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

The Immortals is set in an infamous neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, on Grand-Rue, where many women, young and old, trade in flesh, sex, and desire. We learn, in glimpses and fragments, about the lives of women who fall in love with the moving images of television, the romance of a novel, and the dreams of escape. This moving novel asks, What becomes of these women, their lives, their stories, their desires, and their whims when a violent earthquake brings the capital city and its brothels to their knees? To preserve the memory of women she lived and worked with, the anonymous narrator makes a deal with her client once she discovers that he is a writer: sex in exchange for recording the stories of the friends who were buried beneath the rubble. She tells the stories of women who were friends, lovers, daughters, and mothers—all while their profession sought to hide any trace of intimacy or interiority through pseudonyms and artifice. Ultimately the book reveals how a group of women sought to make a name for themselves in life, demanding that they not be forgotten in death. Winner of France's 2012 Prix Thyde Monnier de la Société des Gens de Lettres, The Immortals is the first work of fiction by the celebrated Haitian writer Makenzy Orcel. Mingling poetry and prose, Orcel centers stories that too often go untold, while reflecting on the power and limits of storytelling in the face of catastrophe.

In this first episode in the Ginen mini-series, we cover the central tenets of Haitian Vodou, the life, love, and expansive mind of the distinguished scholar, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith.  Professor Emeritus Patrick Bellegarde-Smith received his doctorate in international relations, comparative politics, and Latin American Studies, in 1977. He taught in the field of international development, political economy, and culture, at Bradley University,  then later, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in the field of  African-American Studies with a focus on Caribbean cultures, politics and history, Afro-Caribbean religions, and in the area of Black feminisms.  He is the author or editor of five books, among them, In the Shadow of Powers (Humanities Press International, 1985, 2nd ed. Vanderbilt University Press, 2019), The Breached Citadel (Westview Press, 1990, 2nd ed. Canadian Scholars Press, 2004), and Fragments of Bone: Neo-African Religions in a New World,  ed. (Illinois University Press, 2005). The sixth book on gender identities and African religious systems is in preparation. Some of his writings have been anthologized, notably, "Hormones and Melanin: The  Dimensions of 'Race,' Sex and Gender: Reflexive Journeys," in Jacqueline  Bobo et al., The Black Studies Reader (New York: Routledge, 2004). For his work on issues of ethnic,  racial, and national identities, he received from the State University of Haiti, the Jean Price-Mars Medal in 2013, and the Lifetime  Achievement Award for Scholarship from the Haitian Studies  Association in 2010. Some of his books and articles have been translated into French, Spanish, Kreyol (Haitian), and Portuguese. Bellegarde-Smith served as the President of the Congress of Santa  Barbara (KOSANBA), a scholarly association for the study of Vodou and other African-derived religions, and is a former president of the  Haitian Studies Association, (HSA). He is an associate editor for the Journal of Haitian Studies and served on the editorial boards of Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies, and the Journal of Africana Religions. He is an advisory board member/Elders-Distinguished Member of the  Institute for the Study of Canadian Slavery, in Halifax, NSCAD, Nova  Scotia. He is a Houngan asogwe, a priest of Haitian Vodou. He attended The University of the Virgin Islands, the "youngest" HBCU,  Syracuse University at Utica College, and The American University,  School of International Service. Dr. Bellegarde-Smith is the author of many books, including In the Shadow of Powers (1985, 2nd edition 2019), The Breached Citadel (1990, 2nd edition 2004), Fragments of Bone, ed. (2005). For his books and articles on issues of national and personal identities, he received from the University of Haiti, the Jean Price-Mars Medal in 2013, and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Scholarship from the Haitian Studies Association in 2010. Some of his works have been translated into French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and some of his writings are anthologized.

Covering a broad set of topics on Haitian culture, Dr. Cécile Accilien took questions from a live audience on the Clubhouse platform. 

From 1797 to 1801, during the Haitian Revolution, President John Adams and Toussaint Louverture forged diplomatic relations that empowered white Americans to embrace freedom and independence for people of color in Saint-Domingue. The United States supported the Dominguan revolutionaries with economic assistance and arms and munitions; the conflict was also the U.S. Navy’s first military action on behalf of a foreign ally. This cross-cultural cooperation was of immense and strategic importance as it helped to bring forth a new nation: Haiti. Diplomacy in Black and White is the first book on the Adams-Louverture alliance. Historian and former diplomat Ronald Angelo Johnson details the aspirations of the Americans and Dominguans―two revolutionary peoples―and how they played significant roles in a hostile Atlantic world. Remarkably, leaders of both governments established multiracial relationships amid environments dominated by slavery and racial hierarchy. And though U.S.-Dominguan diplomacy did not end slavery in the United States, it altered Atlantic world discussions of slavery and race well into the twentieth century. Diplomacy in Black and White reflects the capacity of leaders from disparate backgrounds to negotiate political and societal constraints to make lives better for the groups they represent. Adams and Louverture brought their peoples to the threshold of a lasting transracial relationship. And their shared history reveals the impact of decisions made by powerful people at pivotal moments. But in the end, a permanent alliance failed to emerge, and instead, the two republics born of revolution took divergent paths.

The Ulrick documentary introduces audiences to Haitian master painter Ulrick Jean-Pierre, who channels his ancestors and pours his soul onto the canvas with exacting detail and visceral impact.

This is part 1/2. The Guise of Exceptionalism compares the historical origins of Haitian and American exceptionalisms. It also traces how exceptionalism as a narrative of uniqueness has shaped relations between the two countries from their early days of independence through the contemporary period. As a social invention, it changes over time, but always within the parameters of its original principles. Guest Profile Page https://neg.fm/dr-robert-fatton-jr/

This volume is the first to focus on teaching about Haiti’s complex history and culture from a multidisciplinary perspective. Listen as Prof. Accilien makes broad connections between Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean. Other contributors in this book provide pedagogical guidance on how to approach the country from different lenses in course curricula. They offer practical suggestions, theories on a wide variety of texts, examples of syllabi, and classroom experiences. Teaching Haiti dispels stereotypes associating Haiti with disaster, poverty, and negative ideas of Vodou, going beyond the simplistic neocolonial, imperialist, and racist descriptions often found in literary and historical accounts. Instructors in diverse subject areas discuss ways of reshaping old narratives through women’s and gender studies, poetry, theater, art, religion, language, politics, history, and popular culture, and they advocate for including Haiti in American and Latin American studies courses. Portraying Haiti not as “the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere” but as a nation with a multifaceted culture that plays an important part on the world’s stage, this volume offers valuable lessons about Haiti’s past and present related to immigration, migration, locality, and globality. The essays remind us that these themes are increasingly relevant in an era in which teachers are often called to address neoliberalist views and practices and isolationist politics. Contributors: Cécile Accilien | Jessica Adams | Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken | Anne M. François | Régine Michelle Jean-Charles | Elizabeth Langley | Valérie K. Orlando | Agnès Peysson-Zeiss | John D. Ribó | Joubert Satyre | Darren Staloff | Bonnie Thomas | Don E. Walicek | Sophie Watt

On the 12th anniversary of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, we invited Prof. Yveline Alexis to talk about that tragic event and her prize-winning book, "Haiti Fights Back: The Life and Legacy of Charlemagne Peralt." Lots of intelligent questions from our hardcore Neg et Fanm Mawon audience. Guest Profile Page https://neg.fm/dr-yveline-alexis/

Get a free pdf copy of the book here Book Description A new analysis of the origins of the Haitian Revolution, revealing the consciousness, solidarity, and resistance that helped it succeed. About the Author Crystal Eddins is Assistant Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research has been supported by the Ruth J. Simmons Postdoctoral Fellowship, the John Carter Brown Library, and the National Science Foundation. Editorial Reviews Reviews ‘A compelling, elegantly written, and brilliantly conceived study in the development of racial definitions and solidarity. Eddins bravely opens windows and doors to a subversive and proud Haiti, and its role in the global context. The reader is observing the birth of a ‘new’ classic.’ Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, author of In the Shadow of Powers: Dantes Bellegarde in Haitian Social Thought ‘This beautifully crafted and overwhelmingly researched work restores the place of the multitude of known and unknown individuals who deployed myriad cultural, ethnic and religious practices derived from their African homelands to resist the dehumanization of slavery in 18th-century Saint Domingue (Haiti) in pursuit of racial liberation and human dignity. The book’s de-colonial perspective makes a seminal contribution to current Black and African diasporic studies. It is historical scholarship at its best.’ Carolyn Fick, author of The Making of Haiti: The Saint Domingue Revolution from Below ‘Crystal Eddins tells an important and fascinating story that reveals how oppression can be overturned under the most unlikely of circumstances. Perhaps most striking is her brilliant and counterintuitive analysis of advertisements designed to capture runaway slaves - advertisements that provide clues to piece together processes leading to collective consciousness needed to drive revolution.’ Rory McVeigh, University of Notre Dame ‘Crystal Eddins’s groundbreaking study reveals the agency of marronage and self-determination as key drivers of liberation and revolution. Her stunning analysis of thousands of fugitive advertisements challenges historical sociology and social movement studies with a Black/African diaspora reading of the collective efforts ‘from below’ that negated white-dominated capitalist structures. Her creative and exacting deployment of big data demands that we reconceptualize freedom, citizenship, property, and identity on a wider scale. Bravo!’ Mimi Sheller, Drexel University

El Maniel Maroon community and women's reproductive rights.