Part of her entry:
During the semester, my reading is almost always determined by my courses. This term, I am teaching a first year seminar "Haiti: Myths and Realities." So the last couple of weeks, I have been simultaneously re-reading The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat and Massacre River by René Philoctète-- two fictionalized accounts of the 1937 Trujillo ordered massacre of thousands of Haitians in the Dominican Republic. I am kicking myself for not having assigned either this time, choosing instead to use a significant social science text, Race and Politics in the Dominican Republic by Ernesto Sagas. That book offers a much more in-depth look at the historical development of what Sagas aptly calls Anti-Haitianism in the DR. My regret is that the visceral in the novels add a dimension to the tragedy that most structural analyses often miss. Next time, I will assign selections from all three. [read on]Gina Athena Ulysse was born in Petion-Ville, Haiti. She is a professor of Anthropology and African American Studies at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
Ulysse is also a poet/performer and multi-media artist.Learn more about Downtown Ladies.
Read her recent essay, "Michelle Obama: An Exceptional Model."
Visit Gina Athena Ulysse's website to learn more about her poetry and other projects.
Writers Read: Gina Athena Ulysse.
--Marshal Zeringue
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