Feelings on the Foreword: “Life in a Haitian Valley” by Melville J. Herskovits

“Then in 1934 Herskovits turned his attention to perhaps the most active, certainly the most famous source of Dahomean culture in the New World — the free black independent republic of Haiti.”

In a life marred or highlighted by accomplishments, others would call exceptional, my highest pride and privilege hails from the mother of my life force, and her mothers before her: Haiti and the heavenly gift of being Haitian.

A few years ago, while scrambling around for some substance with which to build my new soul in New Jersey, I did what all lost brainiac black girls did: I went on the look for some books!

Now, I will take this moment to point out that no one is more mortally-bound to Barnes & Noble than me, BUT REAL ONES KNOW, when it comes to the expedition for exciting, ain’t NOBODY bout to beat the old Dewey! The Dewey Decimal system that is — so I hit the Newark public library where I’d soon collect a few books that would change my life.

“The island named by discovering spaniards ‘Hispaniola’, had been known to its inhabitants, The Arawaks, as Haiti — land of the hills.

The Haitians went further and demonstrated to an astounded world that their proud ascription of ‘black’ was no mere epithet, but a cultural totem of considerable power.”

Intrigued and wholly flattered by the sheer compliment of its title—the thought of someone taking time to write of my…