Legacy of 1804 on Digicel Blocks VoIPs in the Caribbean #Haiti #LOF1804 #netneutrality

Digicel has blocked VoIP access (Viber, Tango etc) in Haiti, Trinidad and Jamaica. Other cell phone carriers such as Lime have done so as well. This has generated a firestorm on Caribbean social media, at least one petition and a reaction by the Trinidadian Telecom regulatory body which reinstated VoIPs in Trinidad while it deliberates the issue.

Join me in my capacity as LOF1804 weekly host and head of  the Americas Desk  at Internet Without Borders this Friday July 11 at 9PM EA as I welcome:

• Gerard Best, a tech blogger and T&T Guardian contributor;
• Michele Marius from the ICT Pulse blog in Jamaica;
• Pascal Antoine, President of HaitiXchange and tech entrepreneur in Haiti and 
• Gary Dauphin, LA based Haitian-American digital media manager who spoke about net neutrality on LOF1804 a few weeks ago.

For more background on the issue:

http://buff.ly/1jtAEYn


Listen live at http://tobtr.com/s/6670679 or on the phone at 323-927-2913.

You can listen to past shows at http://www.kiskeacity.com/search/label/LOF1804 or by searching "Legacy of 1804" or subscribing to the Black Whole Radio feed in iTunes.

UPDATE 1:

We have a new show link because of technical difficulties:
I'm broadcasting live on the air! Listen in now at http://tobtr.com/s/6670679. #BlogTalkRadio #lof1804 #digicel #VoIPs


UPDATE 2 (SHOW AUDIO):

UPDATE 3 - HIGHLIGHTS:

Speakers gave us an update of where things stand in their respective jurisdictions. In Trinidad services have been restored while TATT deliberates. In Haiti and Jamaica, applications are still blocked.

Pascal Antoine pointed out that Digicel's competitor NatCom has not blocked VoIPs.

Panelists answered the following questions and more:

Why have Haiti's Conatel and its Jamaican equivalent still not pronounced themselves on the VoIP block?
Why are cell phone providers doing this block now?
Have workaround applications to the block surfaced in the Caribbean?
How long have cell phone providers wanted to block VoIPs? According to Michele Marius this is just the latest development in a long battle between carriers and VoIPs.
Is this a dangerous precedent for net neutrality in the region and globally? What if Digicel decides it wants to block an app by a Haitian congressional candidate it does not like?
What is the state of Caribbean innovation?

New Education Podcasts with Black Whole Radio on BlogTalkRadio

Gerard Best generously curated the following links for us during the show:

REGIONAL
ICT Pulse: Mixed Signals http://www.ict-pulse.com/2014/07/case-mixed-signals-blocking-voip-caribbean/
Bevil Wooding—Defending An Open Caribbean Internet: http://www.siliconcaribe.com/2014/07/07/defending-an-open-caribbean-internet/
Jacqueline Charles—Miami Herald: Cellular providers block ‘free’ call apps in Caribbean angering consumers: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/10/4229297/caribbean-cellular-provides-block.html

HAITI
Digicel Haiti blocks VoIP: http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2014/06/25/digicel-haiti-blocks-voip-applications/
Digicel Haiti and Conatel in talks: http://m.lenouvelliste.com/lenouvelliste/article/133181/Il-ny-a-pas-que-de-mauvaises-nouvelles.html#.U70gAKd86KQ.email

JAMAICA
Digicel mulls banning Viber, other 'unlicensed' VoIP services in Jamaica: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/.../business/business2.html
Digicel, LIME follow through on VoIP blockade: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/.../business/business3.html
Digicel and LIME Jamaica block VoIP: http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2014/07/03/digicel-and-lime-block-voip-providers/

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Digicel wants Viber, Tango, Nimbuzz providers to pay
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-07-06/digicel-wants-viber-tango-nimbuzz-providers-pay
The T&T Guardian reported that Digicel agreed to allow its customers to access VoIP applications Viber, Tango and Nimbuzz once again after the Telecommunications Authority of T&T (TATT) started an investigation into complaints made about Digicel’s action. http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-07-09/digicel-returns-voip-services

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Legacy of 1804 on Maurice Bishop and Grenada Revolution #lof1804 #forwardever

Join me and Michelle Materre, founder of Creatively Speaking Film Series and host of Creativey Speaking on the Air tonight June 20th at 9PM as we welcome Bruce Paddington, maker of the documentary Forward Ever. The film investigates the Grenadian revolution of 1979 which culminated in the killing of Maurice Bishop and several of his colleagues in 1983. (Bruce is with us for the first half hour.)

We are then joined by Trinidadian-American trade unionist Roger Toussaint and cultural activist Martin Felix who came of age in Grenada during the revolution, to explore aspects of this oft neglected chapter of Caribbean history. How was this movement for self-determination launched in the pre-social media era? Why did Reagan take exception to the building of an international airport in Grenada? Did US involvement start at the post-killing invasion or was the Grenadian movement for self-determination infiltrated and destabilized?

Originally aired on Creatively Speaking On the Air June 18, 2014. There will be no live Q and A tonight.

Forward Ever will be screening FREE Friday June 20 at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn at 6PM and again at 4PM Saturday June 21 at Maisles Theater in Harlem. Purchase tickets for Harlem screening this Saturday here: http://maysles.org/mdc/forward-ever-the-killing-of-a-revolution/.

Listen live or archived at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/blackwholeradio/2014/06/21/legacy-of-1804-with-new-film-on-maurice-bishop-and-grenada-revolution or 323-927-2913.

You can listen to past shows on iTunes by searching keywords 'Legacy of 1804'. Past shows are also available at http://www.kiskeacity.com/search/label/LOF1804. On Twitter: react to or ask questions by using the hashtag #LOF1804

UPDATE: SHOW AUDIO

Check Out Culture Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Black Whole Radio on BlogTalkRadio

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kiskeácity daily is out ! Commented edition for Saturday, Dec. 03, 2011 #Haiti #Blogs

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From the blogs

Tande reviews the haitian-authored book Refonder Haiti?  (FR)

Caracas-based Balanced Melting Pot celebrates the holidays.

Ekspoze which I usually quote on politics, weighs in on controversial statements by Kreyòl La singer Ti-Joe Zenny. Also in music, www.culture509.com announces a duet between Haitian singer Jean Jean Roosevelt and Guadeloupean songstress Krysstal  as well as Oprah Winfrey's upcoming visit  to record a show (FR).

The Haiti Cultural Exchange blog offers accounts of the latest An n' Pale Café Conversation with Haiti-based author Evelyne Trouillot.

Rapadoo Observateur reports on growing solidarity with Haiti in Latin-American and other countries towards ending the UN military presence. 

The Haitian Queen provides updates on Trinidad & Tobago carnival 2012.


MNI Alive's list of Caribbean superfoods includes coconut and its oil, a multi-purpose health and nutrition elixir I have coincidentally been experimenting with.  Excellent skin and hair moisturizer, dental hygiene aid and cooking oil!


In the News

Haitian tourism minister at Miami arts festival and end to arms embargo. (Haiti Libre)

kiskeácity daily is out ! Edition of Friday, Aug. 26, 2011

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Highlights

Headlines -

Digicel refusing interconnection with Natcom, in contrast with Voilà. (www.haitilibre.com). (See interview with Voilà CEO Padberg on the topic in Metro Newz of today below.)

More details on the continued conflict between Martelly and Parliament heads on the procedure to choose a Prime Minister. (www.haitilibre.com)


From the blogs -

Haiti - Cyrus Sibert of Réseau Citadelle deplores the fact that Martelly has been put on the defensive by Parliament and offers theories on who is pulling the strings in the background. (Headlines)

Trinidad - Global Voices offers a social media review of the debate around the state of emergency. Gerard Best looks at how the price of rice in Trinidad may lead to increased local production of fibery roots. (Headlines)

Video -
(May not appear on emails. Please view on www.kiskeacity.com or directly in paper.)


Jamaican arts activist Dutty Bookman talks about his new memoir.






Haiti-based Metro Newz for yesterday covers:

•  the aftermath of Irene: two have now been found dead because of the overflow of a normally dry ravine; 
• MINUSTAH saying the only report they recognize on the cholera issue is their own;
• update on camp population: 60% have left;
• footage of Voilà's CEO talking at a TPTC commission hearing about his company's cooperation with Natcom on interconnection contrary to Digicel. 

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kiskeácity daily is out ! Edition of Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011 #HAITI #BLOGS

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Highlights


Nepalese origins of cholera in Haiti confirmed. (www.Sciencesetavenir.fr via Lakou28.)

Interview with Ricot Dupuy on Martelly's presidency, the UN's responsibility in cholera and the diaspora (www.CaribbeanJournal.com).  I would like to congratulate Caribbean Journal on doing an increasingly better job at covering the Haitian news by posting Haitian sources and commentators as opposed to just international agencies.


From the blogs -

Haitian

Miss Haiti comes out second in Miss Universe online contest, as reposted by Blog Carel La from a Brazilian blog. Beauty pageants are often controversial, but this is a testament to the many Haitian tweeters and bloggers such as Carel Pedre, Beltifi.com  and Jean-Junior Joseph who have been tirelessly asking folks to vote for her via Twitter, Facebook etc. in the past few days.

Love Haiti (www.haitisuntimes.com) offers suggestion to the president on the "schools for all" idea. (FR)

www.culture509.com reviews a new book on Petit-Goâve.

Caribbean

Global Voices offers a slice of the debate in Trinidadian social and online media over the state of emergency there.


Video -

(Some email readers will have to view on www.kiskeacity.com.)



Yesterday's edition of Metro Newz by Télé Métropole in Haiti offers even more updates on what tropical storm Irene has left behind in terms of devastation. The good news is no lives were lost. The bad news is there were many floods including in camps of the displaced, damages to property and 1,000 people in government shelters.

Natcom (the former Teleco now 40% government owned) is requesting interconnection with the reluctant Digicel network and the end of the sabotage to its cables. The ball is now apparently in CONATEL's camp.

AccesHaiti CEO complains about the arrest of four of its workers accused of "bypassing."















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kiskeácity daily is out ! Editions of Thursday, Aug.18 and Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011

La Troupe Makandal at Pwezi Anba Tonèl last night in Brooklyn.
A Haiti Cultural Exchange event.

VIEW ARCHIVED EDITION FOR THURSDAY

Highlights

Mayor of Les Cayes says he was bypassed by President in organizing Gelée Festival. (Nouvelliste)
The Bwa Kayiman ceremony revisited by www.culture509.com blog.
Climate change and Caribbean tourism. (Caribbean Journal)

Plus:
Wyclef Jean conversion and back to school preparations in Haiti.
Video of Metro News for Aug. 17th.

VIEW TODAY'S EDITION

Highlights


Delay of a month in back to school date for Haitian children. (Radio Peyizan quoted by Réseau Citadelle)
Trinidad Cement Limited plant to settle in Varreux in partnership with Haitian company Win Group. (www.haitilibre.com)

From the Blogs -
Meteyo and Citizen Haiti/Sitwayen Ayiti warn of upcoming tropical storm Irene which may hit Haiti Monday night.
C'est plutôt ça Haiti posts a video of plays by Haitian  Belfort for his French soccer team.

Video -
Promotional clip for Brooklynites Lamar Bailey and Pascale Boucicaut's Yemanja restaurant in Panama.
Haitian diaspora photographer Sydney Etienne is currently in Haiti and offers shots under the rubric Beautiful Haiti.

Photos and Music -
Under the #Haiti tab: Blog Carel La posts Presteej track and ocean landscape.

Yours truly's twitpic shots of Pwezi Anba Tonèl last night on the sidewalk of Five Myles Gallery in Brooklyn. Performers included La Troupe Makandal and poets Michèle Voltaire Marcelin, Denisé Lauture who read the famous poem Guinée by Jacques Roumain, Jennifer Célestin and Josaphat Robert Large. Translations for the poems were projected on the gallery's façade.




Fundraiser party for Yemanja from helene zund on Vimeo.

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kiskeácity daily is out ! Edition of Tuesday, Aug. 09, 2011

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Haiti Headlines - Voilà receives award for Tcash mobile payment program (FR & EN).  Haitian women rebuilding Haiti by removing rubble by hand (FR &EN). Haitian women receive training in soccer football .


Caribbean - Grenada calling on its diaspora. Racialized party structure in Trinidad. Jamaica getting a sweet deal on sugar.


Video - My own video of Régine Roumain talking about Haiti Cultural Exchange's goal for a Haitian cultural center in NY. Footage of London riots yesterday. Two editions of Haiti-based Metro News covering topics from the next step on the Prime Minister search, Kay Pa'm, Jean-Claude Bajeux, Voilà's Tcash, policing and student protests etc. 


Photos - Under the #Haiti tab, pictures of the Aug. 5th James Germain/Emeline Michel concert at Fokal. 


Enjoy!






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Nicholas Laughlin on Caribbean Literature

David Sasaki has a lovely interview with Trinidadian author Nicholas Laughlin. They are both at the Calabash literary festival in Jamaica right now and you can almost taste the sea salt. They are talking about Caribbean literature, imaginary roads, creoleness and it all makes you a bit nostalgic...

I'm embedding the video below but you can also just click here.



Nicholas blogs here and is the editor of the Caribbean Review of Books.

Technorati Tags: nicholaslaughlin, caribbeanreviewofbooks, calabashliteraryfestival

A New Calypso Tribute to Barack

As seen on my friend Lolo's blog IES OUI KANE, there appears to be yet another calypso anthem to Barack. This new one is by Mac Lean Emmanuel and Stanley Humphreys from the group King Short Shirt and it's not so subtly titled Barack We Love You:

Recall Barack the Magnificent by the Mighty Sparrow which Mighty played as early as last year's West Indian Day parade on Eastern Parkway.

The Mighty Sparrow - Barack the Magnificent

Caribbean Free Radio is Back

It's the Aimé Césaire edition. Georgia Popplewell who is Trinidad-based has a special connection to Martinique because she lived there for a bit. Very soothing to the ear. Georgia knows how to select her music clips.

Georgia is the current Managing Editor of Global Voices and Caribbean Free Radio is her own blog and podcast.

Aimé Césaire is the legendary Martiniquan poet, statesman and philosopher who passed away last week. A national icon for Martiniquans.

Technorati: Caribbean Free Radio - aimé césaire - georgia popplewell

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Haiti Now! Film Festival at U.W.I.

An interesting review of the Haiti Now! Seminar which happened earlier this year at the University of the West Indies' St-Augustine campus in Trinidad. This is not the freshest news but there have been some misunderstandings between anglophone West Indians and Haitians over Caricom and its role in Haiti so this kind of cultural effort for mutual understanding is worth noting. The seminar, which appears to be recurring, credits itself partially for the post-2004 surge in films on Haiti. Note the bredth of haitian filmmakers presented: the roster actually includes filmmakers who reside in the country.

Carnaval Here, Carnaval There, Carnival Everywhere

Trinidad

• Georgia's pictures of the last hours of the trini bacchanal.

Brazil/Lusosphere

• Lusosphere: Reporting Carnival, Jose Murilo Junior's roundup at Global Voices of what local bloggers are saying about carnival in Brazil.
  

Martinique

• Pictures of Miss Carnaval 2007 and more by Amandine.
  

Guyane

• Walking, dancing Mother Natures by Photoblog de la Guyane.
  

Guadeloupe

• Carnaval Beignet recipe (FR).
  

Haiti

• Just in case you haven't been reading this blog in the past couple of days: the whole enchilada.
  

Photo by CaribbeanFreePhoto

Technorati Tags: brazil, carnaval

Wyclef in Jacmel

Two Carib bloggers seem excited about Wyclef's December 1st concert in Haiti: haiti-based Yon Ayisyen and Trinidad based Chookooloonks.

Says Yon Ayisyen (Fr): "He will perform December 1st two days before the local and municipal elections. I wonder, will he take the opportunity to stay and vote on Sunday?"

Chookooloonks aka Karen Wolrond, recently had some background to offer on the concert:

Wyclef Jean, of The Fugees fame, is Haitian, and he runs a foundation called Yele.org, an organization whose stated mission it is "to empower the people of Haiti and the Haitian diaspora to rebuild their nation" through combining "the power of music with the tools of development in the areas of education, health, environment and humanitarian assistance." You can read more about their projects here. Next week, in the small town of Jacmel in Haiti, and in conjunction with the Jacmel International Film Festival, Yele.org is hosting Yele Fest, which culminates in Wyclef's first concert in Haiti in 8 years, and is expected to draw a crowd of 50,000.

Incidentally, Haitian-American jazz band Mozayik recently had a Haiti debut performance. 1700 attended. They offer a picture album on their site.


technorati: haiti - haitian-american - wyclef jean - mozayik - caribbean - jacmel

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Podcasts, Links and More

• Port-Salut pops up on a online Caribbean beach guide. Brings back memories. Well deserved.
  
• French literary blog Topolivres posts (Fr) a podcast of an excerpt of Haitian poet and playwright Syto Cave's show Voisins Complices [Neighbors and Accomplices]. Voisins Complices has been performed in Haiti and Barcelona and is scheduled to go to New York in 2007.
• Trini debate about the need to "integrate" Afro and Indo Trinis.
  
• Creole language podcast on [Haitian founding father]Dessalines.

(Can you tell I'm in a hurry today?)

Technorati:
haiti - caribbean - trinidad - dessalines

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I Finally Met Georgia!

I've been talking about Georgia Popplewell for months and linking to her Trinidad-based blog and podcast Caribbean Free Radio often. She introduced me to Global Voices by recruiting me as an author for the Caribbean region and then I started covering francophonia for them. It's been almost a year. We conversed and collaborated almost daily in the virtual world but had never met in person. I finally met her during her last trip to NY. We had a wonderful Brooklyn dinner and I got a great shot of her and her cousin and baker extraodinaire Christiana at Chez Oskar! (Georgia is the lady in blue.)

Of course we got to play the six degrees game as we discovered that she hung out in South Africa years ago with M, the very woman who introduced me to Fort Greene. Guess who was cat-sitting for M while she was off meeting Georgia in South Africa? Moi, of course.



caribbean free radio - georgia popplewell - chez oskar - fort greene - brooklyn

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Second Generation Nation: Mill Polyné PhD on Growing up Haitian in America

Dr. Millery Polyné, 31, is Assistant Professor of History at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. He holds a PhD from the University of Michigan and is writing a book on the history of relations between Haitian and African-American leadership.

Born and Raised in Boston

Alice says -- So you are of Haitian parents born and raised in the United States. You are what many call a second generation Haitian-American. You're obviously bright and you could have become a doctor or lawyer or a rapper or whatever else. Why History and Haitian History specifically?

Millery says --Why Haitian history? Well, I grew up basically during a time when to be Haitian in Boston was to be ostracized to the margins.

Millery says -- I went to Morehouse College and I had a Liberian professor who spoke to me about the Haitian Revolution which blew my mind. It wasn't until my junior year of college that I actually took some real pride in my Haitianness. It's sort of a typical story of a child of immigrants discovering their identity late in the game.

Alice says -- What do you mean by "to be Haitian in Boston was to be ostracized to the margins"?

Millery says -- Boston has a significant Haitian population. In the 1970s and 80s, many Haitians were seen as refugees, low wage earners, vodou practicing people. The black and white American communities, as is typical in most places, tend to marginalize new ethnic groups on the block. Kids are picked on. Mothers and fathers are insulted. Employers relegate them to certain jobs.

Alice says -- I hear that.

Millery says -- Similar to many Haitian mothers, my mother entered into the economic niche of a nurse’s aid in a convalescent home -- when she had other aspirations.

Alice says -- Right. So how did you relate to Haiti before that magic junior year in college?

Millery says -- Well, it's a mixed bag. I loved to hear my family or other Haitians discuss politics. And I was always interested in the current political situation. But, it was clear to me from an early age that non-Haitians treated us differently. I despised being the Other.

Alice says – Did you feel more the Other than the average African-American? Or the average non-Haitian West Indian?

Millery says -- Possibly. I was the Other in terms of being darker skinned; the Other because of not speaking Kreyol well; the Other because of different traditions in the household.

Alice says – Just to play devil’s advocate, each of those things may or may not have to do with being Haitian... no? I mean, one could be Bajan or Jamaican or Trini and similarly complexioned to you and other immigrant groups might have had different traditions in the home too, no?

Millery says -- Well, because of the popularity of reggae to be Jamaican was, in my opinion, cool. Most other Caribbean peoples were typically thrown into the British Caribbean crowd. People from the British/American Caribbean had an easier time transitioning because of language and in terms of youth culture it was easier to digest without a longer legacy and memory of "voodoo" and all the ignorance.

Alice says – Right.

Teen-Aged and Haitian in the 80s and 90s

Alice says -- Wyclef Jean does a very good job I think of bringing home what it was like to be Haitian and a teen in those years (and even today I’m sure).

Millery says -- I wish Wyclef was popular in the 1980s. For some reason you need these popular figures to validate your existence in some ways.

Alice says -- In his song Lavi New York (Life in New York) he talks in Creole about being attacked and beaten up in public school. He says "Male lekol/ Ameriken te atakem, panikem, maltretem/ Fe saw vle, ou pakab dechoukem/...Respekte Ayisyen natif natal" ("I went to school/ Only to be beaten up/ However much you tried you couldn't uproot us/... Better learn to respect us Haitians.") I get goose bumps when I hear that song. And you get a sense that what he is saying is : "How ya like me now?"

Millery says -- YES! And I think a part of that attitude informed my path to academia and educational achievement. And people all over the world are becoming more and more interested in Kreyol and Caribbean identity. I presume Wyclef and I are around the same age. And it is important for the Wyclefs and Danticats to keep telling our stories.

On the Path to History

Alice says -- So walk us through the process of you going from this state of not liking that Otherness that others projected on you presumably because of Haitianity to running into the Liberian professor to deciding : “I'm going to become a Historian of Haiti.”

Millery says -- Well, the process, in many ways, is quite simple. It's a mixture of being confused about what role identity should play in one's life--African Americanness/Haitianness. I went from a confused state of not letting ethnic identity define me to a hip hop culture where Public Enemy, black consciousness and African medallions became quite influential in my life.

Alice says – Right.

Millery says -- From there Boyz N the Hood came out and at the end Trey went to Morehouse and one of my high school mentors was a graduate of the college.

Alice says – LOL.

Millery says -- Professor Augustine Konneh was the influential Liberian teacher in my life and he connected many of the African diasporic dots that became critical to my intellectual and personal development.

Alice says -- Having grown up in Haiti where most of my profs were Haitian, it's hard to fathom a non-Haitian offering Haitian history to you. What did you think about that? Was it strange to you or did you not even think about it?

Millery says -- I didn't even think about it. Most of my education, outside of my parents, was fed to me by non-Haitians.

Alice says -- What were you getting by way of history from your parents?

Millery says -- My parents didn't talk much about Haitian history. I was brought up to be an American. My parents never said I was Haitian. They always made it quite clear that I was born in the US and that I was American.

Alice says –- Your parents’ way seems to be one side of the coin. It is a different take from that of other Haitian parents I know who raised kids here but tried to counter their identification to African-American youth culture by imposing a haitianness that the kids just couldn't handle because they wanted to fit in at school.

Millery says -- Yes.
.
Alice says -- But by contrast your parents seemed to have wanted a blank slate for you.

Millery says -- Yes, in some ways. They sent me to French school early on because some friends of theirs recommended it. But that didn't last long. My parents never had a desire to send us back to Haiti because they felt that all our opportunities for success were here in the U.S.

Alice says -- So you left the French school? I know a Haitian family who sent their kids to a French school in Boston too. It’s gotta be the same one.

Millery says -- Yeah! But I still remember the French national anthem. Colonization of the mind in the U.S.

Alice says – La Marseillaise? LOL. That is hilarious. Now, I totally get that Konneh could have opened up a whole world for you in terms of Haitian History, but why make it your profession?

Millery says -- Well, the funny thing is that when I left high school I realized how many of my friends were Haitian but never admitted it. As a college student I witnessed my little cousins not knowing a single word in Kreyol. I fell in love with the power of education and history on a person’s life. It sounds hokey, but that was my driving force.

Millery says -- I became a history major and when I graduated I knew I didn't want to become a high school teacher right away so I decided to apply to grad school since all my other nerdy history major friends were doing the same. It seemed like becoming a professor on the college level was the kind of life I wanted to have. So, in many ways it was quite practical.

Alice says – Right.

Undercover

Alice says -- I'm still intrigued by the concept of you finding out that some of your high school friends had been Haitian and not admitted it. Were they not admitting it to you even?

Millery says -- Yes. It was weird. I look back on it now and many of them had Haitian last names. And maybe we never admitted it to each other.

Alice says –- LOL. That was going to be my next question. Couldn’t you tell they were Haitian from their names? Was haitianness a covert thing in high school?

Millery says-- In many ways I was clueless about what was considered a “Haitian” last name.

Alice says -- Were none of these kids getting together and speaking some Creole and joking about their parents the way I see my American born Haitian-American cousins do…

Millery says -- If you can believe it blackness was covert in the school I went to. No one spoke Kreyol. No vèvès on the school hallways

Alice says –- LOL. No vèvès on most school hallways in Haiti either believe it or not. LOL. In fact no vèvès in any school probably. But I know what you mean.

Alice says -- So your school was majority white?

Millery says – Yes, but you bring up a good question about performing identity. In some cases you get people doing that to distinguish themselves and other times people are reluctant and try to blend into the "white universal."

Alice says -- Do you think a similarly situated Haitian-American in a Boston school today that was like yours is having the same experience you had?

Millery says -- I know they are. I started a project about Haitians writing letters to Haiti and I received a number of letters from high school students who revealed some of that angst.

Alice says -- In the song Bay Micro'm Volume on Welcome to Haiti, Wyclef says "now we're on the map." (By we he means Haitians.) Is he a little too optimistic? Is the message in the music not trickling down just yet or is it that the culture among the kids has not quite caught up to where he's “at” in his own personal journey?

Millery says -- Well, I can take that several ways. There's a pop culture map where Edwidge and Garcelle Beauvais and Wyclef are spreading the word about who we are as a people. At the same time the message is trickling down but similar to Reaganomics, it's a slow trickle.

Alice says -- LOL

Millery says -- The overwhelming images we have are on television and the news and inform people's ingrained misconceptions.

Alice says – Right.

Millery says -- And I'm an academic and I know that few students will read my book or my articles. But I am dedicating it to Afri-Haitian Americans who ever had to struggle with who they are.

Alice says -- Why will only a few students read your books?

Millery says -- Well, unfortunately, the venues for academics early in their career to publish their work is limited to journals and presses that do not market to young people or their teachers.

Alice says -- What's an Afri-Haitian-American?

Millery says -- Afri-Haitian American is a moniker for people who are native Haitians or Americans born of Haitian parents who also can solidly identify as African American and with black issues in the U.S.

Alice says – Right. Do academics have the time or means to think of spreading their work beyond academia to others who also need it? I mean here you are on your way to tenure (you've already taught for three years) and you need to publish within those presses that you mentioned. Does that leave you time to even think of spreading some of your knowledge to some of these high school students who might be going around ignoring or even hiding their Haitianness?

Millery says -- I believe it's virtually nonexistent. We may give a talk here or there in a high school. I gave a talk at a Haitian unity dinner at St. John's University last year. And I hopefully will give a talk at a high school in Boston and elsewhere in the future.

Millery says -- In this age of publish or perish, academics teach their classes and go home and write. One could do outreach but that never happened when I was growing up. It is essential for that bridge between the university and high school to be built. Haitian professors need to know the teachers and principals in their communities. But admittedly it's tough.

On Black Public Intellectuals

Alice says -- What do you make of the many black public intellectuals who manage to build that bridge but mostly through the media? Cornel West who did a rap CD and appeared on the Matrix, Michael Eric Dyson etc. Even Manning Marable has a website and an agent.

Millery says -- Quite honestly, I was hatin' on public intellectuals for a while because I felt like the level of analysis was being watered down. But now I see their purpose and I understand that they come from a legacy of intellectuals who used the public forum to communicate their ideas to everyone.

Millery says -- What are your thoughts, Alice?

Alice says -- If I have any anxieties about academia it's precisely the idea of working so hard to be heard by so few who themselves are often so privileged. So I don't really mind the public intellectuals.

Millery says -- It's really the complexity of life and of individuals who desire the best for themselves and their people at the same time.

Alice says -- I see them as professionals like any professionals who want to do a good job while making a living…

Millery says –- Right. But many of our organizations/black colleges don't have the funds to pay for our own intellectuals.

Alice says –- True.

Millery says -– These academics are making six figures and it’s nearly impossible to hear their lectures because of the expensive honoraria or their busy schedules. I hope I never make that mistake.

Teaching Caribbean Immigrants at CUNY

Alice says – So did you choose to be at CUNY?

Millery says -- I did.

Alice says -- Did you even consider an Ivy or other private institutions?

Millery says -- Right now in my life I wanted to be at a public university, somewhere where students had a similar experience to mine. Although I went to a private college most students at CUNY are from working class families.

Alice says -– Right. So do you teach Haiti in your classes?

Millery says -– Definitely. I teach the Haitian revolution specifically and I also talk about race and color in Haiti in my History of the Caribbean course.

Alice says -- How many classes do you teach?

Millery says -- I basically teach History of the Caribbean, Modern Latin America and a course called Americas Encounter Europe. Three courses. I plan to offer a course on "the dictator" in the developing world.

Alice says -- What do you like most about being a history prof?

Millery says -- What I enjoy most is making history relevant to student's current dilemmas. When I can get a student to make connections with their current reality I'm a happy brotha.

Alice says -- Does that happen often?

Millery says -- Often, in the sense that every semester I have students who tell me they appreciate my class and what they learned. Evaluations are a good indicator. But I’m happy when a colleague will tell me that a student enjoyed my class.

Alice says -- What do you like least about being a history prof?

Millery says -- What I dislike is obviously the grading but that has nothing to do with history. I guess what I dislike and love the most is that there are no definite answers to life's most pressing questions.

(Photo Courtesy Brian A. Gaffney.)

CSA 2005: Innette 15 years later

The colorful sari, the sing-songy Trinidadian lilt and soft, warm mannerisms were the same. Even the savant glasses were the same but the short afro was now vaguely salt-and-pepper. If I no longer knew her name, I knew who she was.

Flashback. Summer 1989, now theater producer then history teacher Florence Jean-Louis Dupuy approached Shirley D., Leila W. and me and asked if we'd represent Haiti at a cross-Caribbean youth camp in Trinidad. I was ecstatic. The camp turned out to be a truly life-forming experience. One through which I discovered the world right around Haiti for a change. The world of VH1, MTV and all of American pop culture was already quite familiar, what with all the hipness of speaking english, listening to Prince and visiting America. There would now be life beyond Lalue, the navy uniforms and the girly mischief of sneaking lip gloss past Sister Anne-Marie.

There was the discovery that people with neither European nor African descent lived in the Caribbean, that Trinidad was 40% Indian. There was the youth of Raja Yoga with whom we prayed, there was Vincent Bain Nathaniel (or was it Bain Vincent Nathaniel?) the St Lucian, there was Tony Sempere and ___ the two Guadeloupean boys whom I later saw again in Guadeloupe, and all the others I can't remember. There was the visit to the youth detention facility where we spoke about youth rehabilitation and received the trini coat of arms--or was it the Haitian flag-- encrusted in leather squares. There was peanut juice, the sweet in the cuisine, mango chutney. There was poet Eintou Pearl Spring who housed Shirley and I the first evening and who made us listen to David Rudder's "Haiti I'm Sorry". There was the middle-eastern inspired architecture. There was the striking woman walking down the street in a fuchsia tchador--not only were there Indians but there were also Muslims in the Caribbean?-- and in a Chanel dress-- apparently certain trini women liked marrying Moslems precisely because of their Chanel acquiring power, said my guide. There was the interview with Trudy --the web says Judy--Alcantara on a local channel, my first and probably last time on a TV set. Who knows which of my flashbacks were from the actual trip and which were from later internet surfs on Trinidad? It changed my life nonetheless.

Seeing crinkly tresses in Trinidad on the beautiful dogla women made me set my own free. I now wanted to know all about Negritude --and Depestre's Bonjour et Adieu felt more like a sellout then,-- Bob Marley and Kassav'--okay I knew them before going but I had not been as obsessed with Guadeloupean and Martiniquan creole.

Yup, this was her, the woman who had made that much needed culture clash possible. She was right here in Santo-Domingo, 15 years later. I re-introduced myself amidst bites of Dominican artisanal cheeses, pasteles and cold cuts, screaming atop the rootsy live bachata combo. Many a professional deconstructor were still dissecting the opening night speech His Excellency Leonel Fernandez had just made. Why did he talk about solidarity when he'd just expelled people for looking Haitian? Was he sincere about Caribbean integration? Would the DR join CARICOM?

"Oh my goooowdddd! Come hear this, Nadine. This was one of my pupeels at the peace coomp in Chaguaraaaamass. Oh my Gooooooooowddd!" Her name was Innette Cambridge I re-learned. Except now she had become Dr. Cambridge and taught at UWI St-Augustine. Social work. And no, there was no more camp. The scarce money and all the benevolent energy had run out. But there had been several camps, some cross-Caribbean, some not. Some paying, some not. And no, contrary to what I'd told people for years, the Peace-Camp-in-Trinidad-that-changed-my-life had not been funded by UNESCO. Innette had preferred autonomy so as to program the camp freely and without constraints. Oh and she now had a son she had to raise and could no longer afford to spend her own money on the camps. She almost lost her house funding them.

Although I grew up on Hispaniola, I had never been to Santo Domingo or the Dom. Rep. before CSA 2005. Blazed by years of cold Big Apple winters, I had buried deep the cross-caribbeanist vision instilled in me by Innette's Peace Camp. Fitting I ran into her at my second cross-caribbean experience ever...

CSA 2005-- this year's Caribbean Studies Association conference-- took place in Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. People from all over the world who study the Caribbean came together under the theme "Caribbean Integration in the Age of Information" from May 30th to June 5th.

copyright alice backer 2005