Hispaniola is split by a border that divides the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Dividing Hispaniola: The Dominican Republic's Border Campaign Against Haiti, 1930-1961 by Edward Paulino chronicles the history between these two nations while challenging the meta-narrative of anti-Haitianism as a continuing element in Dominican culture and politics since the 19th century. Tracing the evolution of the region from a frontier to an international boundary, this book presentation boldly addresses how race, imperialism and colonialism contributed to the formation of the bloodiest state-sponsored genocide in Caribbean history. While the Dominican Republic and Haiti's contentious relationship has been chronicled, this book presentation/conversation will also address the often silenced history of Dominican-Haitian collaboration. Analyzing the ways in which shifting border dynamics have impacted language, culture, and music, this conversation addresses the effects of this border on Haitians and Dominicans both on the ground and within the diaspora.
Moderator: Ayanna Legros, M.A., Africana Studies, SCA alumna
Panelists:
Edward Paulino, Ph.D. is the author of the book Dividing Hispaniola: the Dominican Republic’s Border with Haiti, 1930-1961 (2016) and is an Assistant Professor of global history at John Jay College, City University of New York. He received his Ph.D. in Latin American History from Michigan State University and is a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. He is a Co-Founder of Border of Lights, an organization that commemorates the anniversary of the 1937 genocidal Haitian massacre and promotes solidarity between Haitians and Dominicans. He continues to travel back and forth between New York and the Dominican Republic and has written extensively on Dominican History.
Amanda Alcántara is an Afro-Latina feminist writer, multimedia journalist, and activist. She is the author of the blog Radical Latina and co-founder and editor-in-chief of La Galería Magazine, a magazine for Dominicans in the Diaspora. On Radical Latina, Amanda writes about the intersections of gender and race from a personal perspective. Her work has appeared on Telesur English, The Huffington Post, Remezcla, Feministing, and El Diario. Amanda has also been featured on Latina, Cosmopolitan, Remezcla, Latin Post and other publications. Alcantara received her Bachelor's in Journalism and Political Science from Rutgers University, and is pursuing her MA's at NYU's in Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center where her research is focused on women who live in the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Lionel Legros was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and has been a longtime activist and teacher in New York City. Receiving his B.A. in History from Columbia University and his M.A. in Bilingual Education from Long Island University, he has taught in New York City public schools as a bilingual science teacher for over two decades. He founded L’Heurre Haitienne Radio at Columbia University’s WKCR which ran from 1969-2002 and fought Duvalierism. He has also served as a member of ¡Sonia Pierre Vive! and has been awarded by MUDHA (El Movimiento de Mujeres Dominicano-Haitiana/The Movement of Dominican-Haitian Women) for his work and activism in Haitian bateyes in the Dominican Republic. He is a founding member of "Black Lives Matter in Dominican Republic" and supports the rights of the Caneros.
Music by: Sky Mensky (Drumming)
Co-sponsored with:
Afro-Latin@ Forum, NYU Africana Studies, NYU Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, Haitian Creole Language Institute of New York
Book Presentation: Edward Paulino's "Dividing Hispaniola"
