By Davi Jacobs

Haitian artist, activist and cultural icon Carole Demesmin brought history, tradition and wisdom to the University of Maryland last week, offering the community a chance to engage with a woman devoted to preserving Haitian identity.

“A big goal of this event was to bring in people from the wider Haitian community outside of the University of Maryland to get people in conversation and connect,” event coordinator Moyenda Kulemeka said. “I do think that Carole is so naturally engaging, and I hope people got a lot out of the event.”

As a renowned mambo, or Vodou priestess, her visit included a hands-on Vodou workshop where participants explored the practice’s meaning and role in Haitian culture.

Vodou, Demesmin explained, is rooted in collectivism. Blending African and Indigenous Taino traditions, it emphasizes giving back to the world that gives so much, interweaving ancestral reverence, nature and ritual practice in daily life.

“You will find some people to be successful, known by the world,” Desemin said. “But there is something about what you do, the decisions that you take that allows your little community to keep on saying your name when you’re no longer there, as someone that left a trace.”

Demesmin emphasized that Vodou is widely misunderstood in the West, noting that portrayals of dolls, sorcery and magic erase the cultural and historical realities of the practice. She added that these misconceptions often stem from a lack of understanding—and a long history of dismissing Black and Indigenous belief systems.

“Vodou is really not just religion,” she said. “It integrates so many things inside. We call Vodou a community instead of a religion.”

In addition to Vodou, Demesmin described her own life to attendees during a follow-up discussion session, where Haitian food was also served.

“I’ve had the pleasure to work with Carole for the past four years as I’m writing a biography on her work and her life,” Cécile Accilien, professor of French and Francophone Studies and the discussion moderator, said. “I grew up listening to Carole’s songs on the radio, so it’s kind of like being star-struck. Each time that I talk to her, I have the impression that I’m in a class and I want to soak it all in.”

Demesmin’s artistic path deepened after she moved to the United States, where she studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Performing across the U.S., Canada and Europe, she uses her songs to explore themes of social justice, spiritual connection and the preservation of Haitian culture.

For Demesmin, her music and her visual art are expressions of her spirituality.

“Each of us will have something divine inside of us, and the part that is connected with your mind makes you do things differently,” she said.

Demesmin sees her creative works—whether a song or an abstract painting—as modes of connection.

“You discover yourself in the creation, and Vodou is like that,” she said. “Everybody that comes to it, you discover yourself in it. Vodou is like a big ocean with a lot of fish, and that is not something you can kill. By destroying the ocean, you are destroying yourself.”

Demesmin spoke about the current crises in Haiti, tying them to a long history of political turbulence and the erosion of cultural traditions.

She argued that replacing communal practices, such as the shared farming of a lakou, or temple community, with foreign aid has damaged the nation’s self-reliance.

“Other people come and start telling us that this is superstition and is not necessary,” Desminin said. “You took the responsibility of the roots of the tradition that this person was used to. If you’re praying without working, you have a catastrophe and this is what happened to my country today.”

Her response is to focus on the young people of Haiti; in her eyes, they are the bearers of change.

“There will be someone, there will be a group of people, that will have that consciousness to take Haiti back and bring it to where it should be,” Demesmin said.

Her current project is the 21 Nation Cultural Village at Bwa Kayiman, the historic site where the Haitian Revolution was first planned. The project’s name pays homage to Haiti’s Indigenous Taino heritage and the 20 African nations of the enslaved people who fought for freedom.

Envisioned as a sanctuary of memory and education, the village will include a monument, an interpretive center for Taino artifacts, a botanical garden and a library dedicated to Black artists and writers—a direct effort to address the deficit she experienced in her own arts education.

When addressing the participants, Demesmin thanked them for taking the time to learn about Haitian culture.“It’s imperative for people to learn about the survival of other people,” she said. “Sometimes people don’t think that you’re happy in your way of living, but the way that you’re living is the way that you’re used to, and you feel there is nothing like home.” 

Featured Image: St. Mary’s Hall at the University of Maryland. Photo by Miller Rogers-Tetrick