Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat

Category: Biography & Autobiography, Haiti, Immigration

Format: Hardcover, 288 pages

On Sale: September 4, 2007

Price: $23.95

Publishers: Random House






I just finished reading Edwidge Danticat's gentle tribute to the two most important men in her life, her father Mira and her uncle Joseph, and I am sad, angry and heartbroken. Read on and you will understand why.

In 1973, constantly hounded by Duvalier's "Tonton Macoutes", “a battalion of brutal men and women aggressively recruited from the country's urban and rural poor,” Edwidge's parents immigrated to New York, leaving her and her younger brother, Bob, in the care of Uncle Joseph, their father's older brother who was the pastor of a Church in Port-au-Prince. Joseph and his wife Tante Denise were the children's surrogate parents for 8 years and Edwidge grew to love them like her own. They were not the only kids the couple looked after...they also brought up Marie Micheline, the daughter of a Cuban friend who just disappeared one day and never returned, as well Tante Denise's brother's daughter. I mention this so that you get a glimpse of how large-hearted, generous and kind the couple were.

(Danticat has written an essay about the Marie Micheline in the June issue of the New Yorker, you can find it here.)

(The author with her Uncle Joseph and Tante Denise in Haiti 1973)

Although her parents were away, her father's literary presence was always felt by Dandicat who faithfully received a three-paragraph letter from her father. It was those letters which instilled in Danticat a gift for the greatness of story.

In October 2004, there was political upheaval in Haiti. For the first time a UN force was sent to help stabilize Haiti. Rebels seized towns and cities and some entered Uncle Joseph's church compound, threatening his life. Joseph, who was then 81, escaped Haiti in disguise and flew to the US to visit his dying brother (Edwidge's father). However he landed in a deadly detention center in Miami (the Kome detention center) where the immigration officials treated him as an unwelcome refugee (just because he indicated he might like an extension on his visa on account of the trouble in Haiti) rather than the temporary visitor that he was.

To read Danticat's lacerating description of how the officials at the detention center treated her elderly and sick (he had suffered cancer of the throat and could only speak with the aid of a voice box) uncle filled me so much anger, frustration and shame. Unlike Cuban refugees who are processed and released to their families after landing on American soil, Haitians are routinely imprisoned, then deported. Within days of his detention, Uncle Joseph took ill. Accused of faking his illness he was denied his medicines and received minimal medical attention...handcuffed to a hospital bed he died alone because his family was not allowed to visit him.

Along with Danticat I ask, why this discrimination against Haitian immigrants? Why wasn't her uncle who was both, old and sick, not allowed to die with dignity and with his loved ones around him? Why couldn't the world's greatest country have shown more humanity? Because of the trouble in Haiti it wasn't possible to take Joseph's body back for burial next to his beloved wife Denise, instead he was buried in Queens, New York. When Edwidge's father heard about the burial arrangements he remarked, "If our country were ever given a chance and allowed to be a country like any other, none of us would live or die here."


Truly, that remark speaks volumes, after all, who really wants to live in exile? Who wants to be a foreigner all of his or her life? But refugees have no choice, it's run away or be killed and it is good for us to realize that in our dealings with them. Danticat’s father died about six months after her uncle from pulmonary fibrosis that had ravaged his body for more than a year. Danticat writes “This is an attempt at recreating a few wondrous and terrible months when their lives and mine intersected in startling ways, forcing me to look forward and back in both celebration and despair. I am writing this only because they can’t.”

"Brother, I'm Dying" is a heartbreaking read. In many ways it is the archetypal American immigrant story -- parents from the home country struggle and sacrifice to afford their children a better life- but it's also uniquely Haitian in the struggles depicted. Do buy yourself a copy!

On October 4, Edwidge Danticat testified before the U.S. Congress' Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. Her powerful testimony can be found here


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I have been awarded the 'Schmooze Award" by Lalitha or Starry Nights of "Across the Miles" Thank you so much, Starry!



About the award :- This award is for the bloggers who “effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”

In turn, I would love to award it to:

Melissa
Sanjay
Olivia
Radha
Beenzzz
ml
Jenclair
A Reader from India
Booklogged
Happy Reader
Tara
Holly Dolly
Asha
Anali


Everyone on my blogroll deserves this award but I wanted to use this opportunity to express my thanks to these 14 bloggy friends for their frequent visits to my blog despite how busy they are...thank you, it is much appreciated! Please forgive me if you are frequent visitor to my blog and I have forgotten to nominate you...you have my heartfelt thanks too and feel free to use the schmooze award!

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The Guardian First Book Award Short List (thanks, Sanjay)

I was so happy to see Tahmima Anam's "A Golden Age" on the list. I really enjoyed the novel! Another book that looks like a very worthy read is "Children of the Revolution by Dinaw Mengestu

Strawberry Fields By Marina Lewycka and Living Libraries

(The Official Guide to the 28th Annual International Festival of Authors, Oct 17-27, Toronto. As you can tell, it has quite a star-studded line- up )

I bought tickets to go see Marina Lewycka talk about her book "Strawberry Fields" at the International Festival of Authors here in Toronto, but sadly I was sick that weekend and missed the talk.


"Strawberry Fields" is the author's second book (the first was the very funny "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian) and while this one is pure comedy too, the author is wanting to draw our attention to the plight of Britain's migrant workers most of whom travel there from poorer countries in Europe like Ukraine, Latvia, Romania etc.

Just like some of the characters in Lewycka's book, real migrants come to Britain as seasonal agricultural workers (they are not qualified but have paid corrupt officials for the necessary documents) . On arrival in Britain they are met by unscrupulous "agents" who confiscate their passports and send them to work in strawberry fields where they collect strawberries (a backbreaking job) for 12 hours a day, six days a week, for a paltry sum, most of which is returned to their employers as food and lodging fees. Lodging usually consists of a caravan that the migrants share with atleast 10-12 other people. Infact, in Britain, Lewycka's book was called "Two Caravans" but the name was changed to "Strawberry Fields" in the US because the publishers weren't sure how familiar we were with caravans this side of the pond!

Britain is not the only country where migrant workers are exploited and underpaid, journalist John Bowe in his book "Nobodies" documents how workers in the orange orchards of Florida are herded into hellish living quarters and treated with brutal force by labor contractors if they mishandle the fruit. From an article written by him in the Newyorker:

"... To get to the fruit, pickers must climb twelve-to-eighteen-foot-high ladders, propped on soggy soil, then reach deep into thorny branches, thrusting both hands among pesticide-coated leaves before twisting the fruit from its stem and rapidly stuffing it into a shoulder-slung moral, or pick sack. (Grove owners post guards in their fields to make sure that the workers do not harm the trees.) "

As I write this I look at my glass of Tropicana juice with suspicion. Do we as consumers need to now question where our food comes from, under what conditions they were grown and if anyone was harmed in process?

"Strawberry Fields" is a work of fiction and "Nobodies" is investigative journalism but I have coupled them together because migrant labor and modern slavery is a common theme in both books.

For a more detailed review of Strawberry Fields go here

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Living Libraries

(from Radio Australia's Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover)

Lismore in New South Wales, Australia has recently joined some cities in Europe with a "Living Library". The 'books' in this library are a group of people with unusual occupations and lifestyles -- or people from different social, religious and ethnic backgrounds. There are over 50 volunteer 'living books' in Lismore's catalogue.

Visitors have the opportunity to 'read' one of these 'books' for an informal half-hour conversation. The library creates a safe environment where people who would not normally meet can sit and talk.

Isn't that a great concept? Apparently it's been around since early 2000 but only in a few select cities in Europe. Lismore's current selection of living books includes
a Filipino Migrant, an Indigenous Australian person, a homeless person, a farmer, Muslim, person with a physical disability and so on.

Ofcourse, each Living Library developed throughout the world will be unique as it will have its own issues to deal with...if your community had a "Living Library" which "book" do you see yourself borrowing? :)

28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen,"Away From Her" and the winners of the booksprice.com prize.

Category: Current Affairs - International, Political;
Non-Fiction

Format: Hardcover, 416 pages

Publisher: Knopf Canada

Pub Date: April 24, 2007

Price: $34.95

Author's Website: www.28stories.com

Globe and Mail special feature on AIDS




A is for AIDS; B is for beautiful; C is for Chinua Achebe; D is for diamonds and E is for the high cheek-boned Ethiopians....Africa is known for many things, but the one issue Africa needs the world to know about right now is that there are 28 million HIV-infected people in Africa (800 people die of AIDS everyday in Africa) and unless something is done it is going to ravage the continent. Yes, I know about donor fatigue and numbing, I suffered from it too, but if you read this book of 28 Stories (one story for every million sufferers) you will change your heart and mind.

The author of these stirring 28 stories is Stephanie Nolen, the Globe and Mail's Africa correspondent and indeed perhaps the lone reporter in the world to report solely on AIDS . There are two groups of people in this book, the ones whose stories are told because they impart political, medical, social, physiological and economic information about the disease which is necessary for the reader to know and understand and the others are stories of people actually known to the author, people who are went public with their HIV diagnosis and have become activists for other sufferers in Africa.

For more information on the 28 people that inspired this book please go to Stephanie Nolen's website to read about these people, some of them even have video clips. Among my favorite stories are those of Tgist Haile Michael the 14-year old orphan from a slum in Addis Ababa who was left to take care of her 7-year old brother Johannes all by herself after both parents died from AIDS and Moleen Modimu a 31-year old wife and mother dying from AIDS in Zimbabwe even though the corner pharmaceutical store has the retro-virals she needs. Mugabe's government has made it virtually impossible for any African to afford the treatment they need.

(AIDS activists demonstrate outside South Africa's Parliament in Cape Town in a Reuters file photo)

This book will get you to ask many questions of yourself and your friends, the most important one being...what can we do to lighten Africa's AIDS burden? What is it the people need? A helping hand with the eradication of poverty will go a long way, but they also need funding for schools because, in the end, education is going to be the one big thing that will make Africans want to protect themselves against this virus. Also, women's rights need to be enforced, they need to have legal protection against risky sex forced upon them by male partners or economic depression, financial independence from men should also be encouraged. This is very important when you realize that women make up 75 percent of HIV-positive Africans aged between 15-25.

Nolen's book provides a comprehensive list of AIDS care and treatment organizations in Africa and elsewhere, contact them, learn more and make the difference you know you can!

This book is the second book of the Non-Fiction challenge.





Saw a truly delightful movie on the weekend titled "Away From Her". Like the movie suggested in its promotional literature, it was a love story for grown ups. In this case the grown ups were the beautiful Julie Christie and the handsome Gordon Pinsent whose 44 year old marriage, or should I say love story, is put to the test when Christie succumbs to Alzheimer's. The movie was made by the young Canadian Sarah Polley and based on Alice Munro's short story, "The Bear Came Over The Mountain". For a truly splendid "not a review" allow me to direct you to Sanjay's Karmic Musings.




Last, but not least, we have the winners of the booklottery from booksprice.com
it's Bellezza from "DolceBellezza" and J from Jellyjules.com. Congratulations, do let me know which book you would like and I will e-mail you for your address either today or tomorrow. A big "Thank you" to everyone that participated and all the book purchasing options you gave me, you made it so interesting and so much fun! There will be more opportunities to win books, so stay tuned!