CSA - Creative and Stimulating Associations (Reflecting on the Annual Conference) by Yaari

Sugar and spice,

ehan' all dem nice puppy dog tails

dat's what CSA is made of

Arriving in Barbados stirred all of my Caribbean memories. As the plane dipped toward the island and tiny lights blinked into view, my anticipation increased.

The touchdown excitement had nothing to do with the conference and all to do with the bitter sweet memories that come with the life of an immigrant. Memories, like thick bright colored paintings portraying vague images, lingered as the old me and the newer version collided. Childhood images and sensory memories crowded in and pushing on them were the memories of life in the US. The questions always intrude... Am I happier? Can I come back? Who am I in the US? In the midst of black and brown people, I became someone.

Leaving the plane, I stepped on to the slightly shaky metal stairs and welcomed the warm breezy kiss of the Caribbean. "Home" now is anywhere the accent sings, the people smile, and the colors vary from chocolate smooth black, mingled with caramel brown, repeatedly touched by golden sun kissed sugar, and creamy warm butterscotch.

Routine becomes reminiscing; I have patience in lines; it gives me time to eye mingle with the crowd. I watch shapes of faces, inclines of bodies; I wonder where they go. I recognize with casual acceptance the two customs officers at work and the seven or eight empty booths of promise. For a minute you stewups your teeth and ask yourself, "why dese people goffa do dis, eh. Dey does wait till deh got a big crowd den dey does disappear." The anxiety creeps into my belly when the bags start to jump out of the hole. It's the bags; will they arrive I wonder. I hold back and wait. Nervous tummy jumpin' all over deh place. And, wuh yuh know, deh damn bag nah show up.

I walked over to the airline counter and started to fill out papers. In the meantime, the thought of being in Barbados without clothes did not excite me. (Even though, the heat waiting for me outside might have changed my mind.) Runnin' tru meh min' was nuff nuff money spendin' again.

At the counter my mounting irritability was distracted by the pleasant smile and helpful attitude of the customer service officer. Sche look up at meh an' smile - yuh kno'... dat eye crinkle way we West Indians does flirt wid friendly. She brought me back home immediately. A warm smile goes a long way to sustain the endurance needed for such matters. Then the forms came and threatened my calm. I managed to breathe in and finish all the blank lines.

Outside the airport my eyes skimmed the crowd and there she was - old friend and colleague from UCB - with a frantic look on her face. Eventually, after hugs and laughter we climbed in the SUV and hit the road. The blast of air through the open window brushed tired away for a while; I leaned back and emptied my mind.

Next morning we ate breakfast and each other's experiences at the same time. We sat on the verandah with the cool breeze circling and the fowl cocks crowing. Dat didn't last too long doh. Soon it was swimsuit, sandals and bodies answering the call of the sun and the crash of the waves. Ahh ... the warm blue green ocean cradled my body and offered me to the sun. Then I knew that I was a member of the CSA cult - addict to my senses, an intellectual and sensual junkie - always hunting for that information high and selling my body to the sun goddess.

Next day seriousness stepped in and took over. Out the car I jumped; into the hotel lobby I moved among a bustling crowd of orange tagged academics rushing to and fro trying to register, check in and find panels - madness in the making. Keeping it all together was the nervous energy of greedy curiosity - who to see? What to hear? Where's the bar.. maybe some food too and, don't forget; ah wonder how meh presentation gon go? Five days jam packed with intellectual stimulation - all about violence. Crisscrossing tiled patios and grassy walkways people moved in all manner of walk and wear - hair up down and dreadlock long.

Violence centered subjects hit the airwaves - lectures, Powerpoint presentations, videos - dance, stage.. all engaging the audience and sending them rushing from one to the other. There was the constant surge of crowded conversations stretching across spaces over food and drink and in between emails to folk back home - other expectations and obligations.

What jumped out at me was the women focused conversations and presentations. The air was charged with necks stretched to see and the uuummm huummms of patient agreement and the hand clapping to control the frustrated excitement of the shared lived experiences of perpetual endurance and the longing for change. Pride straightened my back and stretched out my chest and made it worthwhile to have crossed ocean and the guilty spendin' of lill' plastic money. In my head I heard .. yeah yeah yeah, I am woman hear me roar.

Special to me is the chance that CSA gives me to explore and get to know the local folk and hear the lore of oral histories so often ignored. This time it was Mrs. R - 99 years old - born 1911. Laud, the woman could tell a story; she circled me with laughter and in the midst gave me understandings of how race was experienced and community used to heal and endure. She revealed to me lessons of life and secrets of survival that might be useful to us if we listened well and listened more.

Too was the chance to ride the island with a dreadlock man of serious contemplation. He raised for me more questions of CSA leanings. As we circled the island, he brought to my attention that more and more walls were going up and he could not longer, "see" in. Dat there were people buying up deh island and, for me there was a little confusion, is who buyin' up deh island so? And if the buyers are foreigners what den will become of Bajan identity as people get squeezed into deh middle? The Rasta is a farmer and he let me know that he must sell to dem - is a relationship full a caution for him.

The CSA in me wondered about this "trade." Is this the "free market" experience that is repeating itself in many a Caribbean place? If we are getting pushed to the center of the land; if we are being circled by others; if the dependency grows, what will that mean for the future?

Creative and stimulating associations are necessary. CSA in my pocket; CSA as my compass; CSA as lens; CSA explorations and explanations. I look forward to the opportunity to hear; like Trinidad, Brazil, San Andres, Jamaica, and Barbados, I look forward to going deeper into community, to opening myself again and again to knowing family in the Diaspora.

Transportation from the Airport to Hotel for CSA Meeting 2010

Hello everyone!

We're looking forward to seeing you at the CSA 2010 meeting next week.

If you have not had a chance to arrange transportation from the airport to the conference hotel, please note that a taxi from Grantley Adams Airport to the Almond Beach Hotel costs about US$60.00 for two persons. If 4-6 persons share a vehicle from the airport, the cost will be roughly USD$80.00

You can go to the Caribbean Studies Association's group page on Facebook to contact other CSA members to see if they would like to share a taxi.

Islam and the Atlantic World - Call for Contributions

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDITED VOLUME

Islam and the Atlantic World: New Paradigms from Latin America and the Caribbean, edited by Aisha Khan

In scholarly and popular approaches, Islam has been imagined primarily as an “East” that is counter to, rather than a counterpart of “the West.” However, processes of globalization, notably diasporas of Muslims outside “typical” homelands of the Old World, have long linked East and West, and “old” and “new,” troubling these oppositional categories. Yet dominant discourse continues to focus on Muslim populations either as historical communities in original homelands or as contemporary, transitional communities adjusting (or not) to their new destinations. Muslims have been a part of Latin America and the Caribbean for over four centuries, yet in the Americas attention to them has been relatively sparse compared to other areas of research, and for the past decade predominantly reflects a U.S.—9/11 perspective.

Considering broader histories and destinations, Islam and the Atlantic World asks how “American” can be qualified, in order to produce a hemispheric perspective on Muslims that challenges both the notion of U.S. exceptionalism and the depiction of Islam as homogeneous, timeless, and thus incongruous with certain (i.e., Western) worldviews and value systems. Islam and the Atlantic World inquires into the ways that Islam becomes vernacular forms of belief and practice in the Americas, a process of translation by which Muslims are both sustained and created.

Another key question Islam and the Atlantic World asks is how to imagine, articulate, and analyze discourses of diversity and discourses of similarity. It is this volume’s premise that cross-cultural, pan-American comparisons based on close historical and ethnographic examination of the experiences of Muslim populations challenges stereotypes and opens the way for new paradigms in the study of regional and global Islam. Other considerations include:

*How might we be able to know Muslims in territories where they have not been a salient point of reference in the cultural imagination, or where their representation has been one-dimensional?
*What have the conditions, crises, and traditions been for Muslims in the Caribbean and Latin America?
*What can the lens of Muslim experience reveal about articulations between global North and South in the constitution of an American hemisphere?
*What does the concept of umma mean in historical and cultural regions which have their own relationship to the forces of global capitalism (not the least of which being slavery and indenture), nationalism, and anti-colonial movements?
*How might the familiar question about what Islam means for Muslims in the “modern world” change when considering Muslims and Islam in the region where, as some scholars have argued, modernity began?

Islam and the Atlantic World gathers together interdisciplinary contributions on historical and contemporary Muslim populations and communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Submissions will not be limited to scholarly articles (which should be approximately 6000 words), and may include personal reflections, interviews with key individuals, or fiction (short stories or poems). Given that the Anglophone Caribbean is presently well-covered, particularly welcome are discussions from Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking Latin America and the French-, Dutch-, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean, as well as European and North American sites where there is a direct and on-going relationship with a Latin American or Caribbean country. Please submit your title and 300-350 word abstract by July 1, 2010 to: Aisha Khan, ak105@nyu.edu. Once all chapter contributions have been confirmed, final negotiations with the university press publishing the volume will move forward. All relevant topics
are welcome for consideration.


Aisha Khan
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
New York University
Telephone: (212) 998-3751
Fax: (212) 995-4014

CSA Conference Program Now Available

Hello everyone!

The conference program for the Caribbean Studies Association's 35th Annual meeting is now available at the CSA website at www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org . CSA Program Chair Alissa Trotz has announced that there are "three plenaries on climate change in the Caribbean; on the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake; and on Women, Memory, Politics and Violence in the Caribbean." In addition to the regular program, there will also be films, performances, and readings from poets. Please join us in Barbados May 24-28, 2010 and enjoy all that CSA has to offer.

A Cubanist Reflects on Reformed US Health Care

The day is still hazy in my mind. I was sick and could barely walk. I hadn't gotten out of bed in almost a week. Finally my (now former) mother-in-law came over and let me lean on her shoulder as we walked to the neighborhood clinic. I hadn't gone before because I wasn't sure I could. As a foreigner, I was supposed to use the expensive tourist hospitals, but I doubted I could afford to go there since I hadn't bought tourist insurance. With my U.S.-based understanding that cost is part of care, I fumbled for the US$10 bill -- about half a Cuban's monthly salary -- that was tucked in my wallet as we walked out of my apartment.

In contrast to previous visits with my (then) husband, there was barely a wait at all to see the doctor. Mami explained to her that I was foreign, but sick: "Won't you help her, please?" The doctor began to ask me about my symptoms and examined me. She determined that I had strep throat and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic. I tried to pay her with the $10 I had brought but she refused. Mami then took me around the corner to the pharmacy (featuring herbs, Chinese medicines, and Western medicines) where I paid about CU$5 (less than US$0.50) for the antibiotics. The last thing I remember was taking my medicine and falling asleep until the next day.

To be clear, I do not suggest that Cuba's system is without flaws: it generally features long lines, the equipment is frequently antiquated, and foreign tourists can pay for the kinds of services they may be accustomed to in their home countries. Likewise, the reforms to the U.S. health care system will not be perfect when they are ultimately enacted in the months and years ahead. But, at long last, we are on the right track to everyone having access to affordable health care.

I share my experience with the Cuban health care system in celebration of the reforms just made law in the United States.


Contributed by L. Kaifa Roland

Advice for People Doing Research in the Caribbean? (Repost)

Do you remember the best piece of advice you received while planning to do research in the Caribbean?

For the past few years, I have collected the “words of wisdom” concerned colleagues, researchers, elders in my discipline, “everyday experts,”* friends, and family members have graciously given me before, and during, my multiple research trips to Jamaica. In a recent volume of Transforming Anthropology**, I wrote about the five themes that connected these pearls of wisdom in a piece titled, "'Don't Ride the Bus': and Other Warnings that Women Anthropologists Are Given During Fieldwork." Although the individuals giving me advice seemed dedicated to thinking up ways to help me navigate unfamiliar territory, and genuinely wanted to make me feel comfortable in this space, in reality, much of their advice and warnings only worked to remind me of three things: (1) I was traveling alone; (2) I was a foreigner; and (3) I was a woman. For almost all of my advice givers, the gendered fact of Number 3 somehow exacerbated their anxiety and concern around the first two sentiments. It seemed that being a foreign woman alone in Jamaica, and the Caribbean more broadly, was somehow dangerous and problematic. Subsequently, these well-meaning American tourists, business travelers, African diasporic researchers, and Jamaican residents called, emailed, and whispered strategies to help me deal with the obstacles I would undoubtedly face.

In my article, I conclude that the advice people gave me during my research did not necessarily help me figure out how to get around Jamaica, or do my fieldwork research more efficiently. However, their advice did tell me a great deal about the ways Jamaica, and the Caribbean more broadly, are read through racialized, nationalized, gendered, sexualized, and classed lenses. Additionally, I realized that there were not enough spaces available for those completing research in the Caribbean, (particularly women), to talk about and discuss their experiences—the daily ins and outs of “doing research,” while navigating bustling city streets, crowded beaches, lively taxi car parks, jam-packed buses, and peaceful mountain towns. The silencing of these stories does not prepare our graduate students to do better research. And the revisionist histories that we often include in the texts that we write, erasing the highs and lows of our experiences, often downplay the significance of our identities and how these social markers affect our interactions with, and research about, the Caribbean.

Therefore I ask you: How was your experience of doing research in the Caribbean? What advice would you give current and future researchers working in the diverse locations that make up the Caribbean?


*I use the term “everyday experts” to describe the individuals anthropologists have traditionally called “informants.”

**Volume 17, issue 2, October 2009.

Contributed by Bianca C. Williams

A Tale of Two Earthquakes

In the recent days following the second largest earthquake to hit the southern region of the Western hemisphere, one may notice the stark contrast in global media and public international reaction. The responses to the Jan. 12th Haitian earthquake has spawned unprecedented levels of international support and financial aid and many wonder will the commitment to Chile do the same and if not, why or why not? United States based Associated Press reporters offer a media perspective on how the impacts of the two earthquakes in Haiti and Chile are being compared, which works to influence the varied international public responses to both countries still very much in need. Are such media reactions rooted in racialized, internationally political, and economic agendas? Or, is it genuinely "A Tale of Two Quakes"?

Click here to read the full article http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587604,00.html

Preserving Haitian History and Culture

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, scholars are beginning efforts to preserve Haiti's magnificent history and culture for the future. One idea being circulated among the Association of Black Anthropologists is for those with access to primary source Haitian material to coordinate with the Haitian embassy in Washington DC to collect and store those materials until the appropriate Haitian museum is prepared to accept them. More information will be provided as it becomes available; your feedback is welcome.

In the meantime, the Wall Street Journal recently reported on the unearthing of Alan Lomax's archive of Haitian research (conducted in collaboration with Zora Neale Hurston).

Remembering Rex Nettleford

Professor Ralston Milton Nettleford, better known as Rex Nettleford, one of Jamaica’s most famous scholars and cultural icons, passed a week ago on Feb. 2, 2010, in Washington, D.C. He collapsed in his hotel room a few days before, while visiting the U.S. to raise funds for the University of the West Indies, where he acted as Vice-Chancellor Emeritus. During his 76 years with us, Professor Nettleford lived a full life as a Jamaican intellectual, social critic, and choreographer. It is difficult to list this Rhodes Scholar’s numerous achievements, however some include his authoring of books such as the seminal study on the Rastafari movement in 1961 (which he co-authored with M.G. Smith and Roy Augier), “Manley and the New Jamaica” with Norman Manley in 1971, his collection of essays titled “Mirror Mirror,” and his book “Caribbean Cultural Identity: The Case of Jamaica.” Nettleford was an artistic director of the University Singers at the UWI Mona campus for over twenty years, founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica in 1963, and acted as a chairman on the Council of the Institute of Jamaica. To get more information on Professor Nettleford’s many achievements see:

http://www.caricom.org/jsp/projects/personalities/rex_nettleford.jsp?menu=projects
www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Sanders-Feb-7
www.jis.gov.jm/special_sections/This Is Jamaica/nettleford.html

Through his work as a mentor, teacher, university administrator, artist, and cultural ambassador, Professor Nettleford touched the lives of many, including members of the Caribbean Studies Association across generations, geographic areas, and disciplines. CSA member Honor Ford-Smith shares her experiences with Nettleford and the impact he had on her life in her tribute titled, “In Memoriam: Rex Nettleford 1933-2010,” which you can read on the CSA website at www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org.

We open up the comments section as a space for CSA members to share their experiences with Professor Nettleford, and to talk about the profound impact his academic and artistic pursuits had on their research in the Caribbean and their lives.

Contributed by Bianca C. Williams

The United States Makes a 'Military Base' Out of Haiti: El Sol de Mexico, Mexico

The United States Makes a 'Military Base' Out of Haiti: El Sol de Mexico, Mexico

Indigenous People Being Pushed Out of the Amazon?

With governmental negotiations underway for a multi-billion hydro-electric dam, are indigenous peoples being pushed out of the Amazon? Some sources say yes!

Brazil grants environmental licence for Belo Monte dam
By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo



Brazil's government has granted an environmental licence for the construction of a controversial hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest.

Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam will cause devastation in a large area of the rainforest and threaten the survival of indigenous groups.

However, the government says whoever is awarded the project will have to pay $800m to protect the environment.

The initial approval was a key step before investors could submit bids.

For full article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8492577.stm)

CFP Extended to Fri. 2/5 for CSA Conference in Barbados

PLEASE NOTE THAT CSA HAS EXTENDED THE DEADLINE FOR ITS CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE MAY 24-28 CONFERENCE IN ST. PETERS, BARBADOS. THE NEW AND FINAL DEADLINE IS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5TH, 2010. PLEASE NOTE THAT IN ORDER TO COMPLETE SCHEDULING IN A TIMELY MANNER, TO RESPOND TO EVERYONE SO THAT THEY CAN PLAN ACCORDINGLY, AND OUT OF RESPECT FOR ALL THOSE WHO GOT THEIR ABSTRACTS AND PANELS IN ON TIME (THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!), FEBRUARY 5TH WILL BE A FIRM DEADLINE AND WE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING ABSTRACTS AFTER THIS TIME.

Please also be assured that we are discussing ways of ensuring that the devastating earthquake and its aftermath in Haiti are front and centre questions at CSA in May, and very much look forward to you joining us and participating actively in the conversation.


WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN BARBADOS IN MAY.

If you have any questions please direct them to the CSA Conference Address:

Alissa Trotz at datrotz@gmail.com



D. Alissa Trotz
CSA Program Chair 2010.

Cuba Haitian Neighbor

The are many parallels between Haiti and Cuba -- from their game changing revolutions to their expulsion from the global community for their audacity to hope. As expected, Cuba is involved in Haiti's recovery efforts.

Cuba Reacts to Haiti Earthquake


Fidel Castro on Haiti Two Weeks After

Granma/Spanish (official newspaper of Cuban gov't)
Granma/English (The international edition of the official newspaper of the Cuban government. Though the international edition is not identical to the local, hard-copy edition, the online source provides insight into locally filtered news reporting. )

Conversations about Haiti and the Region

While many rightfully continue to seek out ways to offer assistance to the thousands in Haiti struggling through nightmarish conditions, there are others like Pat Robertson who have already begun finger-pointing after the tragic earthquake. Another emerging issue in the aftermath of the disaster in Haiti is what will become of those seeking livable conditions elswhere. It is necessary that we, as scholars of the Caribbean, begin a dialogue about Haiti and its neighbors, as frightening proposals are beginning to emerge. The article below offers a number of suggestions of 'what to do' with displaced Haitian nationals who have survived the earthquake, including sending these survivors to Guantanamo Bay. In support of his position, the author writes, "Gitmo may be a grim place, but nothing is as grim as Haiti itself." In the face of 'proposals' like these, those of us who live, work and feel accountable to those in the Caribbean must also begin to speak.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spreading the Inevitable Flood of Haitian Refugees Around the Region
BY DAVID NORTH — JANUARY 20, 2010

It is highly likely that there will be a flood of Haitian refugees in the next few months, no matter how heroic the Administration's efforts are to meet the short- and long-term needs of the people in Haiti.
It is time to make some hard-nosed suggestions about the distribution of those refugees.
I heard on the news last night a reporter say that Haiti is "on America's doorstep." Compared to Afghanistan, well, yes, but a look at the map would be helpful.

Haiti, at best, is at the outer fringe of Mainland America's front lawn. The places where the doorstep image fits are: Dominican Republic (on the other side of the island), Cuba, and the Bahamas; also nearby are two American territories that, to be blunt about it, have never lifted a finger to help America to resettle refugees, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Then there are the British, the ex-British, the Dutch, and particularly the French islands in the Carribbean, most much closer to Haiti than Florida.
None of these places are as rich as the U.S. or Western Europe, but all are far more prosperous than Haiti, and all should pitch in and help the probable flow of refugees. The individuals will find a better life in those places than in the other likely locations – the slums of Brooklyn and Miami.
If they wind up in Guadeloupe or Martinique they will even have experience with the local language. (Some Haitians speak French, most speak a French-based creole.)
One of the characteristics of the U.S. refugee program is that there is no central control of where, within the U.S., the refugees settle. The initial distribution is in the hands of junior officers of the private resettlement agencies who meet weekly in New York City; after that a refugee, though initially settled in South Dakota, may move to California – it is rarely the other way around.
What results is called in the trade "secondary migration," as refugees – pretty rootless after their initial arrival – move around the nation to find relatives, or in by-gone days, more friendly welfare systems.
The result is that huge numbers of refugees live in ethnic clusters – think of Orange County, California, and the Vietnamese, or the Twin Cities and the Hmong – which is comfortable for them in the short term, but slows their long-term adjustment to life in America.
My suggestion is that the US prevail upon jurisdictions in Haiti's neighborhood to accept a finite number of refugees – a small fraction, in each case, of what the U.S. will accept. This will not be easy. Islanders can be just as biased as Mainlanders, if not more so. That most of the island governments are run by Blacks is not necessarily helpful vis-a-vis the resettlement of Black refugees.
But the U.S. can use diplomatic leverage on the Dominicans, the British, the French, the Dutch, and the ex-British colonies to help some of the Haitians. How Cuba will react will be interesting.
The U.S. would extend its current per capita refugee resettlement and placement grant of $900 each, now used only on the Mainland of the U.S., to all cooperating island governments. The refugees would be given travel documents that allowed them legally enter only the place of resettlement or Haiti. Refugee resettlement organizations will object to both provisions, of course, they will want to keep R&P grants within the States, and will object to the limited mobility of the new refugees.
Would-be refugees would be offered a choice; either you and your family go to, Jamaica, say, or you can stay in Haiti. Few would choose the latter.
As to the cooperation of the U.S. island governments, the levers are easily pushed and pulled. Both island jurisdictions are heavily dependent on flows of funds from Washington, most of which are not automatic, and can be sped or delayed by agency action. (The Departments of Agriculture, Education and Transportation provide moneys, as does the Federal Communications Commission, among others.) The Governors could be told, quietly, that all of these flows will be stalled until the islands work out their refugee resettlement programs.
Whereas the U.S. can not block a refugee in South Dakota from moving to California, regulating air traffic out of Puerto Rico, and particularly the Virgin Islands, is much more manageable. Besides, there is the precedent of issuing Guam-only visas to potential tourists to that island. (Part of this plan would involve issuing VI- or PR-only visas to Haitians resettled in those locations.)
In addition the U.S. would see to it that some small classes of refugees – such as those picked up seeking illegal entrance to the U.S. – would be sent to Guantanamo. The Navy Base there also could use its hospital to treat some of those injured in the earthquake. Not all Gitmo is a prison, and its extensive grounds have been used to house Haitian refugees in the past.
Gitmo may be a grim place, but nothing is as grim as Haiti itself. I know, I once spent a year in Port-au-Prince, or so it seemed in those four days; I am sure that, even without an earthquake, it is the most depressing place on earth.


David North served as both a consultant to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, in the Department of Health and Human Services, and as an official of the Office of Insular Affairs, in the Department of the Interior.

Post-Earthquake Action Steps for Haiti

In the wake of the catastrophic damage in Haiti caused by the recent earthquake, many people have expressed a desire to help in some way. This post offers some suggestions for ways to donate time, money or support. If you know of additional credible avenues to assist in Haiti, please add them in the Comments section.

People have been asking:

1) Where to contribute

a) Most reliable organizations seemingly best able to provide immediate assistance

These top 4 have people already on the ground & already tending to victims :

i. Having spoken to people on the ground, these two above are serving as a shelter for impacted survivors, providing food & water, but their reserves (normally for several hundred orphans & staff) will not last very long:

Go Free Ministries (www.gofreeministries.org)

- Click on 'donate' to give by Paypal or credit card
- Mail: Go Free Ministries Intl. PO BOX 163108, Fort Worth, TX 76161-3108.
- Email inquiries to: gmain@gfmionline.org (you can direct it to go specifically to earthquake relief efforts)
or
Hope Foundation International Ministries, Inc.
2822 54th Ave. South #229, St. Petersburg, FL 33712
or

ii. Partners in Health

www.pih.org/inforesources/news/Haiti_Earthquake.html or mail Partners In
Health, P.O. Box 845578, Boston, MA 02284-5578

iii. Doctors Without Borders

www.doctorswithoutborders.org, or toll-free at 1-888-392-0392 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
USA Headquarters 333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10001-5004.

b) Good for longer term support

i. Food for the Poor: http://www.foodforthepoor.org/

ii. The Lambi Fund: http://www.lambifund.org/

iii. World Vision: http://www.worldvision.org/

c) Unsure of time-table to get aid on the ground

i. YeleHaiti

http://www.yele.org/ (Wyclef's org)

ii. Red Cross (although unclear how to direct the funds to specifically Haiti):

http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_subsrc=RCO_ResponseStateSection

iii. For more complete lists of options, see:


http://content.usatoday.com/communities/kindness/post/2010/01/how-to-help-victims-of-the-haiti-earthquake/1
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34835478/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Haitian-Earthquake-Relief/288681741232
d) Clothing Donations

http://www.hopehaitifoundation.org/

e) Donate Relief Goods

http://matadorchange.com/haiti-earthquake-update-donations-list/

2) What actions can I take

a) Contact your Congresspeople (to get your Senator & Representative's
number to MAKE A QUICK CALL, visit http://www.contactingthecongress.org/) to
support IMMEDIATE RESCUE EFFORTS to Haiti; and

b) To request TPS for Haitians, not just "halting deportations"

The Obama administration should grant Haitians Temporary Protected Status
(TPS), which is regularly granted to the people of other countries who've
suffered much less disasters than Haiti; by DHS's own definition, even with
the hurricanes preceding this earthquake, Haiti is overqualified.
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=319c96981298d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=828807b03d92b010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

c) If you want to help & go the extra mile, please WRITE in to media outlets like your local newspaper, and/or newstation's website.

3) VOLUNTEER

i. Plans are coming together for a trip of Matador volunteers to go to Haiti to assist in earthquake recovery and relief. http://matadorchange.com/
NOAH is also gearing up to head to Haiti.

ii. Hope for Haiti is looking for medical personnel & donations:
http://hopeforhaiti.com/volunteering.php

iii. So is: nationalnursesunited.com

4) PASS THIS ALONG

CSA AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hello blog followers! The deadlines are fast approaching for the CSA's Graduate Student Essay Contest and the CSA Best Dissertation Award.

If you are a graduate student, and seek to become published, the Graduate Student Essay Contest is a great place to start. The winner of this contest will be published in "Transforming Anthropology," the peer-reviewed journal of the Association of Black Anthropologists. The deadline for this contest is January 22, 2010, and you can find details about this it at the Caribbean Studies Association website at www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org.

If you have completed your dissertation in the past two years (2008 and 2009), you are eligible to apply for the CSA Best Dissertation Award. The winner will receive a Crystal Award at the 2010 CSA Meeting in Barbados, and will be reimbursed their 2010 CSA membership fees. The deadline for this award is February 1, 2010. Please see the Caribbean Studies Association's website for more details.

These are great opportunities to have your work reviewed by prominent scholars who study the Caribbean through a multiplicity of disciplinary lenses. We encourage you to apply!

Contributed by Bianca C. Williams

Congraatulations to Laura Lomas!!!

The Modern Language Association has awarded Laura Lomas the seventh annual MLA Prize for United States Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary and Cultural Studies. She is awarded the prize based on her text Translating Empire: Jose Marti, Migrant Latino Subjects, and American Modernities.

The committee's citation for the winning book reads:


Translating Empire: José Martí, Migrant Latino Subjects, and American Modernities does an excellent job of reinterpreting the legacy of José Martí while documenting an impressive body of archival work. Covering the North American literary and cultural texts of the United States in the Gilded Age, Laura Lomas reads Martí and his contemporaries to tell the story of Latino migrants as the translators of cultures situated between modernities. Lomas gives close attention to Martí's lesser-known texts, reinvigorates his contributions to the United States, and provides an abundance of provocative and thoughtful readings. Lomas's reinterpretation of Martí recasts the transamerican imaginary as a model for a contemporary readership drawing north-south intersections between Latin American studies and United States Latino studies.


Laura Lomas is an associate professor in the English Department and the Graduate Program in American Studies at Rutgers University, Newark.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Welcome to the 2010 CSA Blog!!!

Hopefully you are full of as much excitement for the new year as we are. For those who are new, welcome to the Caribbean Studies Association's blog. For those who are returning, thank you for your continued support in developing this blog that spreads and supports scholarship and dialogue concerning Caribbean Studies beyond our annual conference. As the year begins we wish blessings of vigorous energy on all who are diligently engaged in expanding content and knowledge related to Caribbean region. This is a space for professors, students, and independent scholars to share information about the many things concerning the Caribbean that arise in our multifaceted research experiences. So please assist in growing our blog by submitting for possible posting short essays (500 wds), reviews, CFPs, personal achievements, and other related announcements concerning the diverse fields of Caribbean Studies. Submissions may be sent to caribbeanstudiesassociation@gmail.com.
Additionally, please remember the CFP deadline for the CSA annual conference in Barbados is rapidly approaching. We would love to see you there! For the full CFP, please visit http://caribbeanstudiesassociation.org/en/documents/Theme_for_the_CSA.pdf