Office of Multicultural Affairs: Haitian Culture

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:02:00 GMT

I grew up in a household with a strong sense of cultural pride. My parents were always proud to say they were Haitian and constantly reminded me that I was Haitian-American. At home, my mom spoke to me in her native Creole and French, and we always had Haitian food for dinner.

UkemeE's Reply

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:35:00 GMT

Posted: 11/13/09 @ 5:35 PM EST
By: Ukeme

Good job, Tracy. I can testify that Haitian food is awesome and that the Haitians I know are great people.

I'm glad you pointed out that most of what we see on TV is not truly accurate. You have to spend time in a place and with the people to know what their homes are like.

James Byrum's Reply

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:43:00 GMT

Posted: 11/16/09 @ 3:43 PM EST
By: James Byrum

Tracy, thanks for this wonderful writing. I just returned from Haiti where I do economic opportunity funding, making interest free loans to community associations to enable the people of Haiti to pull themselves out of poverty.

I have a real problem that the children of Haiti are taught in school using French rather than Creole. It is a sign that France still keeps the Haitian children in their place. I hope I live long enough for the children to actually learn in their own language, because the struggle to learn in French makes the rote learning method of teaching normative and keeps the Haitian children from the joy of learning.

Sincerely,

Fr. James E. Byrum
Managing Director, the iF Foundation

twf's Reply

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Posted: 12/01/09 @ 12:23 PM EST
By: twf

You can see a clip of Toussaint's last moments in prison from the new short film "The Last Days of Toussaint L'Ouverture" at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2468184/ This short film is the basis for a new feature (not with Danny Glover) that is in development.