Vodun is practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria.
François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc, was a Haitian politician who served as the President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971. He was elected president in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform. After thwarting a military coup d'état in 1958, his regime rapidly became totalitarian and despotic. An undercover government death squad, the Tonton Macoute, indiscriminately killed Duvalier's opponents; the Tonton Macoute was thought to be so pervasive that Haitians became highly fearful of expressing any form of dissent, even in private. Duvalier further sought to solidify his rule by incorporating elements of Haitian mythology into a personality cult.
Whitehouse were an English band formed in 1980, largely credited for the founding of the power electronics subgenre of industrial music.
Ogun or Ogoun is a spirit that appears in several African religions. He was the first Ooni of Ife after the demise of Oduduwa. A warrior and a powerful spirit of metal work, as well as of rum and rum-making. He is also known as the 'god of Iron', and is present in Yoruba religion, Haitian Vodou, and West African Vodun.
Simbi is a large and diverse family of serpents also known as loa in Haitian Vodou. Some names for the Simbi loa include Simbi Dlo, Simbi Makaya, Simbi Andezo, and Gran Simba. Traditionally in their Kongo context, they are all associated with water, but in the Haitian Vodoun context they have wide-ranging associations. For example, Simbi Makaya is a great sorcerer and served in particular in the Sanpwel secret societies. Simbi Anpaka is a loa of plants, leaves, and poisons.
Marc and the Mambas was a new wave group, formed by Marc Almond in 1982 as an offshoot project from Soft Cell. The band's line-up changed frequently, and included Matt Johnson from The The and Annie Hogan, with whom Almond worked later in his solo career.
Boukman Eksperyans is a mizik rasin band from the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Grammy nominated for their debut album Vodou Adjae. The band derives its name from Dutty Boukman, a vodou priest who led a religious ceremony in 1791 that is widely considered the start of the Haitian Revolution. The other half of the band's name, "Eksperyans", is the Haitian Creole word for "experience", and was inspired by the band's appreciation of the music of Jimi Hendrix. The band was at the height of its popularity in 1991 when the presidency of Jean Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in a military coup d'etat. Like many other artists and performers, Boukman Eksperyans fled the country to live in exile. During their time abroad, the band performed and spoke out against the military dictatorship of Raoul Cédras. In 1994, after Aristide was restored to power, the band returned to Haiti, where they continued to play concerts, record albums, and perform at the Carnival celebrations.
Dutty Boukman was an early leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born in Senegambia, he was captured, enslaved and transported to Jamaica. He eventually ended up in Haiti, where he became a leader of the Maroons and a vodou houngan (priest).
Houngan or oungan is the term for a male priest in Haitian Vodou. The term is derived from the Fon word hounnongan. Houngans are also known as makandals.
Bois Caïman was the site of the first major meeting of enslaved Blacks during which the first major slave insurrection of the Haitian Revolution was planned.
Homosexuality in Haitian Vodou is religiously acceptable and homosexuals are allowed to participate in all religious activities. However, in countries with large Vodou populations, some Christian influence may have given homosexuality a social stigma, at least on some levels of society.
A bokor (male) or caplata (female) is a Vodou witch for hire who is said to serve the loa "with both hands", practicing for both good and evil. Their black magic includes the creation of zombies and of 'ouangas', talismans that house spirits.
Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that gradually developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional religions of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. Adherents are known as Vodouists or "servants of the spirits". There is no central authority in control of Vodou, which is organised through autonomous groups.
Christianity is the most widely professed religion in the Dominican Republic. Historically, Catholicism dominated the religious practices of the country, and as the official religion of the state it receives financial support from the government. In modern times Protestant and non-Christian groups, such as Muslims and Jews, have experienced a population boom.
Vodou drumming and associated ceremonies are folk ritual faith system of henotheistic religion of Haitian Vodou originated and inextricable part of Haitian culture.
Max Gesner Beauvoir was a Haitian biochemist and houngan. Beauvoir held one of the highest titles of Voudou priesthood, "Supreme Servitur", a title given to Houngans and Mambos who have a great and very deep knowledge of the religion, and status within the religion. As Supreme Servitur, Max was seen as a high authority within Vodou.
Haitian Cubans are Cuban citizens of full or partial Haitian ancestry.
Frisner Augustin was a major performer and composer of Haitian Vodou drumming, and the first and only citizen of Haiti to win a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States, where he resided for forty years.
Afro-Haitians are Haitians who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. They form the largest racial group in Haiti and together with other Afro-Caribbean groups, the largest racial group in the region.
Pierrot Barra (1942–1999) was a Haitian Vodou artist and priest, who was president of a Bizango society. He was well-known for his use of diverse materials to create “Vodou Things,” which functioned as charms or altars for the Vodou religion.
