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John the Conqueror, also known as High John de Conqueror, John, Jack, and many other folk variants, is a deity from the African-American spiritual system called hoodoo. He is associated with the roots of Ipomoea purga , the John the Conqueror root or John the Conqueroo , to which magical powers are ascribed in African-American folklore ...
Another figure described in Gullah lore as flying on occasion and eventually returning to Africa is the folk hero John the Conqueror. Some versions have the Africans shapeshifting into turkey buzzards. Sometimes flight is mentioned as a general ability of select ancestors, outside of the specific context of an African return.
According to some scholars, the origin of High John de Conqueror may have originated from African male deities such as Elegua, who is a trickster spirit in West Africa. Zora Neale Hurston documented some history about High John de Conqueror from her discussions with African Americans in the South in her book, ‘‘The Sanctified Church’’.
The Robin Johns were kidnapped while participating in a slave trade expedition. They were sold to British slave traders while the king of Old Town, Grandy King George, was negotiating trade with the Duke of New Town. The Robin Johns were deceived twice by captains promising to bring them home to Africa.
Slave trade in Africa has also caused disruption of political systems. To elaborate on the disruption of political systems caused by slavery in Africa, the capture and sale of millions of Africans to the Americas and elsewhere resulted in the loss of many skilled and talented individuals who played important roles in African societies. [176]
The importance of Africa as homeland can be seen in the legend of Flying Africans who escape slavery by flying back to Africa, which has been retold all over the Americas and was included in a novel by Toni Morrison. [52] High John the Conqueror is a trickster hero who in some tales is an African prince. Other elements of creative folklore that ...
Mojo Workin': The Old African American Hoodoo System also discusses the "High John the Conqueror root" [247] and myth as well as the "nature sack." [248] In African American folk stories, High John the Conqueror was an African prince who was kidnapped from Africa and enslaved in the United States. He was a trickster and used his wit and charm ...
Through these and other writings, European writers established a hitherto unheard of connection between a cursed people, Africa and slavery, which laid the ideological groundwork for justifying the transatlantic slave trade. [72] [73] The term "race" was used by the English beginning in the 16th century and referred to family, lineage, and ...