Happy Sunday, Good People!
Here’s a new poem I wrote this morning to inspire hope in the midst of despair and life’s uncertainties. At first, I called the poem “I turn to You,” then I changed it to the current title below :

“The Gravity of You”

When the melody fades into silence,
You compose a new song within me.
When life’s embrace falters and releases its hold,
I turn to you, where dawn renews its promise.
If the sun hides its warmth at morning’s call,
Your steadfast star will guide my weary steps.

When the rivers and oceans run dry,
You will fulfill my need for water.
When my body becomes weak and my strength is gone,
In you I can be strong.
When the winds and storms of despair carry me away,
Your voice becomes the refuge that shields me.

When the land seems desolate and the leaves stop blooming,
You will plant the seeds of courage in me so my dreams might become the hope of tomorrow.
If despair consumes the path that I tread,
You are the light that engulfs me.
When my solitude weighs heavy and I drift without direction,
Your presence soothes my soul, and you remind me that I am never alone.

My Reading list for 2025: The Non-Fiction Works

Yesterday, I shared my 2025 reading list, featuring a selection of 15 novels that I’m excited to explore. In that same post, I mentioned my intention to also share a list of non-fiction works I plan to dive into during the year. These texts span a variety of disciplines—including history, theology, and sociology—and tackle compelling themes such as freedom, tyranny, nationalism, colonialism, authoritarianism, resistance, revolution, and democracy. Today, I’m thrilled to share with you 20 non-fiction books that I’ve carefully curated. Each one promises to challenge conventional thinking, provoke meaningful dialogue, and inspire actions that contribute to human flourishing. Through this reading journey, I hope to engage deeply with the authors’ ideas and the transformative messages they offer, sparking insights that resonate both personally and collectively.

1. The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder & Noah Oppenheim

2. A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future by Charles Van Doren

3. The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of how Classical Ideas were Lost and Found by Violet Moller

4. The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence by Thomas Jay Oord

5. Christian Imaginations of the Religious Other: A History of Religionization by Marianne Moyaert

6. The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers: Learning to Interpret Scripture from the Prophets and Apostles by Abner Chou

7. The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut

8. Reclaiming Haiti’s Futures: Returned Intellectuals, Placemaking, and Radical Imagination by Darlene Elizabeth Dubuisson

9. I have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti’s Fight for Freedom by Julia Gaffield

10. Haiti and the Revolution Unseen: The Persistence of the Decolonial Imagination by Natalie Marie Leger

11. Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti by Jake Johnston

12. The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

13. How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt

14. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

15. On Freedom by Timothy Snyder

16. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi

17. Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness by Rashid Khalidi

18. Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum

19. Ancient Africa: A Global History, to 300 CE Christopher Ehret

20. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari

My Reading List for 2025: The Fiction Genre

In 2025, I aim to embark on an exciting literary journey, starting with a carefully curated selection of novels. While this list focuses solely on fiction, I plan to create a separate compilation dedicated to non-fiction works, ensuring both genres receive their due attention to enrich the life of the mind and my literary curiosity. Currently, I have identified 15 novels that pique my interest, offering a diverse mix of themes, styles, and voices. This list is a starting point, and I look forward to discovering even more literary treasures as the year unfolds.

1. The Years by Annie Ernaux, Alison L. Strayer (Translator)

2. The Vegetarian by Han Kang, Deborah Smith (Translator)

3. Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft (Translator)

4. The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft (Translator)

5. Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah

6. By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah

7. Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah

8. Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah

9. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

10. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

11. Red Sorghum: A Novel of China by Mo Yan, Howard Goldblatt (Translator)

12. American Street by Ibi Zoboi

13. Une somme humaine by Makenzy Orcel

14. Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

15. Tinkers  by Paul Harding

I return to work this morning, January 2, 2025.
Guess the first person I saw on the College’s Front Page when I turned on my work computer!

It is the 2024-2025 Minnie Piper Nominee who held firm in his hands San Jac’s mace during the summer and fall 2024 commencement.
What an honor!
What’s a good way to start my first day at work today! 😊

My new poem, “Beyond the Noise, Only You,”
captures a profound love set against the lively, chaotic streets of Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, where I grew up and left for the states when I was 15 years old. If you’ve been to Okap, you will understand not only the meaning of the poem, but the dynamics between incessant horn blowings from both Tap-Tap and motorcycles. However, the speaker in the poem found love and pleasure in the midst of the noise and beyond the noise 😊

Amid the bustling scene—crowded streets, honking cars, and wild motorcycles—the poet finds himself entirely captivated by his beloved, the new girl he just meets while waiting for the bus in the midst of the noise. While others may be overwhelmed by the city’s noise and disorder, the poet sees only beauty, focusing solely on the presence of his new love.

When they reach the boulevard—as a kid, this is the place I used to spend my afternoons riding my bike and eating ice cream with friends—where bright lights illuminate the night, the poet feels that the true light radiates from within him—a love that is unwavering, enduring, and powered by an inner force that only death can extinguish. Through this vivid setting, the poem illustrates how true love can create a sense of eternity, belonging, even amidst life’s chaos, grounding the poet in a powerful and everlasting devotion to his new lover he meets in Okap’s boulevard.

“Beyond the Noise, Only You”

On bended knees, feet pressed to stone,
I hear your voice, soft and low,
Creole words spun sweet and slow,
As if meant only for my soul.
We meet, we meld, and love becomes us.
We stroll the streets with hearts unbound,
Innocent, untroubled, with no care to be found.
The city’s pulse, its noise and beat,
We welcomed both, in rhythm sweet.

Come, let’s walk through Okap’s streets,
Where chaos and life collide and meet—
Motorcycles and drivers wild,
Horns blaring, crowds like rivers untamed,
Yet all I see is you, my love, new and eternal,
And nothing else can call my name.
Amid the clamor, loud and wild,
I found my peace, my heart beguiled—
Beyond the noise, in quiet grace,
Your love whispered soft, and I embraced its trace.

The noise was wild, but I stayed calm,
Unmoved by the city’s relentless hum—
Yet your first smile, quiet and sweet,
Stirred a storm that swept me off my feet.
We reach the boulevard, where lights blaze bright,
But if you’d look, you’d see a light
Shining deeper in my eyes, my heart,
The fire that love ignites and sparks.
In every sound, in every stride,
We found love’s whisper, side by side—
As we embraced the chaos, we felt it too,
Love blooming in the noise, pure and true.

This love, unending, fierce and pure,
Runs on a pulse no storm can cure—
Powered by a generator deep in my soul,
This flame will burn until I grow cold.
No one here in Okap knows
How these dusty streets, loud and bold,
Can make a “Kapwa” behold
The boundless sight of eternity’s road.

* The Kreyòl word “Kapwa” refers to the native of the city of Cap-Haitien.

* The Kreyol word “Okap” is the equivalent of Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city.

Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, whether your candidate wins or loses, consider following these principles:

1. Treat others with kindness, even those who hold opposing political views or ideologies.

2. Uphold human dignity, civility, and tolerance, whether in moments of victory or disappointment.

3. Use your actions and ideas to support our democracy and foster human flourishing.

4. Avoid vengeance, and refrain from spreading hate, xenophobia, or fear, whether in public or private.

5. Act with love and understanding in all that you do.

#lovewins
#lovewinseverytime

“Tough Questions for a Big God”

The greatest external challenge to the divine will and sovereignty of God in the world is the human capacity for individual will and freedom. This freedom complicates the workings of divine love and justice in the world. God’s justice will not be fully achieved without human cooperation, and divine love and power alone is not sufficient to make all things right in the cosmos.

A God who honors human autonomy cannot simply remove suffering and eradicate evil at will. This phenomenon explains the mystery of the intersection between divine freedom, human freedom, and the enduring problem of evil—the heart of theodicy.

Moreover, since the beginning of creation and human history, there are few recorded events where God directly eradicates evil within human communities. Such instances of divine triumph are rare in global history. In contrast, human communities worldwide have seen a persistent rise in evil and the spread of suffering across nations. In other words, we lack concrete evidence, past or present, that God has decisively eradicated evil or is actively doing so in these fragile and uncertain times for contemporary societies.

How can we be sure that God will ultimately create a future world better than the present one?

How can we trust that human beings will attain greater moral goodness in the world to come?

How can we be confident that, in the end, God will eliminate all forms of suffering and evil in the universe?

Happy Tuesday, Good People! Here are the book contracts that I’ve signed with four different academic publishers:

1. “Haiti in a Global Frame: An Intellectual History” (University Presss of Mississippi)

Status: I finished writing this manuscript two years ago, but was not pleased with the way I structured the manuscript and the topics that were part of my conversation. The book has eight chapters. Since I have radically restructured the manuscript, it will take me a year or two to finish the first draft.

In this book, I have three chapters on Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one on Toussaint, one on Haiti’s first Constitution, one on the concept of God in Haitian poetry, and two on contemporary Haitian women fiction. So half of the book is on the founder of the Haitian nation.

2. “For the sake of the world and for his people : An intellectual Biography of Jean Price-Mars” (Vanderbilt University Press)

Status: I finished writing this manuscript a year ago (July 2023) and sent it off to the publisher. I received good feedback from the editors and reviewers, and I am currently doing revisions. It is close to 600 pages.

This will be the first “intellectual biography” on Price-Mars in English. There are only two biographies on Price-Mars written in English, but they are not intellectual biographies in the sense of the word or concept.

3. “Apostle of Human Equality: An Intellectual Biography of Anténor Firmin” (SUNY Press)

Status: This book is halfway done. It is divided into six chapters. I have already written three of those chapters.

It will be the first intellectual biography in English on Firmin.

4. “Christ and the Lwa: Christian Theology and Haitian Vodou” (Orbis Books)

Status: This book is divided into seven chapters. I have written only one of the chapters and the rest is in my mind 😊

This will be the first monograph in the English language on this subject matter. This is the book I have always wanted to write✍️

5. “Christian Theology and Afro-Caribbean Religions: A Comparative Analysis” (pending book contract with one of my favorite academic presses. Willl let you know the name later)

Status:  This book contains six chapters. I wrote two of them, and the rest is in my big head 😊

This will be the first book in English on the subject matter. This is another book that I have always wanted to write.

Good People: If you see me disappear from social media engagement and if  I choose not to participate in future writing and academic commitments for a long time, you will have a sense of understanding of my justification. I need five to six years to finish writing all these books. In the meantime, I will keep writing poetry. lol

Last Saturday (October 26), a group of African brothers and sisters known as the Association of Brotherhood Academic Scholars-USA invited me to give a talk on Haitian Vodou. It is a Christian professional academic organization. The venue was inviting, intimate, and simply beautiful, and it was quite a relaxing atmosphere. The highlight of my conversation was my interaction with the audience and to be able to answer their questions (there were a lot of them. lol).

Because the audience was primarily Christian, in my explanation of Vodou as religion, I also used Christian concepts and comparative religious ideas (i.e. the Yoruba tradition) The President of the organization wrote this beautiful letter to me:

“To Dr. Celucien Joseph,
Head of the English Department
San Jacinto College, Pasadena, Texas,

Dear Dr. Celucian,

We wish to express our deep appreciation for your generous time and presence at our gathering on Saturday, the 26th of October, 2024. Your intellectual expertise, humanistic approach, insights on the African diaspora, and wisdom on the strengths of the black community were truly remarkable.

Your patient explanation of the concept of Voodoo and willingness to address our inquiries made the session truly exceptional, and your kind demeanor did not go unnoticed.

We also thank you for graciously accepting our gift of the Everlasting Gospel, trusting it will be a valuable addition to your collection of research materials.

May God continue to inspire and bless you as you share your scholarly knowledge with others. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sincerely,

Brother Aeroezona Obiadazie
Christ Ambassador
President
ABAS-USA
Oct. 28, 202”

Here are a few photos they sent me.

My new poem, titled “Torn Threads of Affection,” draws inspiration from two poignant sources. The first is Labrinth’s hauntingly beautiful song “Jealous,” which has the power to reshape our understanding of love, revealing the delicate balance between love and jealousy. I’ve listened to this song a million times and profoundly wondered about the meaning of its lyrics and the wild passions they evoke. 

The second inspiration comes from the dynamic between two high school students who are best friends; they share classes, lunch breaks, and spend quality time together. The young man’s deep affection for the girl is undeniable; yet it is his friend who receives her love, touch, and passion, creating a bittersweet tension in their relationship. The rest is a story untold, or a tapestry of moments yet to be revealed.😊

“Torn Threads of Affection”

Weighed down by the human hand,
That draws close to your body, 
Reaching deeper than my fingers ever could.
I lament how he shattered your garment, 
A place where my shadow has never tread.
In his grasp, your will was silenced.
He stole your essence in the darkest of nights.
It is his touch you idolize, his image you memorize.
Inside, I wither like a flower in winter’s grasp.

I’ve offered you treasures coming from undiscovered lands,
And guided you to untraveled paths.
I crafted memories that dance in your heart,
And to move the fabric of your soul.
I starved my desires so your hunger could fade,
And spilled my lifeblood so your heart would beat on.
It wounds my heart that my offerings go unseen.
The silent burdens I’ve carried for your sake
are buried in the shadows of your indifference.

I feel the sadness in the way you light up for him, 
Though I’ve given my all just to see you smile each day.
Consumed by jealousy as you text him endlessly,
At dawn when you rise, at midnight before sleep calls.
It stings to know you spend more time with him than with me, 
After all this love I’ve carried through the years.
He shattered your trust,
Leaving you to rebuild in the ruins of betrayal.
Where will you seek solace now?
Who will bring you comfort in a world where doubts bloom like wildflowers?

I envy the nights he shares with you, 
Every moment you lie beside him, 
Every smile you give that he takes for granted, 
Every breath exchanged while he’s unkind to your warmth.
He doesn’t treat you with the gentleness I offer.
I can’t help but wonder— is this love?
His heart lacks the depth of the love I hold for you.
Though you seek warmth in fleeting moments,
I hold the light of a love that is true.