Listed as a 2021 Book of the Year by The Times Literary Supplement
Soup Joumou
Haiti’s Soup Joumou, also known as Freedom Soup, was awarded protected heritage by Unesco. Dominique Dupuy, Haitian ambassador to UNESCO, cried when she heard the news. Freedom Soup is a joyful picture book written by Tami Charles and illustrated by Jacqueline Alcantara. It was selected for Read Across America.
Teaching Haiti
Teaching for Change is a nonprofit dedicated to building social justice in the classroom. They offer comprehensive educator resources on Haiti. You’ll find book lists, lesson plans, articles, films, and Haitian-led grassroots organizations with proven track records.
A good starting point is their excellent Teaching about Haiti booklet. It was last updated in 1994, but it’s still helpful for realizing the complicated history between the US and and the second republic in the New World.
Their book lists are divided into Elementary, Middle School, High School Fiction and Nonfiction.
Educa Vision is a Haitian-owned publisher based in Florida that specializes in outstanding multimedia educational material about Haiti and learning Haitian Kreyol.
Haiti: Then and Now offers recommendations for readings on Haiti, the Haitian Revolution, and Haitian Studies.
The Haitian Studies Association (HSA) supports scholarship on Haiti to inform policy about Haiti in the international community. HSA holds annual conferences and publishes the Journal of Haitian Studies. Membership is open to anyone interested in HSA’s mission.
HSA also hosts The Haitians Book Club, a virtual book club open to non-members. The Haitians Book Club is now on YouTube. To join the club, click here.
The Other Revolution: Haiti, 1789 -1804 is a one-of-a-kind online exhibition at the John Carter Brown Library. This site is a treasure trove of digital primary documents from every year of the Haitian Revolution, along with writing by and about Toussaint Louverture and on the impact of the Haitian Revolution.
Recommended Books
Other Resources
This is a list I created of books, documentaries, and organizations that I highly recommend.
This recommended Haitian reading list was created with poet Danielle Georges in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
For news from a Haitian perspective in English, check out The Haitian Times and Woy Magazine (also available in Kreyol) and in French, Le Nouvelliste.
Learn about Zora Neale Hurston’s fieldwork in Haiti, the inspiration for my upcoming novel.
Read about Anthony Bourdain in Haiti, an episode of “No Reservations” filmed after the 2010 earthquake, and hear his thoughtful words in this interview.
For fans of Top Chef, savor this New York Times profile about Haitian-American chef Geoffrey GourdFor fans of Bravo’s Top Chef, savor this New York Times profile of the Haitian-American chef and restaurant owner Gregory Gourdet and this excerpt from his cookbook, Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health.
For tennis fans, watch Naomi Osaka in Haiti.
Support Haiti
From first-hand experience, I highly recommend the Lambi Fund. Since 1994, it has worked to strengthen Haitian civil society and democracy by funding projects in sustainable development, community micro-credit, animal husbandry, the environment, and leadership training.
The Haitian Education Leadership Program is Haiti’s largest university scholarship program, working to stop the brain drain. For scholarship students, who agree to stay in Haiti, all university expenses and extras, such as textbooks and other supplies, housing, internships, leadership training, and career guidance, are covered. Meet some of their alumni.
In partnership with the Haitian Education Leadership Program, the Claudette Pinede Memorial Scholarship was created in 2021, in memory of my mother, a dedicated science and math teacher. It is the first and only university scholarship for female Haitian students who want to pursue a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM).
If you’d like to recommend a resource for this page, please contact me at nadinepinede at gmail dot com.
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