Friends.
I live and work in Northern Haiti, but I grew up in the Haitian bubble of South Florida and in Port-au-Prince. I have heard from all my loved ones in the capital and can only be extremely grateful for the fact that there have only been relatively minor scrapes and bruises.
In other words: we are alive, but still in great pain.
After missing its initial runs in Port-au-Prince in 2003 (two sold out shows - both with standing ovations) and a showing in Miami an 2006, I finally lucked out this summer and got to see Florence Jean-Louis Dupuy's Haitian adaptation of the Vagina Monologues - or rather, Pawòl Chouchoun (a common Haitian Creole euphemism for, you know, down there).
Kreyòl Pale will be the the semi-regular mini-post about some of my favorite rare, funny or funky Haitian Creole words and phrases. And we launch with...
Tokay!
Two people are tokay when they share the same first name. As in: "Se tokay mwen." (They're my tokay). I have met very few tokay (only two as far I remember), and its precisely the first one I met that reminded me of the word.
Now, why Haitian Creole needs a word for something so specific is one of the Great Mysteries of the Universe...
Despite being a profound technophile I've always been - and still remain - ambivalent about the potential role of information technology in Haiti and other Third World countries. My mom bought our first home computer (an Apple II/C) when I was about 8 and I've been tinkering with the beasts since. Though everyone from high school remembers me as "that girl who loved computers", I specifically avoided studying in information technology because I wanted to be in a field that touched the lives of the Haitian working class and rural majority.
Augusto Boal, creator of the Theatre of the Oppressed (TOP), passed away this Saturday May 2nd at 78, and I extend my deepest condolences to his immediate family and the wider family of people inspired and galvanized by his teachings. TOP is a particularly powerful method for engaging mind/body/soul in deep political excavation: Where does power lie? How is it being used against me, my family, my community? How do I create a better world and challenge oppression without recreating it?
Zeklè Arts' digital birthday is May 1st, in honour of International Workers' Day. Today I claim the title of cultural worker, handed down to me by Toni Cade Bambara, who herself adopted the title after a visit to Cuba.
A writer, like an other cultural worker, like any other member of the community, ought to try to put her/his skills in the service of the community. -Toni Cade Bambara
So what does it mean to be a cultural worker?
