“Me, my books, and the Novelist”

I had an interesting dream last night that a friend of mine (who is also a writer and scholar) came to my house and said to me that she wants me to put all my books aside because she is going to need my office library to create a “tech library.” Without my consent, she came to the house with her secretary and started to hang on the walls tech artifacts, on shelves, and putting my books away.

When I confronted her about her decision to move my books to the office corners without my consent, she said that it is the “technological age. You won’t need printing books anymore in the future.” I was so upset and started to put my books in boxes and did not argue with her.

Now, I am mad at myself because I let her remove my books while I stayed in silence and failed to educate her and her secretary about the significance of books in print.

I am also mad at myself because I was too passive in the dream and did not advocate for myself and my books. lol lol lol

***The most interesting thing about the dream is that the person who took over my library and asked me to put all my books away so she could create a “tech library” in my office library is a famous Haitian novelist, and I love her work too. lol

My latest poem, “The Chaos We Breathe,” draws inspiration from Franketienne’s seminal novel ‘Dezafi,’ first published in Kreyol in 1975, marking it as the first Haitian Kreyol novel. The poem reflects more of Franketienne’s ideas and worldview than my own, enriched through the use of Artificial Intelligence for refinement. I hope you enjoy reading it. The poem is a lamentation on the desperate human condition depicted in Haiti within the novel’s setting. Let me know what you think.

By the way, my inspiration arises from a close reading of the novel as part of an essay I’m writing on the concept of zombification and its moral and ethical implications for society, particularly in relation to the sacredness of life, human rights and agency, and the pursuit of the common good and human flourishing in the world.

“The Chaos We Breathe”

In our midst, love and death lie tangled in sheets,
bones brittle from (our) wounds unseen.
At the crossroads, we wander lost,
our shadows devoured by ancient dark.
Fate bends the road beneath our feet—
where does it lead?
where lies our hope?
who will brave the fire to bring us back to light?
We gather memories like fragile glass, while dreams unravel in the wind.

We whisper to the wind, but it does not reply.
Our words scatter like leaves in the forest.
No hands reach to lift us nor save us from the chaos.
Who hears the weight of our silence?
Who reads the silence trembling beneath our breath?
Who will bleed with hope to break our binding chains?
Our dreams pile like dust in forgotten corners of the mind.

We touch yet love feels like a distant echo.
Anger burns between us, yet our hands still heal.
Under the ruthless sun, we wilt—
lips cracked, hunger gnawing,
They stole our food before it meets our tongues.
Though the heavens break with grief, the earth denies our pain.
We toil until our spines bend, yet no hands reach for ours.

They stitch our lips closed, silence thick as stone.
Our words choke in our throats, swallowed before our tongue can free them.
A wicked wind rises, devouring our voices and memories.
The earth drinks the blood of our infants, our youth, our elders—never quenched, always craving.
Rivers run red with slaughtered beasts.
We run after dreams that dissolve in air, while hope crumbles into the dust of yesterday.
Still, we learn to forget.
Still, we learn to remember.
Still, we learn to walk as one.
Still, we learn to love.

As I was getting ready for work this morning and listening to an Easter message on YouTube, I heard a very famous evangelical Christian pastor said “If you don’t believe in Jesus, you don’t believe in God.” This is in fact a theologically-loaded statement.

To be fair, his audience was Christian, but I would argue this is an irresponsible theological statement. Let me explain my reasons:

First of all, there are many religious traditions outside of Christianity that profess the belief in God, including Judaism, Islam, Yoruba religion, Vodou, Hinduism, etc. Yet they do not believe in Jesus as divine or God. Some do not equate the belief in Jesus with the belief in God. Othe faith traditions do not interpret this matter as a theological necessity or imperative, that is, to believe both in God and Jesus correspondingly as if these two entities are the same, share the same nature, and have equal power.

Secondly, the conception of God in these various traditions may vary. Thirdly, God is not the property of a particular religious system. Fourthly, even the so-called Abrahamaic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) espouse different conceptions of God that are often contradictory. Finally, while the Christian tradition views God as a Trinity and proclaims that God exists in three eternal persons as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, other traditions that do not affirm the Christian trinitarian doctrine do not necessarily translate into a disbelief in God.

However, in the “Christian Orthodox tradition,” as a theological position and confession, it is a theological necessity to believe both in Jesus and God. It’s theologically unthinkable to deny Jesus as divine and God’s Messiah and profess the trinitarian God. Christians believe that belief in Jesus as divine is necessary for salvation and the forgiveness of sin.

On the other hand, from a non-Christian theistic framework and when considering non-Christian (religious) traditions, the “disbelief” in Jesus and the belief in God is not a religious transgression nor is it an act of theological agnosticism/atheism.

Happy Wednesday, Good People!

I am back and reactivated my social media accounts. Hopefully, my accounts won’t be hijacked and photoshopped again 😔

Let me share some recent updates!

In addition to other medical complications, my seasonal allergies have gotten out of hand this time and I continue to suffer breathing problems in this city. This is been going on for three weeks now. Doc (the allergist) puts me back on meds. (I may have to take allergy injection for 16 weeks/four months. Yes, it is that severe on me) Frankly, no one likes to be dependent on meds to function normally. I’m allergic to everything in the world, including carpet, dust, pollen, trees, leaves, grass, even myself 😊

I was invited as a guest speaker and author to the Symposium to commemorate Haiti’s literary GIANT Frankétienne. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my flight. I actually wrote a good paper on “ Dézafi” for the event.😊

Some pleasant news/updates:

1. Last week, I received the “Teacher of the Year”Award from San Jacinto College. Thank you, San Jac community, especially our students!!!
2. I received a travel research grant to conduct research for a book project from the University of Florida (UF) Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. I wll be in Gainesville, Florida this summer. Go #Gators 🐊 ☀️
3. My paper proposal for the joint annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) was accepted. If the good Lord allows it, I will be in Boston in November.
4. Finally, I was able to do the edits and substantially trimmed down my manuscript on Jean Price-Mars, my biography on Price-Mars with Vanderbilt University Press. The original manuscript was 589 pages and I reduced it to 398 pages with endnotes excluding the 22-page biography. You should be proud of me 😊

I resubmitted the revised manuscript to the amazing VUP editorial team. I’ll wait for their feedback to move forward to the next step. Let me tell you, I have a big sense of relief now 😅

By the way, I will be teaching an 8-week Humanities course this summer with a focus on the concept of “The Good Life.” We will be interacting with sources from five disciplines, including classical philosophy, psychology, anthropology, religion, and music to explore what they say about “The Good Life” and its relationship to the “Happy Life.”

This is an undergraduate course.

**I have already written the first draft of the syllabus, but I welcome reading recommendations on the concept.

That’s all I had to share for today. Hope you have a pleasant Wednesday!