Rasanblaj: The Podcast (Formerly Nèg Mawon. All new episodes at rasanblaj.org exclusively.)

In this week's Konesans, Dr. Greg Beckett, a noted anthropologist, tackles the following question: how much of our African culture did Haitians retain?

Listen as Dr. Robert Fatton discusses a revealing slice of what it means to be a Haitian elite.

In Fragments of Bone, thirteen essayists discuss African religions as forms of resistance and survival in the face of Western cultural hegemony and imperialism. The collection presents scholars working outside of the Western tradition with backgrounds in a variety of disciplines, genders, and nationalities. These experts draw on research, fieldwork, personal interviews, and spiritual introspection to support a provocative thesis: that fragments of ancestral traditions are fluidly interwoven into New World African religions as creolized rituals, symbolic systems, and cultural identities. , Contributors: Osei-Mensah Aborampah, Niyi Afolabi, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, Randy P. Conner, T. J. Desch-Obi, Ina Johanna Fandrich, Kean Gibson, Marilyn Houlberg, Nancy B. Mikelsons, Roberto Nodal, Rafael Ocasio, Miguel "Willie" Ramos, and Denise Ferreira da Silva Reviews "Takes the reader to a deeper and broader understanding of Afro-Caribbean traditions than we have had before. . . .  The cumulative effect of this unusual collection moves religions such as Vodou, Santeria, Palo, and Candomblé out of the realm of the exotic and into a merited position among progressive religious alternatives in the contemporary world."--Karen McCarthy Brown, author of Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn "Impeccably researched, persuasively argued, and engagingly written. . . .  This is the most comprehensive, creative collection available, and should become the standard text for courses on the subject in the United States and abroad."--Richard Brent Turner, University of Iowa "This is a rare and important work. Fragments of Bone makes major progress toward reconstructing and rehabilitating historically subjugated indigenous spirituality. It is innovative, informative, and of the utmost significance."--Claudine Michel, author of Aspects Moraux et Educatifs du Vodou Haitien  About our Guest Patrick Bellegarde-Smith is professor emeritus of Africology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is also the author of Haiti: The Breached Citadel and other books.

Haitian seasonal migration to Cuba is central to narratives about race, national development, and US imperialism in the early twentieth-century Caribbean. Filling a major gap in the literature, this innovative study reconstructs Haitian guestworkers' lived experiences as they moved among the rural and urban areas of Haiti, and the sugar plantations, coffee farms, and cities of eastern Cuba.  It offers an unprecedented glimpse into the daily workings of empire, labor, and political economy in Haiti and Cuba. Migrants' efforts to improve their living and working conditions and practice their religions shaped migration policies, economic realities, ideas of race, and Caribbean spirituality in Haiti and Cuba as each experienced US imperialism.

This episode is compelling and thought-provoking, The Sexual Politics of Empire examines LGBTQI life in contemporary Haiti against the backdrop of American imperialism and intervention. Evangelical Christians and members of the global LGBTQI human rights movement have vied for influence in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Each side accuses the other of serving foreign interests. Yet each proposes future foreign interventions on behalf of their respective causes despite the country’s traumatic past with European colonialism and American imperialism.  Listen as Dr. Durban shows how two discourses can dominate discussions of intervention. One maintains imperialist notions of a backward Haiti so riddled with cultural deficiencies that foreign supervision is necessary to overcome Haitians’ resistance to progress (sounds familiar?). The other sees Haiti as a modern but failed state that exists only through its capacity for violence, including homophobia. In the context of these competing claims, Dr. Durban explores the creative ways that same-sex desiring and gender creative Haitians contend with anti-LGBTQI violence and ongoing foreign intervention.

Part 2 picks up the story during the reign of Boyer. Listen as Dr. Alexander illuminates the ways in which some Black Americans became disillusioned with the policies and decisions made by the Boyer administration. Haitian independence influenced Black thought and action in the United States. Other Black activists in the United States continued to embrace a common identity with Haiti’s people, forging the idea of a united struggle that merged the destinies of Haiti with their own striving for freedom. A bold discussion on Black internationalism’s origins, Fear of a Black Republic stitches together the Haitian revolution to the global Black pursuit of liberation, justice, and social equality. Note: This transcript was created by Nèg Mawon Podcast’s AI tool. It is offered to you as a freebie, so blame the AI for any errors you my find. :)

The emergence of Haiti as a sovereign Black nation lit a beacon of hope for Black people throughout the African diaspora. Listen as Dr. Leslie M. Alexander reveals the untold story of how free and enslaved Black people in the United States defended the young Caribbean nation from forces intent on maintaining slavery and white supremacy.  She focuses on Haiti’s place in the history of Black internationalism, illuminating the ways in which Haitian independence influenced Black thought and action in the United States.  She said Haiti embodied what whites feared most: Black revolution and Black victory. Inspired, Black activists in the United States embraced a common identity with Haiti’s people, forging the idea of a united struggle that merged the destinies of Haiti with their own striving for freedom. A bold discussion on Black internationalism’s origins, Fear of a Black Republic stitches together the Haitian revolution to the global Black pursuit of liberation, justice, and social equality. Note: This transcript was created by Nèg Mawon Podcast’s AI tool. It is offered to you as a freebie, so blame the AI for any errors you my find. :)

A wide ranging discussion with one of my favorite scholars, Dr. Nadève Ménard. [A sprinkle of Kreyol; the rest in English. ] We cover The Haiti Reader and a separate essay (post-2010 earthquake) she wrote to her daughter, "My Dearest Dear Ana". While Haiti established the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere and was the first black country to gain independence from European colonizers, its history is not well known in the Anglophone world. As co-editor, The Haiti Reader is an introduction to Haiti's dynamic history and culture from the viewpoint of Haitians from all walks of life.   The Reader includes dozens of selections—most of which appear here in English for the first time. She emphasized that the selections are representative of Haiti's scholarly, literary, religious, visual, musical, and political cultures. What you'll find in this reader: poems, novels, and political tracts to essays, legislation, songs, and folk tales.   Spanning the centuries between precontact indigenous Haiti and the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, the Reader covers widely known episodes in Haiti's history, such as the U.S. military occupation and the Duvalier dictatorship, as well as overlooked periods such as the decades immediately following Haiti's “second independence” in 1934. Whether examining issues of political upheaval, the environment, or modernization, The Haiti Reader provides an unparalleled look at Haiti's history, culture, and politics.

Within the context of Haiti, the word crisis has very specific meaning for Dr. Greg Beckett. As you'll him articulate, this is not just another book about crisis in Haiti. This book is about what it feels like to live and die with a crisis that never seems to end. It is about the experience of living amid the ruins of ecological devastation, economic collapse, political upheaval, violence, and humanitarian disaster. It is about how catastrophic events and political and economic forces shape the most intimate aspects of everyday life. In this gripping episode, anthropologist Greg Beckett offers a stunning ethnographic portrait of ordinary people struggling to survive in Port-au-Prince in the twenty-first century. Drawing on over a decade of research, There Is No More Haiti builds on stories of death and rebirth to powerfully reframe the narrative of a country in crisis. It is essential episode for anyone interested in Haiti today.

Within the context of Haiti, the word crisis has very specific meaning for Dr. Greg Beckett. As you'll him articulate, this is not just another book about crisis in Haiti. This book is about what it feels like to live and die with a crisis that never seems to end. It is about the experience of living amid the ruins of ecological devastation, economic collapse, political upheaval, violence, and humanitarian disaster. It is about how catastrophic events and political and economic forces shape the most intimate aspects of everyday life. In this gripping episode, anthropologist Greg Beckett offers a stunning ethnographic portrait of ordinary people struggling to survive in Port-au-Prince in the twenty-first century. Drawing on over a decade of research, There Is No More Haiti builds on stories of death and rebirth to powerfully reframe the narrative of a country in crisis. It is essential episode for anyone interested in Haiti today.