LLW Lite: How 'Bout Them Ancestors?

Of course, there is a logical explanation for that fire, but we ain't trying to hear that because we know better...

I realize that I haven’t fully explained LLW Lite. These pieces are shorter and not as researched as the longer posts. Sometimes, these pieces have a point of reference and sometimes there are just brain dumps.

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This image of the Nottoway big house is forever etched into the memories of Black People.

The problem with living in such a technocratic, colonized society is that there is a ridiculing and condemnation of the supernatural. This Nottoway Plantation fire is showing just who’s on the Lord’s side (spiritual), so to speak, and who is leaning towards their own understanding. When looking at this event with an awareness of a Spirit World and some experience with interacting with that world, the pieces connect perfectly to this being an act of God and the Ancestors.

“On Earth as it is in Heaven.”

“Whatsoever you bound on Earth will be bound in Heaven and whatsoever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven.”

Those are just two Scriptures that come to mind immediately when needing a reference to the existence of a world beyond the terra firma. When digging into cosmologies, philosophical and spiritual systems from ancient cultures, particularly Africa, the Ancestral Realm is centered in those narratives as part of the Life Cycle and the Ancestors are a guiding force for the living.

That central belief of ancestral presence survived the Middle Passage. Since our existence in this country, Black people have acknowledged those who have ‘gone on to glory’ in many honorable ways. Ancestral veneration is done even among those professing to be staunch Christians and thumping on the Bible that we’re not supposed to be engaging in such practices. But they’ll post on Facebook a photo of their sweet grannies and wish them a happy heavenly 85th birthday.

The acknowledgment of the Ancestors is part of our cultural memory and many of us are returning to the spiritual systems of our Ancestors with practicing African Traditional Religions like Ifa. But then, there are those, like me, who honor their immediate Ancestors by continuing to worship the same way they did in the Christian faith while also upholding some folkloric practices such as conjure and divining. We’ll talk about that another time.

When the news broke about the Nottoway plantation fire, there was damn near a unanimous response from Black people crediting the Ancestors for the incident. I found myself swelling with pride because it signaled to me that we are still working with a collective understanding of how our spirituality is essentially structured. As more details surface about the fire, it’s continuing to prove us all right that there was a spiritual underworking that caused this very clear and evident act of retribution.

Initially, news sources reported that the fire was contained and the owners of the house released a statement that they were going to rebuild. But then, the fire started again and the entire building was declared a total loss. In addition, sources reported that staff members noticed smoke in the museum and upon returning, the entire room was ablaze. Here’s the thing. A few weeks ago, another museum, the BlackSonian, was specifically called out in an executive order for ‘improper ideology’ with sources reporting that the Executive Director of the museum was on indefinite leave, exhibits were being dismantled, and artifacts were being returned to their owners. And, while the mansion or the ‘big house’ is decimated, the ‘cottages’ which were the former living quarters of enslaved ancestors were completely unscathed. That tells us all we need to know. Them Ancestors weren’t fucking around.

To some, this understanding is silly. But to us, it’s perfectly fine if there are skeptics to our beliefs. We know better because we all feel it. As this country continues to descend into its own Dark Age, as Black people, we are gathering together and looking for ways to endure as always. This, along with the phenomenon that the film Sinners has become, has most of us feeling like we are on the verge of a newness that we’ve been needing for decades. We are changing as a People and I love that for us. We are realizing that we will be just fine because we know our Ancestors got our backs.

The dead watch over the living.

More to come.

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