We Were Never Silent: Immigrant Narratives & Caribbean Print Culture as Counter Narrative
Milton Machuca-Galvez, DeLisa Minor Harris, and Rachel E. Winston explore the importance of language documented collections that represent Hispanic and Latino immigrants in Kansas, Haiti, and the musical tradition of calypso.
MYgration Stories: The Oral Histories of Hispanic immigrants in Kansas City, Kansas consist of a nine-page report, interview transcripts, and sound cassettes. It includes recordings of 31 Hispanic and Latino immigrants residing in Kansas City, Kansas, with 24 interviews conducted as part of an oral history project funded by the Kansas Humanities Council and El Centro, Inc. The interviews were conducted from January to October 2003 by project director Rebekah L. Moses and focus on five main areas: basic demographics, immigration experience, expectations versus reality, national identity, and racial discrimination. The project report summarizes the demographics of interviewees and their responses, followed by the interview transcripts arranged alphabetically by surname.
Keywords: Hispanic Migrants; Kansas City, Kansas; Oral History
A collection of 55 rare Haitian books dating between ranging from 1804 to 1950 given to Fisk University by Haiti’s President Paul Magloire in 1955 on the occasion of his trip to Nashville. The collection represents the Agency and reclaiming Haitian History and Culture, by Haitian people. Global Identity across the African Diaspora. Most the of the book collection is printed in Haitian Kreyol including a significantly rare Haitian pamphlet, Le Document: Organe de la librarie d’Histoire d’Haiti et des (Euvres de la Pensee Haitienne. Each volume included in the collection is bound in a leather material with scenes of Haiti and Haitian history etched into the leather.
Keywords: Haiti, Fisk, Haitian Kreyol, Griots, Caribbean
Calypso Souvenir Booklets from Trinidad and Tobago
Calypso is a musical genre and art form with roots in Trinidad and Tobago and the English speaking Caribbean. Originally an oral tradition, calypso was used as a way to spread news, relay public opinion, and both educate and entertain society. Using calypso souvenir booklets dated 1945, 1947, and 1949 from the Benson Latin American Collection at UT Austin, this segment explores the calypso tradition through the lens of language and counternarrative.
Keywords: Calypso, creole, music, Caribbean
