Mothers’ Religious Influence on Children Experiencing Trauma: Haiti Community Clinic Focus Groups

An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale hit Haiti on January 10th, 2010. The earthquake, an urgent crisis, occurred in the context of persistent social dysfunctions, amplifying both the chronic poor living conditions and adversities for children and families. The purpose of the study was to enquire into the possible ways children in Haiti are socialized by the religiousness and other coping ways of their mothers and caretakers in the childhood contexts of societal and continuous trauma.

Continue ReadingMothers’ Religious Influence on Children Experiencing Trauma: Haiti Community Clinic Focus Groups

Faith, Hope and the Poor: The Theological Ideas and Moral Vision of Jean-Bertrand Aristide

This present study considers Aristide’s democratic and social justice projects and theological reflections and theological intersections in the disciplines of theological anthropology, theological ethics, and political theology, as he himself engages all four simultaneously. The doctoral thesis locates Aristide’s thought and writings within Black intellectual tradition both in continental Africa and the African Diaspora.

Continue ReadingFaith, Hope and the Poor: The Theological Ideas and Moral Vision of Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Measuring Christian-Voodoo Syncretism in some Haitian Christian Churches in the North of Haiti

This study created a method for measuring the presence of Christian-voodoo syncretism in three Protestant denominations in the north of Haiti. Estimates of voodoo practice among Christians have ranged from 50% to 75%, although it is unclear how these percentages were derived.

Continue ReadingMeasuring Christian-Voodoo Syncretism in some Haitian Christian Churches in the North of Haiti

More Than a Misunderstood Religion: Rediscovering Vodou as a Tool of Survival and a Vehicle for Independence in Colonial Haiti.

The majority of Americans today closely associate the term “Voodoo” with satanism, witchcraft and barbaric sacrifice. Yet, far from these ill­formed depictions and misconceptions— which first took root through the western dominance of 18th century colonial Haiti and have been perpetuated through mediums of popular culture ever since...

Continue ReadingMore Than a Misunderstood Religion: Rediscovering Vodou as a Tool of Survival and a Vehicle for Independence in Colonial Haiti.

Mambos, priestesses, and goddesses: spiritual healing through Vodou in black women’s narratives of Haiti and New Orleans

In Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, Michel-Rolph Trouillot contextualizes silence as “an active and transitive process” (48) in the production of historical narratives. His examination of the Haitian Revolution (1791- 1804) reveals how silences are inevitably and oftentimes, consciously written into historical narratives

Continue ReadingMambos, priestesses, and goddesses: spiritual healing through Vodou in black women’s narratives of Haiti and New Orleans

The Band Carries Medicine: Music, Healing and Community in Haitian/Dominican Rara/Gaga

In the southeastern Dominican Republic, a festive, carnivalesque Easter procession featuring music, dance and ritual is widely performed by small local troupes of mostly poor rural workers and working-class residents of local mill towns.

Continue ReadingThe Band Carries Medicine: Music, Healing and Community in Haitian/Dominican Rara/Gaga