‘Tezen Nan Dlo’: An Ecological Folk Tale from Haiti
By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery | News Junkie Post. “A long time ago, in a thatched house snuggled in a valley between the flamboyant-covered hills of Haiti, there lived a girl whose greatest ambition was to bring home the cleanest water in all the world….” (English | Portuguese)
Par René Depestre, du receuil En Etat de Poésie (Les Editeurs Réunis Francais, Paris, 1980) | Haiti Chery. Il y a ceux qui crient sur tous les toits / Vive la Révolution! / derrière ce cri se cache parfois le voeu / secret que la révolution se casse une jambe….
By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery | News Junkie Post. As linguistic and culturally diversity disappear, so too does biological diversity. This is because the world’s indigenous cultures know best how to create the conditions to maintain species and keep ecosystems functioning in areas where humans also live.
By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Creole was certainly the tongue spoken at the 1791 Bwa Cayiman Vodou ceremony that launched the Haitian Revolution. Nevertheless, it was French that served as the text of Haiti’s Independence Declaration and as the country’s only official language until 1987. Why?
Colonialism of the Mind – Part II
By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Of all the campaigns to undermine Haitian culture, the one to discredit restavek adoption — in which a biological parent collaborates with a respected adult to care for a child — enjoys the most zealous support from the west’s NGO and alternative press.
By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. In Haiti, a freshly baked roll with a cup of hot cocoa is a typical dinner. We owe Haitian hot cocoa to our successful slave revolution, and we have the Aztecs and Mayans to thank for the elaborate process for manufacturing chocolate from the seeds of Theobroma cacao — “food of the gods.”
Infographics created by Online Graduate Programs | Courtesy of Tony Shin | Editorial comment by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. What kind of culture is compatible with instant gratification? Certainly not one that nurtures spirituality, because a spiritual life requires being still sometimes. Or one that promotes creativity, because prolonged focus and practice are needed for mastery over one’s talents.
By C. K. Hickey, Oakland North | YouTube | Haiti Chery. The opening up of Oakland airport to Havana represents a unique cultural and political connection between Cuba and the US’ Bay Area. “Culture cures: culture leads to communication between countries, and communication leaves everybody better off than before.” – William T. Martinez
Mayi Moulin Ak Pwa: Haitian Cornmeal With Kidney Beans and Coconut
By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. In Haiti, Mayi Moulin Ak Pwa is peasant fare. The ingredients are cheap, but the meal is dear. Lots of love in it. The value is in the preparation.
By shaman Black Elk, as told through John Neihardt, from: Black Elk Speaks, Washington Square Press, 1972, originally published in 1932. Introductory chapter of a great classic on spirituality. The book is a translation and transcription by John Neihardt of oral history, as told to him in 1931 by shaman Black Elk of the Oglala Sioux.
By Rose Aguilar, Truthout | YouTube. From 1879 until the 1960s, more than 100,000 American Indian children were forced to attend boarding schools. Children were forcibly removed or kidnapped from their homes and taken to the schools. Families risked imprisonment if they stood in the way or attempted to take back their children.
By Katherine Dunham, Doubleday 1969, University of Chicago Press Edition 1994 | YouTube | Introduction by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Katherine Mary Dunham was a dancer extraordinaire, choreographer, anthropologist, writer, and political activist. In 1936, Dunham, a brilliant and adventurous young woman torn between dance and anthropology, went solo to Haiti to study primitive dance and ritual. (UPDATED Aug 1, 2012 with video of Dunham 1962 interview and dance).
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.