Author: voicesfromhaiti

I am a sucker for artists, especially  great ones. Note that my definition of art is muy broad: The mother who  stretches a hundred pennies one hundred ways to keep food in her children’s bellies is a master artist. The machann who negotiates jagged mountains paths with wooden chairs stacked on his head and no shoes on his feet—to make sure the children get to school—deserves an achievement award. Children who fashion toys out of sticks and mud are  the true prodigies. Count on me to press the Like button for musicians who promote Haitian culture throughout the world (Wave Hello, Markus!)

I love our storytellers: photographers, painters, authors, and closet poets. Love our supermodels–oh yes, Ms. Tomba!  Love our singers–You’ve got to hear Yanick Etienne to know what I’m talking about. The scholars are artists, too—aren’t they? It takes major creativity to earn a Ph.D from a tier-1 University when you got to the United States with less than two English words to rub together.

This post is dedicated to an artist whose work has taken my breath away on so many occasions it’s a surprise I’m still alive.

His name is Raphael Sagage.  If you are not familiar with his work, get ready to convert to Sagagism. For a glimpse into the artist behind the art, check out the forthcoming VoicesfromHaiti INNERview.

 

Get to know Myriam Chancy, Ph.D. in Part 1 of our INNERviews with scholars who contributed to Meridians Feminism Race Transnationalism’s Vol. 11 Issue 1: Pawol Fanm Sou Douz Janvye, edited by Gina A. Ulysse, Ph.D.  Check out the INNERview with this phenomenal Haitian woman.

Read the Introduction to this series of INNERviews written by Gina A. Ulysse

 

Coming up Next:  INNERview with Anthropologist, author, film producer, and major friend of Haiti: Mark Schuller.

Mark Schuller is Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at York College (CUNY) and affiliate at the Faculté d’Ethnologie, l’Université d’État d’Haïti. Supported by the National Science Foundation and others, Schuller’s research on globalization, NGOs, gender, and disasters in Haiti has been published in over a dozen book chapters and peer-reviewed articles.

He is the author of forthcoming Killing with Kindness: Haiti, International aid, and NGOs (Rutgers, 2012) and co-editor of four volumes, including Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake (2012, Kumarian Press). He is co-director / co-producer of documentary Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy. He chairs the Society for Applied Anthropology’s Human Rights and Social Justice Committee and is active in many solidarity efforts.

 

 

Scholars often seem unapproachable. They’re all pen and pencil, busy people. They’re always thinking and writing and reading heaps of scholarly books and journals. All the research that needs to be done leaves little time to enjoy the simple things in life. When you’re globe-hopping while reading single-spaced dissertations, there’s no time to laugh at silly jokes. There’s barely enough time to breathe.

If you are familiar with the names Gina A. Ulysse, Marie-José Nzengou-Tayo, Nadève Ménard, Mark Schuller, and Myriam Chancy, you know about their stellar reputations. You know they are dedicated PhDs who work tirelessly to enrich lives through education.

VoicesfromHaiti INNERviews intended to draw these prominent folk out of university classrooms and paneled libraries for just a couple of minutes. The goal was to engage them in a line of questioning that might have caused them to scratch their heads and ask: “Is she serious?”

Celebrated scholars are wonderful and so on, but what about the human being behind the textbooks. What of the artist behind the art form? I wanted to know what Mark Schuller’s childhood was like. Surely he’d had a childhood. As admittedly serious as they may be, none among them was born with a cap and gown, right. Were there siblings in their childhood homes? If so, were there petty fights over the last cookie in the jar?  Does Marie-José Nzengou-Tayo put pikliz on her plate of plantains? What does Nadève Ménard dream about when she’s not teaching or writing? This is not the conversation these individuals would have typically. So, I was glad that they played along.

Gina A. Ulysse edited Meridians Feminism Race Transnationalism‘s Volume 11, Issue 1: Pawòl Fanm Sou Douz Janvye. She graced VoicesfromHaiti with the Introduction to these INNERviews, giving us a glimpse into why she spearheaded the collection for Meridians in the first place.

The list of Pawòl Fanm Sou Douz Janvye contributors include:

• Haiti’s Earthquake’s Nickname and Some Women’s Trauma Gina Athena Ulysse
• “They Forgot about Us!” Gender and Haiti’s IDP Camps, Interview and Translation Mark Schuller
• Returning to Petit-Goâve after Goudougoudou Brunine David
• Ayiti: Reaching Higher Ground Regine Romain
• Kado  Katia D. Ulysse
• Reflections on Being Machann ak Machandiz Carolle Charles
• My Dearest Ana Nadève Ménard
• Under/Water Myriam J. A. Chancy
• because john doe is not a haitian name Lenelle Moïse
• Malè Pa Gen Klakonn: A Personal Experience of a Foretold yet Unavoidable Disaster Marie-José N’zengou-Tayo

Check back later for the INNERviews with Marie-José Nzengou-Tayo, Nadève Ménard, Mark Schuller, and Myriam Chancy. In the meantime, have yourself a phenomenal day!

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We wish every compatriot worldwide a day overflowing with contentment!

Nou swete tout kompatriyòt dan lemond antye yon jounen ki chaje ak kè kontan!

We stand as straight as swords to celebrate the anniversary of our flag.

Nou kanpe dwat tankou epe pou nou selebre fèt drapo bèl ti peyi nou.

We continue to celebrate the Creative Haitian Spirit

Na p kontinye selebre kreyativite pèp Ayisyen an.

Piti piti plen kay!