Heritage of Power

Heritage of Power is the first book to clarify the life of Mary Pleasant's and to establish her importance to modern-day civil rights -- Did the woman of mystery Mary Ellen Pleasant (called The Mother of Civil Rights in California) and New Orleans' most famous Voodoo queen, Marie LaVeaux, really meet? Did Pleasant receive a "Heritage of Power" from LaVeaux, and if so, what was it, and how did it come about? Did Pleasant work with abolitionist John Brown, and if so, what did she do? To document Mary Pleasant's civil-rights legacy, this work answers these questions, demystifying the accomplishments of both women and employing the latest research. It establishes that Pleasant studied social leveraging techniques with LaVeaux to become The Mother of Civil Rights in California and supports Mary Pleasant's claim that she aided the abolitionist John Brown. In so doing, Heritage of Power carefully chronicles Pleasant's life, places Marie LaVeaux in the context of social activism, and clarifies her traditional Diaspora religion, voodoo/vodou, which aided the civil-rights achievements of both women. (2011 revised text, 2012 enlarged format)