By Josefina Ortega, Granma | YouTube | Haiti Chery. George Gershwin was infatuated with Cuban rhythms. During a 1932 visit to the island, he was taken to a Havana radio station where the Ignacio Piñeiro Septet was broadcasting a live performance. He immediately struck up a friendship with Piñeiro and took some musical notations of his works. The ideas for the Cuban Overture were thus born.
By B. Traven, Hill and Wang, New York, 1967 | Scribd | Wikipedia | Introduction by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is regarded as B. Traven’s masterpiece, and it is indeed a superb novel; but this book, written in 1935, is merely the best-known work by a master storyteller who lived and wrote for another 34 years. Traven’s body of work celebrates wildness and chronicles the loss of individual freedom in his lifetime.
By Christopher Minster, Latin American History/About.com. Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday that celebrates the victory over French forces on May 5, 1862 at the Battle of Puebla. The French attacked Mexico to try to collect a debt from this country after Mexican President Benito Juarez declared bankruptcy from a civil war, but the French were soundly defeated by a cavalry led by young General Porfirio Diaz.
By Wilson Bigaud | Introduction by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. A distinguishing feature of Bigaud’s work is that his tableaux took everyday aspects of Haitian life and lovingly chronicled them. Although Bigaud was born in Port-au-Prince, he spent most of his life about 70 km south-west of the capital in the village of Vialet, near the town of Petit-Goâve. He liked to walk in the countryside, hike little trails, talk to villagers, and return home to paint his day.
By Muriel Kane, Raw Story | Interview of Isak Gerson with Alison George | Editorial comment by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. “The Church of Kopimism does not make claims regarding gods or supernatural forces. Life as we know it originated with the DNA molecule’s ability to duplicate itself, irrespective of the original creation of the Universe.… Copying is fundamental to life and runs constantly all around us…. ‘From all at one and from one to all – and then back – exchange without beginning and without end.’”
By Jean Edner Dorvil in: A Taste of Haiti (Hyppocrene books, NY) | Introduction and recommendations by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Tomtom ak Kalalou Gombo is now considered to be traditional to the town of Jeremie in southern Haiti, but in colonial times this was the everyday dish of the Haitians. It is never eaten alone.
By Tiken Jah Fakoly, You Tube (courtesy of KZoubeidi) | Wikipedia (biography) | Ados (lyrics) | Introduction by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Tiken Jah Fakoly is a musician who originates from the Ivory Coast and describes his mission as being “to wake up the consciences.” His lyrics speak for the voiceless. This fantastic song came to Haiti Chery’s attention via reader HenryG, in response to news of Haiti’s vaccine trial on poor women and children, along with the message “MINUSTAH (THE NGO TRASH CAN!!!)”. Indeed: we get it. It’s all very clear.
By Granma | Elespectador | NY Times | Thomas Christopher’s blog | You Tube| Haiti Chery. Jose Saramago wrote Claraboya in the 1950′s but received no word until 40 years later from the publisher to whom it was sent. The dictatorial regime of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar in Portugal is presumed to have censored the novel, and in the end Saramago decided that it should be published posthumously. It has just appeared in Portuguese and Spanish — the latter version being from Pinal del Rio, Saramago’s widow and translator. (English | Spanish)
By Frederico Garcia Lorca | Translation by A. S. Kline | Paintings by Gabriel Alix | Editorial comment by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Frederico Garcia Lorca describes the lullabies of Spain in their cultural contexts and with a singular respect for children’s appreciation of abstraction. One lullaby from the region of Burgos is reminiscent of Haiti’s “Dodo Titit.”
Press Release, Prometheus Radio Project | FCC. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided to open the airwaves to Low Power FM (LPFM) stations; this will allow for the first new urban community radio stations in the U.S. in decades. The FCC will start to accept applications as early as Fall 2012.
“Dodo Titit” Introduction and English translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery | Sheet music, photo from Lullabologist | Performance courtesy of Miremonde, You Tube. Haiti’s classical lullaby. Verses are improvised to report the different chores of Mom and Dad and are sung softly, almost as if being hummed, until the darling little one sleeps.
By Vaclav Havel, in: The Natural World as Political Problem – Essays on Modern Man (Prague: Edice Expedice, Vol. 188, Feb 1984) | translated by Erazim Kohák and Roger Scruton (Salisbury Rev, No. 2, Jan 1985). “If a medieval man were to see something like that [huge somestack] suddenly on the horizon — say, while out hunting — he would probably think it the work of the Devil and would fall on his knees and pray that he and his kin be saved.” – Vaclav Havel: Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and statesman.
By Staff, AHP | Translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Just out in Haitian bookstores: a new book by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide titled “Pwezi filosofik pou dekolonizasyon mantal” (Publisher: Henri Deschamps, 2012). It is the Creole version of “Philosophical Reflections for Mental Decolonization” (Publisher: Paradigm Press, 2011). Dr. Aristide shows how the 300-year Haitian journey to freedom has been guided by the African philosophy of Ubuntu: an ethical concept that values connectedness, respect, justice, dignity, freedom, and love. He believes this philosophy gave the strength to resist slavery and can continue to motivate resistance.
Constitution of the Republic of Haiti, 1987
By National Constituent Assembly of Haiti, March 10, 1987. The Haitian people proclaim this constitution to ensure their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, in conformity with the Act of Independence of 1804 and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1948. (French | English)