Stronghold of Evil, Part 3
Last week, we mentioned François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who ruled Haiti from the late 1950s to early 1970s (you can read the post here). Many of you are familiar with Papa Doc’s regime, but you may not know just how strongly he relied on Vodou. Duvalier’s time in power was marked by brutal political repression and strategic cultural and religious rhetoric that placed Vodou front and center. Vodou became so much a part of Duvalier’s public persona that he declared himself one with the loa (the spirits of Vodou) and an embodiment of “the Haitian flag.”1 For context, Vodou is [...]