Black Witches in Contemporary American Culture

Discover how Afro-religious traditions and cultural narratives have shaped American history, politics, and popular culture. This course explores the ways terms like “voodoo,” “hoodoo,” and conjure have been politicized to marginalize communities—from the Abolitionist era to modern-day rhetoric—and how those narratives continue to influence debates about race, religion, and civil rights.

By studying these histories and their presence in contemporary culture, students will:

• Gain a deeper understanding of how religion and politics intersect in U.S. history.

• Examine how stereotypes about Black witches have been used to suppress civil rights movements.

• Learn how alternative narratives challenge political and cultural myths.

• Think critically and creatively about identity, representation, and social liberation.

Historically, the figure of the witch has marked women as dangerous outsiders to Western society. While white witches in popular culture are sometimes portrayed as powerful or even sympathetic, Black women depicted as witches are typically cast as villains, haunted by associations with voodoo or conjure. These portrayals reflect long-standing political efforts to demonize Afro-religious practices, tracing back to the Haitian Revolution and continuing in anti-Haitian rhetoric today.

In recent years, however, Black women, femmes, and communities have reclaimed Afro-religious traditions—such as Vodou, Santería, Hoodoo, and Conjure—as spaces for healing, identity-building, and social liberation. This reclamation has been mirrored in popular culture, with a surge of television, film, literature, and gaming focused on Black witches and conjurers. These trends often intersect with Afrofuturism, which envisions new futures for Black voices in science fiction, fantasy, and beyond.

This interdisciplinary cultural studies course examines the representation of Black witches across media—television, literature, and gaming—from the late 20th century to today. Students will not only analyze cultural narratives but also engage in active learning by playing and designing games that explore Afro-religious themes, with special attention to cultural representation and appropriation.