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

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Hello! From el V, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti + Eastern Cuba!

    . . . .  From el V, prospecting for the upcoming Haiti visit, to ‎Cap-Haïtien and Port-au-Prince.

The Citadelle, World Heritage site, which the Travelers will visit.

Legendary Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, where the Travelers will stay.

El V writes:
[ "Hello from Port-au-Prince! I'm sitting on the balcony at the Hotel Oloffson watching the sun go down and wi-fi'ing my brains out as Konpa[al_zorra: very popular Haitian street music] plays . . . but what I wanted to tell you is that . . . 

The two-and-a-half-minute trailer for Postmambo Studies Cuban Music Seminar #9: Oriente (eastern Cuba), January 3-12, 2019, is live! Watch it here: 


Santiago de Cuba, El Cobre, Guantánamo, Cueto, Baracoa, Holguín: the culture of eastern Cuba is very different from that of Havana. 

Thanks to Lily Keber for making it real. Do subscribe to the Postmambo Studies channel if you like. 

p.s. There's a piece on the EGREM archive, where I've spent many happy hours, in today's WaPo [Washington Post paywall]:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/trying-to-protect--and-expand--cubas-undiscovered-musical-legacy/2018/07/23/7e890c06-8512-11e8-8553-a3ce89036c78_story.html? " ]


     . . . . A personal note:  The Oriente trip is so brilliant I'm going back for a second time around.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to visit Baracoa again, where Christopher Columbus established the first capital - port for Cuba, and which today, as it has been for a few centuries, a bustling center of arts and literature -- and the center of Cuba's cocoa plantations and chocolate making.  Cuba's chocolate is the very best I've ever tasted.  If I were to live in Cuba, Baracoa is where I'd be.
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