A Beacon of Light in Dark Times

Haitian schoolchildren


WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday balked at an immigration deal that would include protections for people from Haiti and African countries, demanding to know at a White House meeting why he should accept immigrants from “s---hole countries” rather than people from places like Norway, according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation.
—New York Times, January 11, 2018


After spending a few enlightening weeks reading and discussing Edwidge Danticat's stories, it's my firm belief that our class came to understand the unimaginable hardships faced by the Haitian community, including the diaspora living in the United States. Although Haiti's litany of natural catastrophes and manmade disasters is difficult to comprehend, the stories Danticat tells of remarkable courage and resiliency sparked real sympathy in my heart and in those of my students. That's why literature is perhaps more important now than ever.   —fg

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