How have we – somewhat unknowingly – preserved the traditions that those who came before us began? The way in which we – speaking to the North American and  anglophone Caribbean – have continued to honor our dead has clear roots in West African traditions . The focus on North American and anglophone Caribbean countries is vital . These spaces  are overwhelmingly christian, with an emphasis on the denigration of practices dubbed “voodoo” or “demonic” by christian crusaders who made an effort to suppress the practice of any and all faiths and spiritualities deemed foreign. Even through this, we have managed to preserve some things, though we have all but forgotten their origins . To “pour one out”, an offering to  our ancestors and brethren who have passed.