I have just been informed that my new book on Jean-Bertrand Aristide, “Aristide: A Theological & Political Introduction” (Fortress Academic), which is set to come out on Feb. 15, 2023, can be pre-ordered online:
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781978713260/Aristide-A-Theological-and-Political-Introduction
*Although the book cover is not uploaded online, see the cover here
Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noël to you!
“The Migration of a Star: A Noël Poem”
The Divine touched the earth by giving us a star
to behold and light our path.
Its origin is as ancient as the oldest galaxy,
greater than the big bang of life force.
Securing in its hands are many gifts for all God’s children:
Bethlehem joy in the time of sorrow
Mighty comfort in moments of trouble
Just liberation for tomorrow.
We followed its lead
and learned to walk by its side:
one step toward its love,
two steps to touch its heart,
three steps until we become one.
Our eyes were watching the star
not to overcome it, but to welcome its joy into our homes.
We became anxious by its proximity,
and willingness to find another home.
It moved gently and kissed the dust tracks of life,
transforming them to glory on high,
birthing new children of grace to the Father on high,
with the gentle touch of the Spirit of love.
We marvelled and lost track of time.
It holds eternity in its right hand,
our life through time that will never end.
The star filled the vast space in which it migrated:
abandoned corners of the earth renewed,
hidden spaces made visible,
erased sins with the pencil of God.
Our eyes were watching God, Three in One,
becoming a star to give us light and redemption.
“Love and Commitment Among Young People: Year 2023 and Beyond”
Commitment to relationship in the twenty-first century is progressively becoming something of the past; it is indeed a rare occurrence between young people in the American culture and of this generation, especially among young American males.
Let’s hope in the new year (2023), young people will give love another chance, will love more passionately and more actively, and will commit to each love more faithfully in loving relationships and marital bond.
Nonetheless, it gives me great joy and delight to see many young men in this generation are making more marriage proposals to their future spouses, and they’re celebrating them openly on social media and with their friends. This attitude toward love gives me abundant hope as many young men in this generation are often afraid to love and worry about deliberate permanent commitment to relationships and intentional long-term marriages.
Here are my five words of advice to you:
Farewell 2022: 5 Things to do before the end of the Year!
I hope you have a restful and happy holiday season!
“James H. Cone as America’s Greatest Theologian”‘
***My book, “Theologizing in Black: On Africana Theological Ethics and Anthropology,” contains two full chapters on Cone’s theology. I still need to explore how James Baldwin has influenced Cone’s literary radicalism and theology of political activism. Cone’s creative engagement with the wider Black Atlantic intellectual Tradition and Radicalism is another aspect that needs further study. Finally, Cone’s “epistemological borrowings” and “literary echoes” within the framework of African American literary criticism and theory have not been explored in contemporary theological scholarship and Black studies. Interestingly, James H. Cone has not been placed within America’s public intellectual tradition. He was both a public intellectual and public theologian. We should thank Professor Anthony G. Reddie for writing an excellent and insightful introduction to James H. Cone’s theology. In James H. Cone’s literary corpus, we encounter both “theological fragments” and “literary borrowings.”
One day I will write an intellectual and theological biography on James Cone! Just give me three years 😊
“Farewell to my Students and Colleagues at Indian River State College”
Today is my last day of work at Indian River State College (IRSC), where I had the opportunity to serve as a professor and a mentor to students for about a decade. Those years have marked my life in a tremendous way, and language fails me to articulate with precision the impact the IRSC community has had in my life and family.
IRSC has given me the immense opportunity to teach, mentor, love, and guide many students who come to us from various parts of the world and socio-economic background. In countless ways, they have enriched my life meaningfully and contributed immeasurably to my growth as a human being, thinker, writer, educator, researcher, and a scholar. IRSC students have taught me to have a greater appreciation for our multicultural and inclusive world, diversity in thought and expression, and the world of difference and pluralism. An ethic of care has been my driven motive during those wonderful years at Indian River State College, and a politics of relationality has guided my pedagogy and approach to human knowledge and understanding toward the success of IRSC students.
During my years at Indian River State College, I was surrounded by a group of caring and committed educators, administrators, and staff, whose friendship and collegiality have added more meaning, love, and joy in my life. My colleagues and friends at IRSC have taught me about the value of education, the importance of nurturing the life of the mind, and the non-negotiable dedication to students’ learning and future. More importantly, I have learned that treating all students with love, respect, and dignity is where the real learning begins and ends. Yet I remain convinced that the goal of education is human formation and growth, and the goal of teaching is to seek understanding, and understanding is the heart of effective pedagogy and engaging teaching.
I am leaving Indian River State College to assume a new responsibility and a new adventure as the Chair of the English Department at San Jacinto College (Houston, Texas). I will miss my IRSC students, the Writing Club, which I sponsored for the past four years, and my remarkable colleagues in the English and Communications Department who have loved me and supported my career during those years.
At San Jac (San Jacinto College), as an administrator, I will have another opportunity to influence and mentor both faculty and students and contribute to a more perfect union and a robust democracy in this country, in which both faculty and students will be agents of change and human flourishing in their community and in the world. For me, the professor and the administrator share something in common: the spirit of servanthood.
My new position would allow me to continue my work in serving others and mentoring faculty to be persistent and robust about their vocation and commitment as citizens and educators—the commitment of a worthy cause: the cause of their country and the global community; the cause to fight against human oppression and to champion human dignity; and the cause of love, justice, equality, and the cause of freedom for all.
“In Praise of Books and Reading Well: My Journey with Books”
I love good and beautifully written books. I also admire and have great respect for writers who use language with precision and clarity and words with great economy, emotional and intellectual restraint, and linguistic control.
I must admit the fact that I am a bibliophile and have always been a book enthusiast since I was a kid–growing up in Haiti, a country where books and good public libraries are rare. However, Haitian literature is very rich, and Haiti is a country of great writers, great minds, and great literature. Arguably, the country of Haiti has produced some of the most important, prolific, and influential writers in the Americas, writing in French, Spanish, and English languages.
Nonetheless, I became more conscious about my love for books, uncontrollable interest in good writing/ writers, and the weight and glory of good words and the correct usage of the right words when I was probably in 5th grade. In 7th grade, my passion for good books exploded with an enormous and enduring zeal that would eventually shaped my High school years, and eventually my academic life and my identity as a writer.
In Haiti, I attended an all-boys Roman Catholic School, Collège Notre Dame du Perpétuel Sécours (CNPS), a rigorous and college preparatory school that has trained some of the most brilliant minds, who originated from Northern Haiti; Haiti has ever produced, such as Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Arly Lariviére, etc. I was able to attend CNPS not because my parents could afford it financially; it was because of my high academic performance and excellence that granted me access to this bourgeois school in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. It was the school where all the rich kids and those in the upper class and the sons of the most powerful figures in society attended. My parents struggled to pay the semester-by-semester tuition and other related expenses. God is always on the side of the poor and the economically disadvantaged group; he generously provided for my brother and me every semester, while we were attending; I managed to make it through the academic year and until my final year of Middle School. The trajectories of my life would change when I immigrated to the United States at the age of 15; I attended a new school, in a foreign environment, a High School that was not like the one at home. Yet, I would find comfort and peace in and through books at the Broward County Public Library in Fort Lauderdale, where I would visit four to five times a week, when school was dismissed.
My favorite Middle School memory was not the time of recess or hanging out with friends, but the memorable Friday when my class would go to the library to check out novels. Oh yes, the visit to the library was the most delightful time in my childhood in Middle school. The school administration and librarian did not allow students to check out more than three books, at one time, but I attempted in several occasions to break the rule and to cheat. In fact, I would take four to five books at one time and take them to the library desk to check out. The library would kindly refuse the extra one or two. That one or two books that I couldn’t check out from the library were usually among the top ten novels I wanted to read for the next two weeks or for the month and before I would return to the library to check out more books.
Books give meaning to life. Good books deconstruct, construct, and reconstruct the human imagination and action, and they breathe new lives to dead souls and the spirit in the dark. They also bring dignity to human relationships and friendship. Books change history, culture, and society. Good books and good writers change people and contribute to human flourishing and the common good.
Get Ready to Be Rejected!
Rejection is natural to human Life and Experience.
***The point of this post is not to lose heart and be discouraged after a rejection or many rejections, but to learn from them and improve yourself. A rejection is not a failure, nor does it say anything about your worth or that you are incapable of performing the task. Sometimes, rejections are good for your mental stability, psychological and emotional growth, and ultimately your success and welfare in this journey we call life.
Breaking News, Folks!!!
Finally, the good people at Fortress Academic sent me the proofs for my forthcoming book on Haiti’s first democratically-elected president and liberation theologian Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The book is entitled “Aristide: A Theological and Political Introduction” (Fortress Academic, 2023). The book is pp. 346 + index.
The proofs and the index are due to the publisher in two weeks. I am so thrilled about the publication of this important work.
Can’t wait to see the book cover 🙂
“The First Human Group and the First Theology about God”
The first human group in human history is the first recipient of divine revelation, and it is to these human beings, not any religious system, God first revealed himself as Loving-Creator & Sustainer of the world. In other words, this first human group articulated the first theology about God. What we know about God (the knowledge of God) has its source in the theology of the first people of the world. We must also remember that the first people of the world were not Jews (Judaism), Christians (Christianity), nor Muslims (Islam). This is the first question about God Christian theology must respond to in the twenty-first millennium in order to get a proper understanding of God’s movements in the world and active engagements with his human creation.
The first theology about God by the first human group was a revealed theology that created a community of human proximity and a people whose vision of God did not embrace the logic of colonialism and human exploitation. The first (revealed) theology about God is (was) the theology of divine love and divine proximity because God’s first revelation to the first human beings was “love” and “presence.” God is love and loves human beings. God is present and near his creation.
drcelucienjoseph, "Thinking and Meditating" 