Edwidge Danticat: belief

Transcript context

…As a Haitian American, how do you feel your perspective on Black Lives Matter might be different from that of many Black Americans? It’s not different. I believe that Black lives matter, of course. I think, maybe, as a Haitian American with the history that I’ve just outlined to you, with having come out of a culture of revolution and the constant fight that Haitians have always had, we can certainly identify with that. Absolutely. One thing that’s been really wonderful to see with this generation is that, as Black immigrants, there’s no separation. Maybe in previous generations, there was that feeling that “Oh, this is not my problem.” But in the demonstrations, you see Haitian flags. You see Dominican flags. You see people from the continent. I think we realize that this affects all of us. It’s my nephews. It’s my African American friends that I grew up with, their children, my children. It’s certainly a common struggle. Certainly, that cop is not going to be asking you which country you’re from when doing these types of encounters. Now, in all of these conversations, there’s a segment where I present to the guest my favorite Haitian proverbs, and he or she reacts. Are you ready for a few?…

Stored transcript either side of the excerpt. The highlighted words are the published quote; the surrounding text is unedited source, never generated.