Category: Contemporary Haiti

Posted on

“Haitians May Leave Their Country, but It Never Leaves Them” (NYT)

“Haitians May Leave Their Country, but It Never Leaves Them” (NYT) by Aminatta Forna (August 27, 2019)

“Throughout the stories in “Everything Inside,” Edwidge Danticat’s birthplace, Haiti, emerges in an almost mythic fashion. It is a land where a life can be changed, a land that exists both in the past and the present, whose essence may be carried as far as Miami or Brooklyn. Perhaps most of all, it is a land that is rarely visible, for despite its overwhelming presence in these stories, Danticat sets only two of them there. In and from this unseen Haiti a woman’s ex-husband’s new lover will be kidnapped; a woman’s father will return to be part of a bright post-dictatorship future; a faithless husband will try to reconcile with his wife, only to lose her and his daughter in the earthquake of 2010; a desperate man, ditched from a raft, will crawl onshore and into the arms of the woman who will become his wife.”

For more, click through the New York Times link.

Posted on

“Arcade Fire Members Talk Haitian Rum and Keeping It Loud at Their Restaurant Agrikol” (Eater)

“Arcade Fire Members Talk Haitian Rum and Keeping It Loud at Their Restaurant Agrikol,” by Tim Forster. July 29, 2019. (Eater).

“It’s been over three years since two members of famed band Arcade Fire — Régine Chassagne and Win Butler — opened a restaurant in Montreal’s Village. Working with Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg and her partner Roland Jean, Agrikol quickly became a go-to for Haitian food and rum-laden cocktails, and then even more of a hub when next-door bar Ti-Agrikol opened.

Agg and Jean left the restaurant in 2018 to focus on their Toronto businesses (perhaps the most amicable split ever, notes Butler), but the restaurant is still going strong. Butler, Chassagne, and Agrikol chef Paul Toussaint sat down with Eater to talk about it.”

Posted on

“Latina Reads: Haitian Women Authors to Make Room for on Your Bookshelves” by Virginia Isaad

“Latina Reads: Haitian Women Authors to Make Room for on Your Bookshelves,” By Viriginia Isaad, May 07, 2018.

“Haiti is a Caribbean country rich in revolution and Black freedom. Enslaved Africans achieved independence from France in 1804, after centuries of colonial rule. Haiti, which means “mountainous country” in the language of the Taínos who first inhabited the land, is the source of inspiration for the works of the women on this list — for its beauty, its resistance and its turmoil.

Here, brilliant Haitian women authors, on the island and in the diaspora, you should know and read.”

Posted on

Ces athlètes veulent mettre Haïti au sommet du bodybuilding

“CES ATHLÈTES VEULENT METTRE HAÏTI AU SOMMET DU BODYBUILDING,” by Laura Louis, September 18, 2018.

“Ces jeunes sportifs portent le rêve de faire l’honneur d’Haïti à travers le monde par le bodybuilding. Ils ont toutefois compris que le sport à lui seul ne leur permettra pas de gagner leur vie en Haïti. Ils sont aussi des professionnels de la médecine, de la comptabilité, de la climatisation et de l’entrepreneuriat. Chacun évolue dans son champ professionnel et ils se rencontrent en week-end pour les entrainements. Même ceux qui ne peuvent pas être sur place pendant les séances d’entrainement peuvent participer. Avec une photo, l’entraineur examine le corps et il fait si possible, des prescriptions nécessaires. Piterkson Saintil par exemple, est un étudiant en aménagement du territoire qui vit au Cap-Haitien qui est connecté au reste du groupe évoluant à Port-au-Prince.“

Posted on

This Giant Rihanna Portrait Is a Window Into Haiti’s Barbershop Culture—And the Soul of a New Brooklyn Exhibition (Vogue)

“This Giant Rihanna Portrait Is a Window Into Haiti’s Barbershop Culture—And the Soul of a New Brooklyn Exhibition” by Kate Branch – September 10, 2018

 “The opening reception of “Pòtoprens: The Urban Artists of Port-au-Prince,” a large-scale exhibition of work by more than 25 artists working in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, occupies three stories of Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn. On the ground floor, past the wall of sequin-covered masks and the elaborately beaded, feminist-minded flags that depict men on horses and women with their skirts pulled up, there are sculptures. Some are heads carved from limestone found in the Rivière Froide while others are built with discarded tires, donated heels, baby doll heads, human skulls. In the garden just beyond the mystical structures that mingle with showgoers sits a small barbershop.”

Posted on

Rum Enthusiasts Have a New Obsession: Fresh-Cut Sugar Cane (New York Times)

“Rum Enthusiasts Have a New Obsession: Fresh-Cut Sugar Cane,” by Jason Wilson

“Among aficionados of craft spirits, the obsessive quest for the “authentic,” “pure” and “rustic” intensifies with each passing year. Not too long ago, rhum agricole from Martinique or Guadeloupe — a rum distilled from the juice of fresh-cut sugar cane, following strict rules enforced by an “appellation d’origine contrôlée” in France — might have satisfied those nebulous ideals. […] But over the past several months, an unaged rum from Haiti called clairin, also made from fresh-pressed sugar cane juice, began popping up on cocktail menus…”

Posted on

PetroCaribe: Who, What, Where, When, Why

“PetroCaribe: Who, What, Where, When, Why,” by Team Woy – September 2, 2018

The words “Petro Caribe” have been trending on Haiti Twitter for the last few weeks, and maybe you don’t know what any of it means. For those of you who are from Haiti or who love Haiti, but don’t know what exactly is going on, we wanted to break it down for you to clear up the confusion. We’ve gathered some videos, articles, and links that can explain why people are asking, “Where is the PetroCaribe money??”

Posted on

‘Between Hate, Hope, and Help: Haitians in the Dominican Republic’ by Aida Alami

Between Hate, Hope, and Help: Haitians in the Dominican Republic by Aida Alami.

Monday, August 13, 2018

“Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola, the largest in the Caribbean after Cuba, but the peoples on either side of the island rarely mix thanks to decades of political tensions and mutual fears fed by a history of wars, massacres, and other atrocities. Some are hopeful that the Dajabón market is a testament to these neighbors’ capacity to get along. But as politicians have manipulated racialized anxieties and fears that defy economic logic and business interests, the strain between the two countries has only intensified.”