Haitian Catholic artists are as excited about this event as the rest of the community is. Some of them will attend the convention, and Jean Robert Themistocle, one of the pioneers of the organization of Haitian Catholic artists in the diaspora, composed a song based on the theme of the convention. The guests at the convention will be the first to hear and to sing this song with Jean Robert. It is a time of great grace for the Haitian community in the diaspora.
233 p., Analyzes three contemporary novels by Black women authors to argue that their daughter-protagonists gain a sense of their own subjectivities as women of African descent through their imaginative and creative responses to their respective muted paternal histories and legacies. These responses motivate the creation of ritualistic art forms rooted in communal practices such as storytelling, sculpting, music, dance-drama, folk medicine, and traditional cuisine. Maps the centrality of family, community, rituals, and art to the development of female subjectivity as represented in Marilene Felinto's As mulheres de Tijucopapo / The Women of Tijucopapo , Edwidge Danticat's The Dew Breaker , and Gayl Jones's Corregidora.
Reviews a novel about the lives of a mixed-race British/American family living in the United States. In its depiction of African Americans, White Americans, Britons, and Caribbean immigrants, the book demonstrates Americans' obsession with race. In addition to the contrast between desires for racial authenticity and class mobility, Smith’s novel exposes the variability of Black America, and especially the intersection between class and race.
The presenters discussed topics ranging from democratic reform and transition in Haiti to health concerns in the Haitian diaspora. One presentation by Lunine Pierre-Jerome, Ed.D., titled "Identity Development among Low-Literacy Haitian Adolescent Newcomers: Collective and Integrative View of the Self" was particularly poignant. Dr. Pierre-Jerome's case study explored how low-literacy Haitian adolescent newcomers identify themselves; their perceptions of family, peer relationships, community and schooling; and their opinions about attending a literacy program.
