H IS FOR HAITI

I’ve been listening to the revolutionary Haitian singer Manno Charlemagne who passed away late last year. His songs, in French and Creole, are politically charged, anti-imperialist and powerful, albeit a little homogenous in their simple guitar arrangements: they’re important for the words, and for the strength of his beautiful voice. Of all the insurgent arts, music is perhaps the most universal, accessible and democratic, and even though the limited subject matter made Charlemagne mostly famous among other Haitians, I hope his heritage remains inseparable from that of the country he ached for, fought for, and suffered without in exile.