Remembering Toni Malo
Toni rele Kongo Toni calls out for the Kongo
Toni rele Kongo Toni calls out for the Kongo
Toni rele Kongo Toni calls out for the Kongo
Santa Maria Gracia By the Grace of Saint Mary
This song links us to events that took place centuries ago. It was 303 years ago, on July 2nd, 1706 that Toni was burned alive by Catholic Priests in the Kongo. Following her death, 30,000 of her followers were captured and enslaved. Many of them were sold in Haiti.
Toni was a ganga who preached that the Bible brought by the Portuguese to the Kongo was flawed because it failed to recognize anyone of Kongolese origin. Toni was also called Ganga Vita. She preached that a truly holy book would have shown that the last great king of the Kongo, her grandfather Antonio (Antoine), was the most important person to God. In fact, he is more appropriately called St. Antoine. Today in Haiti, we honor St. Antoine as the gatekeeper to Kongolese Ancestors. This is why Sèvitè commonly say that St. Antoine is synonymous with Mèt Kafou.
Like many ganga, Toni was also Christian as were many Kongolese people. At baptism, she became known as Beatrice, her Christian name. For Toni, the Christianity brought to the Kongo by the Portuguese was flawed and needed fixing. As a reformed Christian, she ended all her prayers with the Portuguese Christian statement, “by the grace of St Mary- Santa Maria, Gracia.” It is for this reason this Portuguese statement is repeated in the Toni rele Kongo song.
Ganga Vita or Beatrice became known as Toni Malo, the name of her political movement. That movement was called the Toni Malo movement, meaning Toni of Good Fortune’s movement. The name Toni was taken from the nickname of her grandfather, whose name was King Antonio or Wa Antwàn. King Antonio was killed by the Portuguese at the Battle of Bwila in 1665. After this battle, the Kongo erupted in civil wars. Warring factions captured and sold people to various European traders in exchange for more modern weapons. This activity resulted in the collapse of the Kongo Kingdom as well as in the collapse of Kongolese social norms.
In the era before the war, it was unacceptable for Kongolese citizens to be enslaved. Letters from King Alfonso and from King Garcia of the Kongo attest to this. In the 1500 through the 1600’s, the Kongolese government used to require the return of Kongolese nationals captured in the Trans-Atlantic trade of people. On numerous occasions, Kongolese citizens were returned to the Kongo from Brazil as well as from Sao Tome. By the 1700’s, all this would change. It became commonplace for Kongolese citizens to be captured. This change occurred because of the civil wars following the death of King Antonio.
Toni was burned alive. This practice was once a common way for Christian authorities to deal with people with unofficial religious or political views. Toni pointed to flaws that she saw in the Bible. She also wanted to reunify the Kongo and restore it to its past glory.
Later, after her death she was said to have appeared on top of a tree in the Kongo. This reported miracle was later duplicated on July 16, 1849 in Haiti at Sodo where Mary, Jesus’ Mother, was said to have appeared on top of a palm tree. It is a Kongo tradition for miracles to appear on top of trees. Interestingly, it is also in the month of July, the month of Toni Malo’s death, that Sodo is celebrated in Haiti.
Toni was extremely popular in the Kongo and the Toni Malo political movement was an important political force. The strength of her movement continued to have repercussions in the Americas. So strong was Toni Malo’s influence in Haiti that the name Antoine became a very common name in the country. When Antoine Simon became president of Haiti, he enyoyed widespread popularity and was associated with the name “Simalo” , a fusion of Simon with Malo.
Today in Haiti, we continue to sing Toni rele Kongo in honor of Ganga Vita, Toni, the grand-daughter of King Antoine. We do so because Toni defended the integrity of the Kongo.
Additional analysis of this song and others, along with references is provided in these books published by Bookmanlit:
Remembrance: Roots, Rituals, and Reverence in Vodou. English Edition
Sèvis Ginen: Rasin, Rityèl, Respè lan Vodou. Creole Edition
Bicentennial: Haiti’s Gift to the World. English Edition
Bisantnè: Zetrenn Ayiti Pou Limanite. Creole Edition