Three Leaves, Three Roots
Poems on the Haiti-Congo Story
Danielle Legros Georges
- A
- Haitian-born,
- Boston-based
- poet
- explores
- the
- personal
- and
- political
- stories
- of
- the
- Haitians
- who
- were
- part
- of
- Congo’s
- 1960s
- decolonization
- movementBetween
- 1960
- and
- 1975,
- thousands
- of
- Haitian
- professionals
- emigrated
- to
- Congo,
- a
- fellow
- Black
- francophone
- nation
- that
- emerged
- under
- the
- revolutionary
- new
- leadership
- of
- Patrice
- Lumumba.
- As
- Danielle
- Legros
- Georges
- writes
- in
- the
- introduction
- to
- this
- collection,
- these
- e´migre´s
- sought
- to
- “escape
- repression
- in
- Haiti,
- start
- new
- lives
- in
- Africa,
- and
- participate
- in
- a
- decolonizing
- Congo.”
- Among
- them
- were
- her
- parents.Grounded
- in
- these
- personal
- and
- social
- histories,
- Three
- Leaves,
- Three
- Roots
- is
- a
- collection
- of
- Legros
- Georges’s
- creative
- reconstructions
- of
- the
- Haiti-Congo
- experience.
- She
- interweaves
- her
- verses
- with
- excerpts
- from
- primary
- sources
- such
- as
- the
- interviews
- she
- conducted
- with
- the
- Congo
- e´migre´s
- and
- letters
- written
- by
- people
- both
- famous
- and
- obscure,
- including
- Lumumba,
- Fidel
- Castro,
- and
- members
- of
- Legros
- Georges’s
- family.The
- result
- is
- a
- richly
- layered
- portrayal
- of
- an
- era
- of
- decolonization
- and
- rebuilding,
- a
- time
- that
- sparked
- with
- both
- promise
- and
- vulnerability
- for
- the
- Pan-Africanist
- and
- Black
- Power
- movements.
- This
- collection
- is
- an
- important
- work
- of
- Haitian
- American
- poetry
- and
- of
- Black
- history:
- it
- reminds
- us,
- artfully,
- that
- movements
- of
- solidarity
- among
- people
- of
- color
- have
- always
- existed
- and
- always
- will exist.
