Ujima Wednesdays | Fugitivity 101 with New England Hoodoo Society

Liberation Study Hall: 

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Schools of 1964, the Boston Ujima Project proudly presents "Liberation Study Hall," a year-long exploration of historical figures, schools of thought, experiments and sites that have contributed to shaping our contemporary movements and global landscape.

Event Description: 

“Fugitivity… is a desire for and a spirit of escape and transgression of the proper and the proposed. It’s a desire for the outside, for a playing or being outside, an outlaw edge proper to the now always already improper voice or instrument.”–Fred Moten

In current discourse, a growing body of narratives has emerged concerning fugitivity and marronage: the actions, organizing, and placemaking we undertake from the shadows, margins, and crevices to free ourselves. Such work is a reclamation of self for Black people and Black communities outside of nation-states that deny us agency. 

These narratives frequently refer to escape from racial violence pre-emancipation: scholars and cultural critics frame these concepts in the past tense. Yet there is a present and ongoing legacy of fugitive practices within education, cooperative infrastructures, migration, and abolition. 

In this month's series of workshops, we will explore the concept of fugitivity and its intricate relationship with Blackness, liberation, and economic justice. From independent Black placemaking (marronage) and Black self-sustaining communities (maroons), to political prisoner movements, to poetics and planning, we hope to gain insight into recent historical events and current practices of fugitivity and marronage. We will focus on sites of transformation, mobility, and possibility, and we will examine these practices through the lens of fugitivity–a tool for envisioning and creating new worlds from “the outside”.

Join us in conversation with Roman ‘Bolaji’ Johnson and Danielle Cole–co-organizers and founders of the New England Hoodoo Society–to explore ritualistic and historical methods of exodus and escape. Hoodoo, a practice that seeds ancestral connection and belonging, spiritually undergirds Black fugitivity in magics born from African cultural retentions and Black struggle against slavery. This spiritual way of being and knowing emerged from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, as Africans abducted from their ancestral homes sought to re-affirm their connections to land and lineage; Hoodoo continues to influence how we exist and how we understand each other in relation to our fugitive histories and our liberated futures.

Facilitator Bios:

Danielle Cole (she/they) is a queer and non-binary writer, researcher, and Hoodoo. Their work often focuses on the possibilities and transformative nature of Black joy, rage and rest. Their writing can be found in a variety of articles and journals, discussing misogynoir and how those who experience it navigate those challenges while resisting it in both practical and magical ways.

Roman (he/him), known as Bolaji to community folk, is from the big city of the Mississippi Delta: Memphis, Tennessee. After having experiences of seeing spirit in his late teens and embodied ancestral dreams of the Middle Passage, he started to take his spiritual gifts of mediumship-seership and healing more seriously by tapping into his bloodline gifts. He carries cymbee from the Mississippi and the Kongo regions and is guarded and loved fiercely by his ancestors and community. He understands his role to manifest the divine desire for Hoodoos in New England to find healing and belonging in community and their gift in relationship to community uplift and transformation.

In Person Attendees:

Testing: You must test before every in person/hybrid event, and show evidence of your most recent test results upon entry. 

Mask Requirements: We encourage all attendees to wear masks during the event.

Health Check: If you're feeling unwell or have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, we kindly ask you to stay home and join us virtually.

Sanitization: Hand sanitizing stations will be available at the venue, along with masks and a restricted supply of COVID-19tests. We strongly encourage you to use them as needed. 

Allergies: Refreshments will be served, please include any allergies and dietary restrictions in the provided space.

Note: Seating is limited, so be sure to arrive early to secure your spot for this enlightening workshop. For inquiries and more information, please contact comms@ujimaboston.com.