The Institution Is Paper, the Bayonet Is Steel

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When the mapoo tree dies, goats would eat its leaves. If you want to diminish or slight someone, you call them names. The institution is paper, the bayonet is steel. This one, i think, is about humility,. We have this expression that we say when some one has died who has contributed a great deal to our culturet we say that a mapu has fallen....

Edwidge Danticat left Haiti when she was 12, she says, but Haiti never left her. At 14 she began writing stories about the people and culture she loved, and now is an internationally acclaimed novelist and short story writer as well a MacArthur Genius Fellow. Rather than holding herself out as an expert or sociologist on Haiti, she seeks to treat her characters and culture with nuance and show the beauty and complexity of the place she calls home.

She joined Tyler to discuss the reasons Haitian identity and culture will likely persist in America, the vibrant Haitian art scenes, why Haiti has the best food in the Caribbean, how radio is remaining central to Haitian politics, why teaching in Creole would improve Haitian schools, what’s special about the painted tap-taps, how tourism influenced Haitian art, working with Jonathan Demme, how the CDC destroyed the Haitian tourism industry, her perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement, why she writes better at night, the hard lessons of Haiti’s political history, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded September 18th, 2020 Other ways to connect

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