“Hoodoo, to me, is the foundation of the Black American experience,” spiritualist and rootworker Mama Rue told Rome J., the host of TRiiBE TV’s “We Real Chicago” show. 

Mama Rue is a descendant of the Arnold-Dulaney Hoodoo Clan and has been practicing Ancestral Reverence for more than 30 years. 

Talking about the condemnation of spirituality in the Black community and the Black church, Mama Rue said, “The greater white community, they were always keeping tabs on what we were doing, you know, and there was a lot of pushback if we started veering towards things that became a little bit too African.” 

She continued, “as far as people being told ‘you can’t do this’, ‘you can’t do that’, ‘that’s the devil’, ‘that’s witchcraft’, that’s something very familiar to a lot of us and it started just out of fear.” 

Jade T. Perry soon joined the conversation. She is the co-founder of the Mystic Soul Project, a non-profit organization that centers People of Color (POC) and Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) in conversations about spirituality, activism, and healing work.

Talking about the mystic work she sees in everyday Black communities, Perry said,  “We know how to venerate our dead. We’ll tag up the bodega side of the window. We’ll throw some shoes over the line. It’s in us and we know how to do this.” 

Earlier in the show, Rome chopped it up with South Side songwriter, poet, and rapper Brittney Carter, who dropped her debut album, As I Am, in October.

Talking about the release of her first album, Carter said, “It’s been real dope to connect with people, like, from overseas or out of state who I had no idea was listenin’ to my music.” 

Carter continued, “It was my first project and I really wanted to say something. I wanted it to mean something.” 

To find out more about Black spirituality and Carter’s latest project, check out “We Real Chicago” on TRiiBE TV.

is a researcher for TRiiBE TV.