Category: Uncategorized

I traveled to Florida in February 2018 to sit with Jan Mapou so I could begin working on my thesis of which he is (not was since I am still working on it) the subject. It is not on just him per se, but his Kreyolite. My thesis started out as an exploration of identifying Haitian-American identity by way of literature. Plainly speaking I wanted to research what it means to live in that hyphen of being a first generation American born to Haitian parents. I identified the differences by looking at my own relatives. Being Haitian-American from New York City is different from being Haitian-American from Florida (Miami) or California. Even though we were born in the United States, my brothers and I knew what it was to be Haitian. We knew what it was to experience a different kind of discrimination by others who were like us, first gen American albeit with parents from different areas of the Caribbean. I remember the taunts and the looks of disgust we would get when we told people that we were Haitian. I remember some particular times where I can recall the actions of individuals when they found out that I was Haitian. I remember the shame I felt as a young boy for being Haitian, when a friend or classmate would find out my origins. I also remember the shame I felt in myself when I got older and reflected back at those times for denying that I was Haitian at all. I bring up all that to say this: in touching base with Mapou and learning about what he contributed to Haitian literature and culture, I discovered that I want nothing more than to make the contributions of Jan Mapou known to more and more Haitians and Haitian-Americans outside of Miami. I found Mapou as a result of scholarly research as I was trying to find a subject (a purpose?) for my thesis, and I found that purpose in Mapou. I wanted to write about the contributions of Haitian authors and what they mean to a people who are always portrayed in a negative light. More so, I wanted to shed light on those Haitian authors who wrote in Haitian-Creole and not French. I had to find a reputable source who could plainly explain to me the importance of the Haitian-Creole language. I had to find a person who wrote expressly in Haitian-Creole and did so with such unflinching pride, that it got him flagged as an enemy of the state and thrown into a prison so dismal and so inhuman, it is still too terrible to fathom. Mapou opened my world to re-discovering what it means to be Haitian-American in the sense of what living between that hyphen means. It is a profound thing when you are trying to understand, truly understand your own cultural identity.

I aim to keep my focus on defining Mapou’s Kreyolite and emphasizing his contributions to Haitian literature, culture, and identity. The man is a stalwart of Haitian culture and who I personally believe to be the last line of Haitian literary and cultural representation that we as Haitian people have, at least in the United States. His bookstore in Little Haiti is a treasure trove of everything Haitian. I consider it a place of learning, discovery, and rediscovery and so much more. Mapou’s contributions to the Haitian artistic landscape are immeasurable and I can only hope to capture, in scholarly words, what that means.

I did not have a chance to post in April and by the time I am done writing this, May. What does the US Department of Homeland Security have to do with Haitian literature? Absolutely nothing. However I could not sit idly by and not speak my piece about what the DHS is actively doing in regards to Haiti and its temporary protected status (TPS). The many contributions that Haiti has made to the United States, from the Revolutionary War to the founding of the city of Chicago should account for something and yet it does not. The new Trump administration has its eyes set on removing Haitians from the United States and yet this is a far cry from the “criminals and drug dealers” that they originally wanted to go after. Thinking about what they believe is hurting my brain. The bottom line is of all the folks in the US, why go after Haitian people? It makes no sense. It especially doesn’t make sense when during the presidential campaign, Trump went down to Miami and made promises to the Haitian community there promising to do what he could to help Haiti and its people; to put an end to the obvious neglect and exploitation by the Clinton Global Initiative and others who have done nothing except exploit Haiti’s plight for years. Haiti is not an experiment. It is its own sovereign nation borne on the backs of a people who yearned for freedom at any cost. There must be a movement where Haitians, those on the mainland and those of the diaspora, actually vow to correct the centuries of infighting and exploitation that have plagued Haiti since its arduous birth.

 

So on Saturday 25 March 2017, I had the chance to go to Libreri Mapou Bookstore in the Little Haiti section of Miami, FL where I met Jan Mapou. I read about him in “Ainsi Parla la Terre; Te a Pale; So Spoke the Earth” which was edited by Jessica Fievre and I knew that I had to speak to him. I’d actually reached out to him via Facebook but hadn’t hear anything back so when the chance presented itself, I immediately jumped on it to visit his bookstore (and hopefully him). I happened to be in Florida for a family function and I decided to take the time to drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami to learn from this man who had once been a prisoner of Francois Duvalier back in the 1960s. My cousin and I got there and when we entered the store there were a two other people in the store besides the gentleman that was sitting behind the counter. I will admit, at first appearance it was just  a regular bookstore; but when you looked at the different things: books, artwork, videos (yes he had some VHS tapes in there) and DVDs, pamphlets, and journals with most of them (like 99%) about Haiti. I was in the mecca of Haiti in the US and all I wanted to do was read books and talk to Mapou (as he is known) about my thesis specifically and about Haitian literature in general. While my cousin and I were in there people were coming in and out of the store. One young lady came in to help organize the bookstore and a few other people came in to say hi or to request that Mapou attend this function or that function that they were having and wanted him to speak. Mapou, as it turns out accommodated all his patrons and friends and did so effortlessly. After entering the bookstore, I was greeted by the patrons inside and I greeted them back. The gentleman behind the register asked if I was looking for anything in particular and I spilled my guts about the subject of my thesis and wanting to pick the brain of the great Jan Mapou who was a Haitian literary genius and wanting to discuss it with him. The patrons there cracked a smile and informed me that the gentleman behind the counter was the person I sought and I was immediately in awe of this elder gentleman who is a pioneer in the Haitian literary arts and culture movement. I spoke to Mapou about Jacques Roumain and “Gouverneurs de la Rosee” aka “Foslawouze” aka “Masters of the Dew” and he taught me about the possible backstory of how Manuel Jean-Joseph returned to Haiti from Cuba. Listening to Mapou speak was one of my most cherished moments that I have experienced in my literary journey and I felt honored to have been in his presence as we discussed Haitian literature, poetry, and theater. A moment that was truly amazing was when Mapou began discussing the founding of Sosyete Koukouy, a Haitian cultural and literary preservation society which was organized to protect and educate  Haitian arts and culture and how that lead to him being arrested and jailed at the notorious Fort Dimanche penitentiary in Haiti in the 1960s. Mapou schooled me on so much including Haitian Kreyol forms of poetry and even the history of Haitians in Cuba. Quite the awesome experience!

This is my first attempt at a blog so bear with me. I started this blog to discuss Haitian literature and I guess all manners of literature having to do with Haiti. If anyone reads this, cool. If not, that’s fine as well. Before Dr. DaMaris Hill, Candace Wiley, Monifa Lemons, and Tamaka Staley tasked me to start a blog, Edwidge Danticat told me that if I don’t write about what I want to write about, no one else will, well here I am. I started this blog as a way for me to discuss the literature of Haiti as I see it as an American of Haitian descent. Perhaps I began this blog as a way to provoke conversation except I don’t know who the hell will read this. No matter what, I guess I’ll be depositing my thoughts on the subject(s) here on a semi-regular basis. Bear with me. Nou pral we kijan sa a ap mache.