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Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's Magic
by Lindsey Stewart
A crucial telling of U.S. history centering the Black women whose magic gave rise to the rich tapestry of American culture we see today—from Vicks VapoRub and Aunt Jemima's pancake mix, to the magic of Disney's The Little Mermaid (2023), and the all-American blue jean.
Emerging first on plantations in the American South, enslaved conjure women used their magic to treat illnesses. These women combined their ancestral spiritual beliefs from West Africa with local herbal rituals and therapeutic remedies to create conjure, forging a secret well of health and power hidden to their oppressors and many of the modern-day staples we still enjoy.
In The Conjuring of America, Black feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart exposes this vital contour of American history. In the face of slavery, Negro Mammies fashioned a legacy of magic that begat herbal experts, fearsome water bearers, and powerful mojos—roles and traditions that for centuries have been passed down to respond to Black struggles in real time. And when Jim Crow was born, Granny Midwives and textile weavers leveled their techniques to protect our civil and reproductive rights, while Candy Ladies fed a generation of freedom crusaders.
Sourcing firsthand accounts the of enslaved, dispatches from the lore of Oshun, and the wisdom of beloved Black women writers, Stewart proves indisputably that conjure informs our lives in ways remarkable and ordinary. Above all, The Conjuring of America is a love letter to the magic Black women used to sow messages of rebellion, freedom, and hope.
What’s the best nonfiction book you read in 2025?
...bout the Black nurses who worked in a tuberculosis hospital and eventually discovered the antibiotic cure. It was very good. I also very much enjoyed The Conjuring of America by Lindsey Stewart. This goes back farther into historical American South and the midwives, herbalists, and conjurers that were often called in cases of medical emergen...
-Anne_Glasgow
2026 first quarter besties
...vorites by quarter? Here are my first quarter winners. Will you share yours? THE SUNFLOWER BOYS by Sam Wachman THE EIGHTH LIFE by Nino Haralischavili THE CONJURING OF AMERICA by Lindsey Stewart FAMILY OF SPIES by Christine Kuehn HARRIET TUBMAN LIVE IN CONCERT by Bob the Drag Queen THE LEFT AND THE LUCKY by Willy Vlautin SAD TIGER by Neige Si...
-Anne_Glasgow
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (1/29/2026)
I just finished a fascinating nonfiction called The Conjuring of America by Lindsey Stewart. The subtitle says it all: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's Magic. I'm just about to finish Family of Spies by Christine Kue...
-Anne_Glasgow
"A celebration of Black magic...a brisk, spirited narrative...[and] an entertaining, informative contribution to Black history." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"If you've ever slathered on Vicks VapoRub, breakfasted on Aunt Jemima pancakes, or sipped a cold Coca Cola, you have a Black conjure woman to thank. Stewart's lively and informative guide sheds much-needed light on the power and beauty of Black female traditions." ―Booklist
"Lindsey Stewart's arrival on the scene is not only exciting and powerful, but necessary. Black and feminist history is shamefully incomplete; conjure women are vital parts of our foundation and fabric. I love this book. We need this book! Now more than ever." ―Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matters and New York Times bestselling author of When They Call You a Terrorist
This information about The Conjuring of America was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lindsey Stewart is a Black feminist philosopher and an Associate Professor of philosophy at the University of Memphis. She is the author of The Politics of Black Joy. Her work has been featured in Blavity, Signs, Hypatia, and the British Journal for the History of Philosophy, and she holds a 2021 Michael Beaney Prize. She lives in Memphis, Tennessee.
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