“Why I Write What I Write in 15 Propositions”

1. I write for Black people and for the Haitian people.
2. I write to instruct people about Haiti, Africa, and the African Diaspora.
3. I write to educate all people and to provide a vehicle for individuals to grow intellectually and emotionally and in connection with their environment and to the global village.
4. I write to expose my personal and intellectual sensibilities and to articulate my interpretation of the world and the human ideas and events that shaped and reshaped society and human civilization.
5. I write with an emancipative intent and from a liberative framework–as a person of faith: a follower of Christ–to engage critically and responsibly the intersections of faith, secularism, and humanism.
6. I write for humanity, about the human condition and experience in the world, and for the interest and delight of human beings.
7. I write because ideas in books have changed my life, and writing makes me a more compassionate person and engaged citizen of the interconnected world.
8. I write because I do not wish to see the Printed Culture disappear in our civilization nor do I want to experience the end of human reason and logic through the end of writing as craft, technology, and art.
9. I write to continue the conversation previous writers have initiated; to strengthen and expand the conversation through innovative ideas; to break and change the rules; to refine and reconstruct their ideas and arguments; and to celebrate and prolong their legacy through the written word.
10. I write because I believe in the freedom of the mind, the agency of human intellect, and the interindependence of human reason.
11. I write because writing sustains the life of the mind and prevents it from declining and altogether disappearing.
12. I write because my pen allows me to reflect upon the complexity of the human condition expressed through a history of pain and suffering, through a narrative of struggle and conflict, and through a life of human joy, pleasure, and solidarity.
13. I write to foster peace and human solidarity, and to strengthen human relationships and bring hope and healing to diverse communities.
14. I write for this present world, a new and transformed global community, and for a new generation yet to be born.
15. I write to make God smile and for Jesus to delight in my prose.