On Azealia Banks, Sia, and Santeria

Or an Endorsement of Doing Basic Research Before We Talk Out of Our Asses

Recently rapper Azealia Banks posted a video on Instagram where she stated that she was going to clean out a closet full of crap, which she then revealed was covered in blood and the feathers of chickens she’d been sacrificing. The internet backlash was as swift as it was ignorant. Since few people seem to know much about Santeria, the religion Banks claimed to be practicing, here is a (very) brief history.

Santeria originated when African people, specifically those of the Yoruba tribe, were brought to the Americas as slaves and forbidden to practice their Native religions. Rather than completely give up their spirituality, they instead practiced it in secret by disguising it with Roman Catholicism (the only religion they were allowed to practice). They melded Yoruba spirituality with Christianity and Native American religions, and Santeria emerged as the fusion of these. Historically, religion was incredibly important to slaves, as it was one of the few ways they could express themselves, while offering a unique position through which they subverted the power of the slave owners. Consequentially,  it continues to be a large part of the culture of slave descendants; this accounts for the power of the southern Black church, the strength of Catholicism in Mexico, and the importance of Santeria among some Caribbean’s.

According to santeriachurch.org, a staple part of their religious practice is sacrifice, or Ebo, which is necessary to restore balance to a person’s life. Sacrifices are given to Orishas, considered demi-Gods, and can range from cooked dishes, fruits, vegetables, specific ceremonies, and Eyebale, or Blood sacrifice. Eybale is reserved for major ceremonies-it’s only practiced on common farm animals, and is done with the utmost respect. The animals are supposed to be fed and treated ethically before they are sacrificed, and they are killed using one of the least painful methods (severing the carotid artery). Their blood is given to the Orishas, and the meat is cooked and shared among the community; in this way, people can connect with the spirits. This right to animal sacrifice is protected after a 1993 Supreme Court case, in which the City of Hialeah challenged the Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye and lost.

Of course much more goes into it, but this is the information that’s easily accessible. With the power of the internet, information like this is only a few clicks away. But since it’s much easier to react than it is to research, many people immediately accused Banks of devil worshiping, animal cruelty, or simply being ‘crazy’. And some, like singer-songwriter Sia, took to social media to to give their ignorance a larger platform.

[Screenshot from The Shade Room]

Bank’s response, pictured underneath Sia’s tweet, is appropriate in this situation because it attacks the very things that empowered Sia to comment in the first place-her white, and her religious privilege. Although Sia isn’t an artist most would consider to be racist, her past behavior shows that her insensitivity to issues Black and Latinx people face is nothing new. Her appearance with Donald Trump on SNL, and her accompanying joke that she’d give him a taste of life as a ‘queer immigrant’, is an obvious example. She made this joke as if her situation was comparable to the queer people, who could be facing legalized discrimination once Trump signs the First Amendment Defense Act, legislature that is especially harmful to queer Black and Latinx people, since we already experience higher rates of unemployment and lower rates of income. She made this joke as if her situation was comparable to the Latinx immigrants who are faced with increased racism, defamation, and deportation under a Trump presidency.

I don’t know if Azealia Banks sacrificed the chickens correctly, and as someone who isn’t a practitioner of Santeria or any similar religions I don’t think it’s my place to say. However, if it’s not my place to comment on that  aspect, it damn well isn’t the place of a white Australian woman. By saying “Sacrificing animals for your gain is the wackest shit I’ve ever heard”, she insults not only Banks, but the entire religion of Santeria, and the religions of all those who practie animal sacrifice. If her issue was of animal cruelty, she could’ve looked up the sacrificial practices and learned that the animals are not, in fact, cruelly treated-or focused her efforts in places where her impact would have a greater effect, like speaking out against factory farming. Instead she chose to pull an ignorant tweet out of her ass, and then sit back and watch as various mainstream, white, Christian media outlets churned out headline after headline praising her and denigrating Banks- and Santeria. And on the level of white supremacy, that makes perfect sense-Banks, and a marginalized religion ostly practiced by Black and Brown people is a much easier target than a multi-Billion dollar industry run by white men.

Her response, and the ideology she represents, is steeped in ignorance and anti-Black/anti-Latinx sentiment, because while Christianity was forced on us without a choice and we were forced to learn it upon literal pain of death, white people faced no such pressure to learn about the religions of people of color. And by extension, people who practice mainstream religions like Christianity, or even those who follow mainstream rejections of religion like atheism, should do their research before they criticize and entire practice. If you have enough internet access to blast your opinions across social media, you also have the responsiblity of knowing the bare minimum about what you’re talking about.

By ED