LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Monday, July 14, 2008

Rara Website (Haiti)

This is a website constructed by friend Elizabeth McAlister : (BA in Anthropology, Vassar College; MA in African American Studies and an MA in History, Yale University; and PhD in American Studies, Yale). She's Associate Professor of Religion at Wesleyan.

Her book, Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora, is very highly recommended, and not just by us. It was one of the first works like this available back then, and one of the first I read.

She was at the conference in NO this past week, and organized many of the Haitian activities.
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