Editing John the Conqueror (section)

== Use in Hoodoo ==
[[File:Frederick Douglass as a younger man.jpg|thumb|left|Frederick Douglass received a High John root from an enslaved conjurer named Sandy Jenkins for protection against slaveholders.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simmons |first1=Alicia |title=The Power of Hoodoo: African Relic Symbolism in Amistad and The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave |journal=The Oswald Review|date=2000 |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=41–44 |url=https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=tor |access-date=13 July 2023}}</ref>]]
High John the Conqueror has its earliest known roots in Congolese culture with the folk hero thought to have originated from stories of a Congolese Prince who was sold into slavery. Symbolizing luck and strength, the "High John root" has strong connections to use in hoodoo, with some even believing High John's spirit could be summoned and used for guidance and even protection on plantations.  [[African Americans|African-American]] Hoodoo practitioners place High John roots inside [[Mojo (African-American culture)|mojo bags]] for protection, victory, empowerment, good luck, love, and protection from evil spirits. "...practitioners do this out of their reverence for or worship of the spirit (or in this case, John de Conquer, who also symbolizes ties to their enslaved ancestors through the land or 'soil of the South.')" ..."we not only find that the spirit of John de Conquer inhabits or 'possesses' a root, but he is also woven into a mojo bag that practitioners wear on their persons or store in a ‘secret place’ of their house."<ref name="ABC-CLIO">{{cite book |last1=Alexander |first1=Leslie |last2=Rucker |first2=Walter |title=Encyclopedia of African American History |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781851097692 |page=207 |url=https://issuhub.com/view/index/30167?pageIndex=244}}</ref><ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal |title=Chapter 4 "Winning [Our] War from Within": Moving beyond Resistance |journal=The Politics of Black Joy: Zora Neale Hurston and Neo-Abolitionism |pages=103–104 |jstor=j.ctv1wd02rr.12 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wd02rr.12 |access-date=13 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Pasciuto |first1=Greg |title=6 African Folklore Figures that Survived the Atlantic Slave Trade |url=https://www.thecollector.com/mythological-african-folklore-americas/ |website=The Collector |date=March 22, 2023 |access-date=13 July 2023}}</ref> The root was used during slavery in the [[Southern United States]] by [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved African-Americans]] to protect from slaveholders. [[Frederick Douglass]] and [[Henry Bibb]] used the High John root to prevent whippings and protection from slaveholders.<ref name="Reference B"/><ref name="Reference A"/> In an [[Arkansas]] [[Slave Narrative Collection|slave narrative]], ex-slave Marion Johnson used High John roots to conquer his enemies and receive protection from [[Hoodoo (spirituality)|conjure]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Federal Writers' Project |title=SLAVE NARRATIVES A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves |journal=The Library of Congress Project Work Projects Administration |date=1941 |volume=2 |issue=4 |page=121 |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/mss/mesn/mesn-024/mesn-024.pdf |access-date=13 July 2023}}</ref>

=== Cultural appropriation ===
In the twentieth century, white drug store owners appropriated Hoodoo and put a white man on High John the Conqueror product labels. As a result, some people do not know of the cultural and historical origins of the African-American folk spirit John the Conqueror in the [[The Slave Community|enslaved Black community]] and in present day Black American culture. In 2012, Rob Cleveland, an African-American stage performer, created a play about High John the Conqueror to demystify the folk spirit to audiences. The play focuses on John the Conqueror as an enslaved man whose spirit of resistance could never be broken and who outwitted his enslavers. The spirit of resistance in John the Conqueror encouraged enslaved people to resist their slaveholders to gain their freedom.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Farmer |first1=Jim |title=Rob Cleveland brings the myth of slave hero High John the Conqueror to life on stage |url=https://www.artsatl.org/preview-actor-rob-cleveland-takes-legend-high-john-conqueror/ |website=ArtsATL |date=July 25, 2012 |access-date=13 July 2023}}</ref> In 2022 ''[[MadameNoire]]'', an online magazine geared toward the lifestyles of African-American women, interviewed Black Hoodoo practitioners who voiced their concerns about the appropriation of Hoodoo. "'White-washed Hoodoo doesn’t even acknowledge John the Conqueror that much because he’s been white-washed to be the type of Spirit that helps men with their virility, help men get women, help gamblers get lucky, and he’s so much more than that...'”<ref>{{cite web |last1=Whitcomb |first1=Leah |title=Hoodoo Heritage Month: Conjuring, Culture, And Community |url=https://madamenoire.com/1325640/hoodoo-heritage-month/#vuukle-comments |website=MadameNoire |date=October 18, 2022 |access-date=13 July 2023}}</ref><ref name="Reference B"/><ref name="Reference A"/> Storyteller Diane Ferlatte performed the African-American folk tale about High John Conqueror that tells the victories of John the Conqueror on the plantation and how he unified the slave community to escape from slavery.<ref>{{cite web |title=Diane Ferlatte Storyteller--High John |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_QxzuRETWU |website=youtube.com |publisher=Diane Ferlatte |access-date=6 May 2024}}</ref> Ferlatte tells other African-American folk stories about Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Uncle Remus. African-American scholars explain that High John the Conqueror symbolized freedom from slavery. High John the Conqueror was a trickster and was able to outsmart his enslavers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Mike |title=Ferlatte's masterful performance captivates St George audience |url=https://www.royalgazette.com/lifestyle/article/20220430/ferlattes-masterful-performance-captivates-st-george-audience/ |access-date=14 July 2023 |agency=The Royal Gazette |date=April 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=High John The Conqueror |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1kU3g0WaL8 |website=Auburn Avenue Research Library |access-date=14 July 2023}}</ref>