Trilingual Press

04/23/2026

Check out the new reading tomorrow, Friday April 24, at 6 PM, at the Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center - TLCC
Address: 131 A Beverly St, Boston, MA 02114
Phone: (347) 393-5231
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We are excited to share with our friends, colleagues and the public the official release of the beautiful volume "WHO WE ART: 30 YEARS of HAITIAN ART in NEW ENGLAND", a visual arts anthology project produced by the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts (HAAM), published by Trilingual Press, and edited by Charlot Lucien, HAAM's Director.
Introductory remarks are contributed by art historian Carlo Avierl Célius (CNRS-IMAF, Paris), and literary critic and historian, Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr., of Harvard University.
Welcoming remarks are also offered by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Boston City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, City of Boston's Interim Chief of Arts & Culture, Kenny Mascary, visual artist Paul Goodnight, and the Director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Pierre Terjanian.
At this juncture when both countries — Haiti and United States — are living under the most unprecedented and perilous political circumstances, the clichés of Haiti as “the poorest and most violent country in the Western Hemisphere” are reinforced by images of armed thugs spreading terror and destruction in their neighborhoods. In a world where the idea of beauty is often devalued, reduced to its pecuniary profitability, it is quite remarkable that the artists of the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts (HAAM) chose to publish their second collection of paintings to celebrate their homeland, its aspirations, their dreams of a better world, and generate new narratives.
The completion of this three-year long project crowns the 30th anniversary of HAAM, intending to start conversations about art, being, migration, culture, and reaffirmation of identity. This anthology of paintings and texts features over 40 artists living in the New England area (Massachusetts, New-Hampshire, Rhode Island), and pays tribute to HAAM luminaries and mentors who passed away in 2025: Danielle Legros Georges, Michel Philippe Lerebours and Frankétienne.
The official launch took place at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on Feb 8, 2026.
Special thanks to our research, data collection, and organizing team: Evangéline Roussel Lucien, Régine Milord Mendes, Myrlène “Mimi” Legendre Désir, Robenson Sanon, and Fritz Ducheine for their patience and painstaking efforts.
Special thanks to our chief photographer and graphic designer Yves Rigaud (Nice Image Photography), and to Chrispin Dragon (Côte Plage Photography) and Alex Terry (AFLeuriste Photography);
To our editing and copyediting team: Stephanie Scherpf, Jill Netchinsky Toussaint, Joseph M. Chéry, Eddy Toussaint, Steve Desrosiers, Vladimir Hyppolite, and Kellyn B. Eaddy;
To our curatorial team: Joseph Chery, and Myrlène “Mimi” Legendre Désir. We remain grateful for the contributions of our past curators: Edmund Barry Gaither, Arnie Danielson, Michelle Alfred, Anne Anninger, and Jaamal Eversley for having, over the years, helped HAAM generate criteria and identify artworks and themes suitable for this book.
Acknowledgment to the Barr Foundation for its support, to the Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center, Brockton Arts, Boston City Hall Galleries for hosting HAAM's artworks, and to all the collaborators who contributed to this effort.
The book is available for purchase at Brockton Art, Inc, via this link:
Purchase WE WHO ART
https://checkout.square.site/.../HA6ERZO6CJJC6DWQCI3G3STA...
For information about future book signing opportunities, write to: [email protected]
Or visit HAAM's page: Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts Group | Facebook
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NOTABLE QUOTES FROM THE PREFACES
"This anthology is an exploration of the deep connections between Haiti and Massachusetts — Louverture, DuBois, and Douglass to cite a few. This anthology will help to revive the shared cultural heritage between the world’s first Black Republic and the long defense of democracy that is a fundamental aspect of New England history and culture."
— Henry Louis Gates Jr., literary critic and historian, of Harvard University
« L’espace haïtien ne se limite plus aux frontières terrestres d’un tiers d’île, en raison de l’ampleur quantitative prise par sa dyaspora. (...) Le cadre dans lequel cheminent ces artistes, entre contraintes et espaces des possibles, entre opportunités et blocages, entre marginalité et ancrages institutionnels, constitue une donnée fondamentale. Est aussi déterminante la nature des relations qu’ils et elles entretiennent avec leur pays d’origine. »
— Carlo A. Célius, historien et historien de l’art, directeur de recherche au Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
"On behalf of the City of Boston, I am proud — and grateful for — the incredible art preserved in this anthology. I want to thank the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts for 30 years of incredible art. Since their founding, HAAM has worked tirelessly to celebrate and center Haitian artists."
— Michelle Wu, Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts
"Over the last three decades, [HAAM] has become a vital cultural force in Boston and across New England, broadening the narratives about Haiti's history, resilience, and identity. From descriptions of landscapes, to bold works that address racism, policy, social justice, HAAM artists continue to challenge us to see Haiti beyond stereotypes and headlines."
— Ruthzee Louijeune, City Councilor, Boston, Massachusetts
"Congratulations to the incredible artists featured in WHO WE ART: Haitian Art in New England. Your creativity, vision, and cultural storytelling continue to enrich our city and inspire generations—both here in New England and across the Haitian diaspora. It’s been a privilege to support HAAM’s work."
— Kenny Mascary, Interim Chief of Arts & Culture, City of Boston, Massachusetts
"Haiti changed my vision of what art is and what it can do. I lived in Haiti for a year in the early eighties. I learned a different process, a different color scheme, and a different culture than what I was used to. (...) I learned about who I was in this world and how I had to adapt."
— Paul Goodnight, famed visual artist, Boston, MA
"This anthology celebrates the culture, creativity, and spirit of the vibrant Haitian community in New England by highlighting the many achievements of its most prominent artists. (...) On behalf of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I wish to congratulate the artists represented in this publication."
— Pierre Terjanian, Director of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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The book is available for purchase at Brockton Art, Inc, via this link:
Purchase WE WHO ART
https://checkout.square.site/.../HA6ERZO6CJJC6DWQCI3G3STA...

04/23/2026

https://www.tanbou.com/2023/presentation-this-land-my-beloved-trilingual-anthology.htm

https://www.tanbou.com/2023/prezantasyon-antoloji-trileng.htm

https://www.tanbou.com/2023/presentation-cette-terre-mon-amour.htm

Pour qu’une langue dénigrée soit prise au sérieux, ses locuteurs doivent s’engager dans le projet de sa valorisation et de son développement… Tanbou automne 2023

10/18/2024

A new movie produced by local Haitians. Excellent actors and actresses. Let's support Haitian's nascent movie industry.
This Sunday, October 20, at the Strand Theater. I'll be there!

09/19/2024

HAITI IS NOT WHAT YOU SAY, MR. TÈT-MATO

Although this poem was written in response to Donald Trump’s 2018 insults in calling Haiti and the whole continent of Africa “sh*thole countries,” it provides A CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CURRENT ANTI-HAITIAN RACIST RANTS from Donald Trump and JD Vance.

The term “Tèt-Mato” means “Hammer-Head” in Haitian Creole and generally refers to a stupid, incompetent person. The poem was first published in the trilingual anthology THIS LAND, MY BELOVED (2023).

— Haiti Is Not What You Say, Mr. Tèt-Mato —

Haiti is the island nation born
from the cross-Atlantic blood
of people sold to the Traders.

Haiti actualizes the meaning
of both being and living
and has invented a new path
to freedom and a new way
to detect its perversion
even in the dark of the night.

Haitians shed blood for the United States
on the battlefield of Savannah
these valorous fighters held the lines
against British onslaught
to save the birth of the Republic
and help this nation into being.
Haiti is the country that stood
to her own peril and harm
against almighty France,
Spain and England
over the inalienability of being.

Haiti is the foundation of our modernity,
Haiti is the unsung mother of Latin America;
Haiti is where Francisco de Miranda and Simón Bolívar
came to acquire the fervor of brotherhood
and resources to liberate their lands.

Haiti has made hers
countless other countries’ causes
for human freedom and independence,
the most Hellenic nation of Greece among them.

Haiti is not what you say, Mr. Tèt-Mato;
Haiti is the country of the once enslaved
who dared to resist oppression
and whose bravura in defeating Napoleon’s forces
compelled him to sell the Louisiana territories,
doubling the size of US possessions of the time;
a favor that is now honored with insults.

Haiti is the land of the arts
where writers, poets, storytellers,
musicians, painters, sculptors wrought
the infinitesimal inner souls of our Universe.

Haiti is among the richest countries in the world
by measure of intellectual and philosophical
achievement of her people’s genius
and for the beauty of this mountainous land
despite the human-made pollution aided and abetted
by U.S. support of corrupt dictators.

Haiti is not what you say, Mr. Tèt-Mato;
Haiti has sent to North America’s shores
thousands of doctors, researchers, intellectuals
and teachers who instill values
that enliven and enrich the children’s fortitude;
some of her migrants scrub your floors
and take care of your sick and feeble;
Haiti has been good to the United States.

Haiti is the country forced to pay
in billions of French francs
and National City Bank bonds
for having won her freedom;
the people’s sweat was made
to sweeten many a Western high life
while the first Black republic
languished in impoverishing debt.

This descent into the abyss of darkness,
the degrading remarks that demean
hurt like a sword that penetrates the heart;
we shall not mince words; we shall see it plain,
naked in its nature, representing a deeper ill,
a more widely-shared sentiment.

The menace of hate coming from the voice
of the highest symbol of U.S. power
today targets the Haitians
today targets the Africans
today targets the Muslims
today targets the Mexicans
today targets the Salvadorans
today targets the Iranians
today targets the Palestinians
is the same that targeted the Jews,
the Socialists, the Communists,
the Gypsies, the g**s.
the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the mentally
and physically handicapped,
and we know what happened then.
The menace will tomorrow target you
and all people who don’t look Norwegian…*
O Africa! Cradle of the civilization
of men and women inventing humanity!

O Africa! The land of the Mandé Charter
where human rights were first made sacred
on a day in thirteenth-century Mali,
today demeaned by a knuckle-head!

The immigrants come to the land of immigrants
where Christian pilgrims, vagabonds, ex-cons,
persecuted of all stripes come to find refuge;
the land where defeated Ottoman subjects,
and pre-Nazi German nationals
came to become rich,
some leaving behind the values
of common human bonds;
the land where Jews, Christians, Muslims,
Buddhists, Taoists, Vodouists,
Irish, Japanese, Somalians,
and all kinds of disadvantaged
come to find their peace
although not always in welcoming fuss.

You have no right to deny others
that which serves your family well
and makes you a successful,
arrogant nouveau riche;
you have no right, however large
your ill-acquired fortune may be,
to debase whole continents of diverse nations;
you are a disgrace to mankind.

What we are seeing today
and experiencing in real time
is no longer an innocent joke
when real men, women, and children
are paying the heaviest price.

We must take to the streets
the fight for human integrity,
if we want to hold on to our dreams;
the tragic comedy already lasts too long.
A lone white supremacist at the White House
I would dismiss without much ado, but a system
that lets a lunatic destroy its ideals, my friend,
this is the problem we all should condemn.

I hold the whole system of government,
endowed to foster harmony and well-being
and to guide our children to higher pursuit,
responsible for letting this barbarian into the gate.

It’s time to stop the power of greed
and the corruption of our institutions!
The world will never forget
this affront to human decency,
nor will the masses of the United States
forgive endurance of such shame.

Haiti is not what you say;
Your Haiti is a reflection
of your twisted phantasms;
our Haiti is the guardian of our light
that which makes us all human;
your Haiti is a black hole
ours is a Deleuzian structure
a place where many dimensions join
in the pursuit of elevation
a place where many splendors coalesce.

(Boston, January 13th, 2018)

* In allusion to Donald Trump’s remark that only people from countries like Norway should be allowed to immigrate to the United States.

https://www.tanbou.com/2023/presentation-this-land-my-beloved-trilingual-anthology.htm

08/30/2024

https://nepoetryclub.org/event/poetry-at-magazine-beach-park-jane-attanucci-charlot-lucien-lawrence-kessenich/

Please join the NEPC as we continue our summer at Mass Audubon’s Magazine Beach Park Nature Center in Cambridge! The event is free of charge and the venue is accessible. ... Read morePoetry at Magazine Beach Park: Jane Attanucci, Charlot Lucien, Lawrence Kessenich

06/25/2024

Join the Cambridge Public Library in celebrating Caribbean American Heritage Month with a poetry reading and conversation featuring two award-winning local poets with roots in the...

06/07/2024

05/16/2024

Le prestigieux PRIX GONCOURT décerné à l'un des contributeurs de notre anthologie trilingue!

Nous sommes très fiers du lauréat du Prix Goncourt pour la poésie, Louis-Philippe Dalembert, un des poètes contributeurs à notre anthologie trilingue CETTE TERRE, MON AMOUR (2023). On le voit ici (à gauche). Un lecteur exhibe très fièrement la sortie de l'anthologie lors du Salon du livre à Paris le 3 décembre 2023. Nous envoyons nos vives félicitations à Louis-Philippe Dalembert (photo courtoisie Karine Belizar).