained within the disciplines of philosophy, theology, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Black Women’s Studies. As such, this commentary examines the efficacy of Stewart’s book in interjecting Black women’s lived experiences into discourse.