Nèg Mawon Podcast

Patrick Jean-Baptiste
  • 5.0 (14)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

As of April 2025, all new episodes are at rasanblaj.org. By the end of 2025, all old episodes will migrate to rasanblaj.org exclusively.

  1. [Scholar Series - Ep. #6] "Haiti Fights Back: The Life & Legacy of Charlemagne Péralte (1915-1934)." A Conversation w/ Prof. Yveline Alexis

    05/10/2025

    [Scholar Series - Ep. #6] "Haiti Fights Back: The Life & Legacy of Charlemagne Péralte (1915-1934)." A Conversation w/ Prof. Yveline Alexis

    Winner of the 2021 Haitian Studies Association Book Prize Haiti Fights Back: The Life and Legacy of Charlemagne Péralte is the first US scholarly examination of the politician and caco leader (guerrilla fighter) who fought against the US military occupation of Haiti. The occupation lasted close to two decades, from 1915-1934. Listen as Professor Alexis argues for the importance of documenting resistance while exploring the occupation’s mechanics and its imperialism. She takes us to Haiti, exploring the sites of what she labels as resistance zones, including Péralte’s hometown of Hinche and the nation’s large port areas--Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien. Alexis offers a new reading of U.S. military archival sources that record Haitian protests as banditry. Haiti Fights Back illuminates how Péralte launched a political movement, and meticulously captures how Haitian women and men resisted occupation through silence, military battles, and writings. She locates and assembles rare, multilingual primary sources from traditional repositories, living archives (oral stories), and artistic representations in Haiti and the United States. The interdisciplinary work draws on legislation, cacos’ letters, newspapers, and murals, offering a unique examination of Péralte’s life (1885-1919) and the significance of his legacy through the twenty-first century. Haiti Fights Back offers a new approach to the study of the U.S. invasion of the Americas by chronicling how Caribbean people fought back. Guest Profile Page https://neg.fm/dr-yveline-alexis/

    47 min
  2. [Scholar Series - Ep. #4] "Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games" - A Conversation with Prof. Alyssa Sepinwall

    05/10/2025

    [Scholar Series - Ep. #4] "Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games" - A Conversation with Prof. Alyssa Sepinwall

    From the publisher: In Slave Revolt on Screen: The Haitian Revolution in Film and Video Games, Dr. Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall analyzes how films and video games from around the world have depicted slave revolt, focusing on the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804).  Despite Hollywood’s near-silence on this event, some films on the Revolution do exist—from directors in Haiti, the US, France, and elsewhere. Slave Revolt on Screen offers the first-ever comprehensive analysis of Haitian Revolution cinema, including completed films and planned projects that were never made. In addition to studying cinema, this book also breaks ground in examining video games, a pop-culture form long neglected by historians. Sepinwall scrutinizes video game depictions of Haitian slave revolt that appear in games like the Assassin’s Creed series that have reached millions more players than comparable films. In analyzing films and games on the revolution, Slave Revolt on Screen calls attention to the ways that economic legacies of slavery and colonialism warp pop-culture portrayals of the past and leave audiences with distorted understandings. - Carolyn E. Fick, author of The Making of Haiti: The Saint Domingue Revolution from Below, writes: "Alyssa Sepinwall’s exciting new book, Slave Revolt on Screen, examines how the Haitian Revolution—the modern world’s first and only successful Black slave revolt—has been portrayed in film throughout the past century, exposing not only the flagrant distortions and factual departures from the historical record in these films, but also their exoticitized notions about Haiti and their implicitly and often explicitly white supremacist attitudes toward Haitians, and toward Blacks in general, that have permeated Hollywood and the film industry up to today. The book draws upon a sweeping range of films and video games (a new genre) on or about the Revolution as well as personal relationships and interviews with some recent filmmakers. Yet the skillful hand of the historian is omnipresent as Sepinwall brilliantly weaves together the history of the Haitian Revolution and the history of filmmaking about it, urgently calling for the yet-to-come masterpiece film on this historically epic Black liberation struggle for freedom."

    37 min

  3. 05/10/2025

    [Scholar Series - Ep. #37]"The Failure of Categories: Haitians in the United Nations Organization in the Congo". A Conversation w/ Dr. Regine O. Jackson

    Yes. Haitians were in the nation-building business! This episode covers a little-known chapter in Haitian history. Dr. Regine Jackson offers a fascinating, multi-sited, and interdisciplinary study of the United Nations Organization in the Congo (ONUC), a civilian operation established after the Democratic Republic of Congo achieved independence from Belgium.   Through narrative interviews in New York City, Port-au-Prince, Montreal and Paris and analysis of archives in Haiti, Kinshasa, and at UN headquarters in New York and Paris, Dr. Jackson helps us understand better the lived experiences of the Haitian educators, engineers, and doctors in the ONUC during the Congo crisis. her previous research suggests that many of these Haitian professionals saw postcolonial Africa as a space of possibility (see Jackson 2014).   This episode seeks to answer crucial questions about our best and brightest: about their pre-migration experiences in Haiti under Duvalier, the role of international organizations such as the UN and WHO, relations between Haitians and the Congolese, as well the circumstances of their departure from the Congo under Mobutu Sese Seko. Visit her guest page https://neg.fm/dr-regine-ostine-jackson/

    52 min

  4. 05/10/2025

    [Scholar Series - Ep. #59] Haiti's Paper War: Post-Independence Writing, Civil War, and the Making of the Republic, 1804–1954. A Conversation with Dr. Chelsea Steiber

    Dr. Steiber turns to the written record to re-examine the building blocks of Haitian history. Picking up where most historians conclude, listen as Dr. Chelsea Stieber explores the critical internal challenge to Haiti’s post-independence sovereignty: a civil war between monarchy and republic. What transpired was a war of swords and of pens, waged in newspapers and periodicals, in literature, broadsheets, and fliers. In her analysis of Haitian writing that followed independence, Dr. Stieber composes a new literary history of Haiti, one I'm certain challenges our interpretations of both freedom struggles and the postcolonial. She also examines internal dissent during the revolution, Stieber reveals that the very concept of freedom was itself hotly contested in the public sphere, and it was this inherent tension that became the central battleground for the guerre de plume―the paper war―that vied to shape public sentiment and the very idea of Haiti. Stieber’s reading of post-independence Haitian writing reveals key insights into the nature of literature, its relation to freedom and politics, and how fraught and politically loaded the concepts of “literature” and “civilization” really are. The competing ideas of liberté, writing, and civilization at work within postcolonial Haiti have consequences for the way we think about Haiti’s role―as an idea and a discursive interlocutor―in the elaboration of black radicalism and black Atlantic, anticolonial, and decolonial thought. In so doing, Stieber reorders our previously homogeneous view of Haiti, teasing out warring conceptions of the new nation that continued to play out deep into the twentieth century. Enjoy!

    56 min
  5. [Lakou Series - Ep #63] Restavek: Unraveling the Untold Stories of Haitian Child Slavery. A Conversation w/ Guilaine Brutus

    05/10/2025

    [Lakou Series - Ep #63] Restavek: Unraveling the Untold Stories of Haitian Child Slavery. A Conversation w/ Guilaine Brutus

    I'm thrilled to bring you another episode from our Lakou series, delving into the rich tapestry of Haitian culture living in the diaspora and in Haiti. Today, we have a very special guest joining us all the way from London, Guilaine Brutus, who is an integral part of the Haitian community there. In this episode, we explored a taboo topic in Haitian culture - the practice of Restavek, and child slavery. I'm not going to sugarcoat the practice by calling it child servitude. When people work for free, it's slavery. Period. Full stop. Guilaine shared her mother's personal experience as a Restavek in Haiti and in the Turks & Cacos. Listen to how Guilaine's mom and family coped with the hardships and sacrifices of being a Restavek. We examined the role of women in Haitian society, discussed the lack of recognition for their contributions and the importance of understanding the trauma individuals may carry with them. So, get ready for a thought-provoking, emotionally heavy, and insightful conversation as we delve into the world of Restavek and its long-lasting consequences on individuals, families, and Haitian culture. In the meantime, here are some top 10 questions worth considering as you listen to this episode: 1. How does the experience of being a Restavek shape a person's life and their relationship with their family? 2. What are some possible reasons why the speaker's mother chose to leave two of her children behind when she returned to the Turks and Caicos Islands? 3. How does the theme of sacrifice play a role in the speaker's mother's life and the choices she made for her family? 4. In what ways do cultural differences impact the expression of love and affection within families? 5. How does the speaker challenge societal norms and expectations surrounding women's contributions and recognition in society? 6. What role do ancestral traditions and practices, such as creating altars, play in Haitian culture and the speaker's personal experiences? 7. How does trauma, pain, and unspoken experiences impact the speaker's relationship with the person they are communicating with? 8. How do cultural traumas, like the Restavek system, continue to affect Haitian communities and individuals today? 9. How does education play a role in Haitian society, particularly in the context of the speaker's mother's determination to provide opportunities for her children? 10. In what ways do personal experiences of pain and trauma shape an individual's perspective on life and their ability to overcome adversity? Let's dive right in!

    31 min
  6. [Scholar Legacy Series - Ep. #66] The Roots of Haitian Despotism. A Conversation with Dr. Robert Fatton, Jr

    05/10/2025

    [Scholar Legacy Series - Ep. #66] The Roots of Haitian Despotism. A Conversation with Dr. Robert Fatton, Jr

    In this episode of the Nèg Mawon Podcast, we delve deep into the roots of Haiti's complex political landscape with Dr. Robert Fatton. From its foundation, Haiti has grappled with a social, economic, and political apartheid system that has marginalized the majority of its population. Dr. Fatton discusses how this system, rooted in divisions of color, class, and colonial hierarchy, has led to exclusionary practices in education and culture. Our guest emphasizes the economic basis of this system, calling for a more democratic and egalitarian society that meets the basic needs of all Haitians. He critiques the simplistic savior narrative often applied to Haiti and explores the historical context of the country's authoritarian tradition, advocating for a revolutionary transformation of both politics and the economy. Join us as we explore the persisting issue of authoritarian governance in Haiti, the challenges faced after the revolution, and the potential for a more inclusive and accountable society. This thought-provoking discussion sheds light on the structural forces shaping Haiti's past and present, offering crucial insights into the complexities of its history and the path to a more inclusive future.

    54 min
  7. [Scholar Series - Ep. #67] Ink & Insights: A Scholar's Path to Publication. A Conversation with Dr. Yveline Alexis & Editorial Director Kim Guinta.

    05/10/2025

    [Scholar Series - Ep. #67] Ink & Insights: A Scholar's Path to Publication. A Conversation with Dr. Yveline Alexis & Editorial Director Kim Guinta.

    So, how do scholars get their books published? Notice I didn't say self-published. That's a topic for another day. I mean published via established publishers. That's one of many questions I wanted some answers to. On today's show, we have two guests who will help us understand how the process of book publishing works. We have the historian and author Dr. Yveline Alexis, Associate Professor of Africana Studies & Comparative American Studies at Oberlin College. Dr. Alexis is the author of "Haiti Fights Back: The Life & Legacy of Charlemagne Péralte". This book is the first US scholarly examination of the politician and caco leader (guerrilla fighter) who fought against the US military occupation of Haiti from (1915 to 1934). Dr. Alexis will walk us through the peaks and valleys of what it took to get published. The next guest you will hear from in this conversation is the actual gatekeeper, and I mean that in the most positive sense. Her name is Kimberly Guinta, Editorial Director and Associate Press Director for Rutgers University Press, which published Dr. Alexis' first book Haiti Fights Back. The Title of today's episode is "Ink & Insights: A Scholar's Path to Publication." Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

    49 min
  8. [Scholar Legacy Series #69 Part 1/3] "Encountering Revolution: Haiti & the Making of the Early Republic." A Conversation w/ Dr. Ashli White

    05/10/2025

    [Scholar Legacy Series #69 Part 1/3] "Encountering Revolution: Haiti & the Making of the Early Republic." A Conversation w/ Dr. Ashli White

    Winner, of the Gilbert Chinard Prize, of the Society for French Historical Studies & the Institut Français d'Amérique. Encountering Revolution looks afresh at the profound impact of the Haitian Revolution on the early United States. The first book on the subject in more than two decades, it redefined our understanding of the relationship between republicanism and slavery at a foundational moment in American history. For postrevolutionary Americans, the Haitian uprising laid bare the contradiction between democratic principles and the practice of slavery. For thirteen years, between 1791 and 1804, slaves and free people of color in Saint-Domingue battled for equal rights in the manner of the French Revolution. As white and mixed-race refugees escaped to the safety of U.S. cities, Americans were forced to confront the paradox of being a slaveholding republic, recognizing their own possible destiny in the predicament of the Haitian slaveholders. Historian Ashli White examines the ways Americans―black and white, northern and southern, Federalist and Democratic Republican, pro- and antislavery―pondered the implications of the Haitian Revolution. Encountering Revolution convincingly situates the formation of the United States in a broader Atlantic context. It shows how the very presence of Saint-Dominguan refugees stirred in Americans as many questions about themselves as about the future of slaveholding, stimulating some of the earliest debates about nationalism in the early republic.

    50 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

As of April 2025, all new episodes are at rasanblaj.org. By the end of 2025, all old episodes will migrate to rasanblaj.org exclusively.

Information

  • Creator
    Patrick Jean-Baptiste
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    70
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Patrick Jean-Baptiste
  • Show Website
    Nèg Mawon Podcast