Vodou ecological ethic for Earth Liberation

Information:

“Vodou ecological ethic for Earth Liberation” is a panel discussion featuring Cecilia Lisa Eliceche, Bayyinah Bello and Jean-Daniel Lafontant.

Abstract:

Haitian Vodou is a High Science centered on the maintenance of telluric and cosmic balance. In the midst of the environmental chaos caused by the colonial hecatomb we will share the ways in which, since its birth in the congress of Bwa Kayiman, sevites (memebers of Haitian Vodou communities) have been, in the words of prof. Bello Earth “guardians of the living entity that is Earth”. We will take two non-Haitian territorial concepts to dialogue with: Liberation of Mother Earh and Terricide. The environmental ethics of Haitian Vodou, its ecological consciousness, are not isolated but in dialogue with other cosmogonies that struggle for Earth Justice. “Terricide” is a term coined by Mapuche Weichafe and intellectual Moira Ivana Millan together with the “Movimiento de Mujeres y discidencias Indigenas por el Buen Vivir” This concept was coined to expand the notion of ecocide that excludes the spiritual world. It describes the destruction of tangible and intangible ecosystems, visible and invisible beings that co-habit territory and are inextricably linked with the biological biomes. We will discuss: How is terricide relevant to sevites inside and outside of Haiti? A second idea we will dialogue with is “Liberation of Mother Earth”, a movement funded by the Nasa people in the colonial frontier of Colombia. We will discuss how the funding of Vodou as a Theology of Liberation of the enslaved Africans was also a movement of Liberation of the enslaved soil. How is Vodou working for the abolition of monoculture and plantation system. Hos is Vodou working for the prospering of radical difference and pluriculture of crops, trees, seeds…? How are other than human agents, roots, winds, microbes, leaves, stones active agents in this struggle for Liberation?

Bios:

Cecilia Lisa Eliceche is a mother, dancer, choreographer and campesina based between Salvador de Bahia, Brussels and Necochea. Amongst her choreographic works are “Unison”, “the non-massage dance”, “The Ghost of Lumumba”, “Caribbean Thinkers for a New Europe”. She has collaborated with Heather Kravas, DD Dorvillier, Janet Panetta, Etienne Guiloteau, Claire Croize, Tereza Diaz Nerio. Since 2016, they have been sharing life with Leandro Nerefuh diving in the deep waters of Ayiti (https://haitioayiti.com/). She’s a co-founding member of the dance editorial writing group Dancing at the Crossroads (as we walk). Cecilia is a spiritual daughter of Sosyete NaRiVèh and is proud to serve in the board of KOSANBA (the Scholarly Association for the Study of Haitian Vodou). They are currently doing their PhD in Anthropology (UFBA). She is thankful to Houngan Jean-Daniel Lafontant, Egbomi Nancy de Souza and Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels for their friendship and guidance.

Professor Bayyinah Bello, Vodouvi, is an Ayitian Ourstorian, Educator, Writer and Humanitarian, with over 40 years of extensive research rooted in Alkebulan/ Arawakan traditions, wisdom and perceptions. Professor Bello specializes in Ayitian Ourstory and linguistics. She has taught in many parts of Afrika, Ayiti, and the Americas from kindergarten to university levels, including at the State University of Haiti. She is the founder of Fondation Marie Claire Heureuse Félicité Bonheur Dessalines, popularly known as FONDASYON FELICITEE (FF), named after the Empress consort of Hayti, and wife of the revolutionary Liberator and founder of Hayti, Empire of Freedom, General Jean-Jacques Dessalines. She is the author of, among other publications, SHEROES of the Haitian Revolution, highlighting the lives of ten among the women who marked Ayitian incredible Ourstory with their significant roles in the nation’s journey to freedom. Professor Bello is based in Ayiti and serves as advisor to key eldership councils.

Jean-Daniel Lafontant is Hougan and founder of the NA-Ri-VéH Vodou temple in Haiti. In addition to running the temple, Jean-Daniel is an advisor to the DAWO Vodou Association and a Gwètode member of KNVA, the Haitian National Vodou Council. His area of specialization focuses on the production and promotion of Haitian culture. In 1987, he created ANAE, an association specialized in the promotion of Haitian art and crafts influenced by Vodou. From 2014 until today, he does consultancies in the field of Haitian art and culture in Haiti and the United States, and works intermittently with several cultural institutions (universities, media and museums). In 2018, Jean-Daniel co-organized “Pòtoprens”, a seminal Visual Arts exhibition inspired by Vodou at the Pioneer Works gallery in New York and at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami.