Haiti

In This Debate, a Woman Was the ‘Bigger Man’

PUBLISHED 9/11/2024 by

If there was any doubt that a woman could lead this country, it was put to rest last night. From the moment she crossed the stage and reached out her hand to greet Donald Trump, Kamala Harris dominated the presidential debate on substance, style and seriousness.

Like the prosecutor she used to be, the vice president made her case sharply and cleanly, identifying and exploiting Trump’s weaknesses. In doing so, she effectively undercut her opponent’s longtime strategy of snidely attacking, denigrating and even looming over women in debates.

Microcredit Is Transforming the Lives of Women Entrepreneurs in Haiti: ‘Business Is in My Blood’

PUBLISHED 8/18/2024 by

In 2020, the Raising Haiti Foundation began funding the provision of small loans ($25-$50) to 50 women clients in two communities: Medor and Sarrazin. Most of the women use their loans to become entrepreneurs, or to expand their current businesses, selling goods in local markets. Some use them to purchase livestock or crop seeds, improving their farming outputs.

This interview with recipient and entrepreneur Benita Bien-Aimé exemplifies some of the achievements of the microcredit clients.

“I think what makes women like me successful in business is that we have courage, we have strength; we know what the market needs are, we go looking for these products, and we bring them to the community!”

‘I Earn a Profit. I Can Feed My Family’: How Microcredit Lending in Haiti Is Changing Women’s Lives

PUBLISHED 7/28/2024 by

In 2020, the Raising Haiti Foundation began funding the provision of small loans ($25-$50) to 50 women clients in two communities: Medor and Sarrazin. Most of the women use their loans to become entrepreneurs, or to expand their current businesses, selling goods in local markets. Some use them to purchase livestock or crop seeds, improving their farming outputs.

This interview with recipient and entrepreneur Marimène Tijuste exemplifies some of the achievements of the microcredit clients.

“Having more and different types of products to sell in my business has changed my life. I have more clients. I earn a profit. I can feed my family. … Everything has changed for me!”

Thinking Big With Haitian Midwives

PUBLISHED 5/2/2024 by

In Haiti, there are high rates of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Founded in 2014, the Foundation for Advancement of Haitian Midwives (FAHM) partners with and supports Haitian midwives through education and outreach. Their work is urgent today while Haiti is in political turmoil, and unrelenting assaults by paramilitary groups have led to severe insecurity in the capital.

“Most people who are drawn to this want to produce safe competent, evidence-based care and to respect people’s voices, preserving the honor and dignity of every human being.”

April 2024 Reads for the Rest of Us

PUBLISHED 4/1/2024 by

Each month, we provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.

Here are 25 fantastic books releasing this month that we recommend you dig into. There are stunning debuts, masterful historical fiction, kaleidoscopic short stories, thoughtful manifestas, moving memoirs, groundbreaking nonfiction, and so much more.

Lessons from Bosnia to Gaza and the Urgency for Change

PUBLISHED 3/27/2024 by

As someone who lived in a war zone for over five years, north of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital, Sarajevo, I have borne witness to the horrors inflicted upon innocent souls women and children, my own community torn apart by violence and despair. Yet, in the face of such darkness, I have also seen the flicker of resilience, the unwavering spirit that refuses to be extinguished.

The failure of the international community to support a timely intervention in Bosnia has been well documented, but as I witness new conflicts across the globe in the three decades since, I see that we did not learn anything about protecting humanity. We cannot ignore the cries of innocent lives, including all the hostages caught in the crossfire of this conflict. Now is the time for decisive action; advocating to end relentless fighting and supporting urgent adequate delivery of humanitarian aid and medical assistance.

Listen to Black Women! A Review of ‘The Exorcist: Believer’

PUBLISHED 10/11/2023 by

The Exorcist: Believer employs its Caribbean-based opening scene not to locate an “origin” for demonic possession, but to follow an actual blessing in the form of a protection spell over an unborn child. Given how Haiti has been traditionally demonized in Western culture, this representation already elevates this film as a counter-narrative.

In the end, the latest installment of The Exorcist does much to alter Black representations in the horror genre, giving them due reverence and centrality in a mainstream movie while also allowing them to survive.

Biden Administration Clings to Title 42, Despite Its Harm to Asylum Seekers

PUBLISHED 1/26/2023 by

At the U.S. border with Mexico, under the notorious Title 42 policy, the pandemic is still routinely invoked to justify expelling immigrants seeking asylum without any semblance of review or due process.

Many criticize the Title 42 order as unnecessary, overreaching and cruel. Nonetheless, the policy has resulted in over 2.4 million expulsions to date—and counting.

‘Why We Still Love Zora’: Irma McClaurin on PBS Documentary ‘Claiming a Space’ and Zora Neale Hurston’s Legacy

PUBLISHED 1/17/2023 by

PBS’ American Experience premieres documentary film on pioneering writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960). Directed by Tracy Heather Strain, Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space is the first film to explore Hurston’s life and ethnographic work in great detail.

“Anthropology only started looking at the literary styles of novels and non-scholarly writing in the late ’80s. But Zora had already been there and done that,” said Irma McClaurin, Black feminist poet, anthropologist and Hurston expert.

In ‘The Third Reconstruction,’ Peniel E. Joseph Outlines the U.S. Struggle for Racial Justice in the 21st Century

PUBLISHED 1/15/2023 by

In recent months, historians have clashed over whether history should be used as a tool for the politics of the present. But Peniel E. Joseph’s latest work, The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century demonstrates that not only is the personal political, but the past is too.

Joseph argues the dynamics of the present are never truly knowable until we anchor them to the contours of the past. This means to look at the Black women and queer Black people who have guided movements for social justice throughout American history.