A Haitian-born, Boston-based poet explores the personal and political stories of the Haitians who were part of Congo’s 1960s decolonization movement
Between 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 émigrés 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 émigrés 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.
About the Series
Raised Voices is a poetry series established in 2021 to raise marginalized voices and perspectives, to publish poems that affirm progressive values and are accessible to a wide readership, and to celebrate poetry’s ability to access truth in a way that no other form can
“A brilliant achievement. Danielle Legros Georges’s Three Leaves, Three Roots makes a compelling case for the role of poet as custodian of what once was lost and now is found. In these times of voluntary and forced migrations, these poems are shining testaments and urgent exposés of historical injustice and tender lyrics. This collection places this poet where she belongs, in the front ranks of poets writing today.”
—Lorna Goodison, author of Mother Muse
“As the poet moves us through landscapes lost, discovered, and found again, from Port-au-Prince, Kinshasa, to the banks of the Rio Grande, we discover voices displaced, exiled, and scorned, with love for their shared African roots even as these move from one geography to another. Sweeping in its breadth and historical coverage, Three Leaves, Three Roots is a triumph of poetic quietude in the midst of the chaos that surrounds depictions of Haiti today.”
—Myriam J. A. Chancy, author of What Storm, What Thunder
“Three Leaves, Three Roots is a captivating collection of poems that vividly portrays the journeys of Haitian professionals, including Danielle Legros Georges’s parents, who traveled to the Congo in the 1960s to support the decolonization movement. Through beautiful and captivating language, Georges intertwines personal narratives and letters, crafting a compelling testimony to a pivotal yet often overlooked moment in history. This profound exploration of migration and solidarity pays tribute to the lives of those we encounter within its pages while illuminating Haiti’s potential as a symbol of global liberty.”
—Edwidge Danticat, author of Brother, I’m Dying