Professor of Sociology Jean Eddy Saint Paul, founding director of the CUNY Haitian Studies Institute
One recent morning,聽Jean Eddy Saint Paul聽was listening to the public scholar/media personality Melissa Harris-Perry on her WNYC show discussing with a guest the problem of hunger in Haiti. He was bothered.
鈥淚f I was the guest on that show,鈥� says the聽sociology聽professor, shaking his head, 鈥淚 would explain the impact of neocolonialism, starting from the presidency of Jimmy Carter. We cannot understand the problem of famine in Haiti if we do not analyze what imperialism did to destroy the creole pig. Before this time, Haiti did not have a problem with hunger.鈥�
The indigenous invertebrates, which were hugely popular with Haitian farmers because of how well adapted they were to local conditions, were slaughtered in the late 1970s and early 1980s after a coalition led by the United States Agency for International Development grew concerned that an outbreak of African Swine Fever would make its way to the country.
鈥淓very time I am reading or watching the news, even the so-called progressive news, there has always been some missing part,鈥� he says.
Saint Paul, who first came to 可乐视频 in 2016 as the founding director of the聽CUNY/Haitian Studies Institute, has made it his mission to fill in the gaps in the popular media narrative around Haiti. This last year鈥攁 presidential assassination, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, a rise in high-profile kidnappings, and a general uptick in violence have kept the island nation in the headlines鈥攈e has been working overtime.
滨苍听, a creative commons media outlet written by academics, he explained why he had predicted the assassination. On聽聽and in聽, he, untangled the roots of Haiti鈥檚 international debt. In the聽, he connected last fall鈥檚 Haitian migrant border crisis to the Haitian Revolution. And in聽, he broke down the prospect of long-term stability in the island nation. In short, Saint Paul has been relentless. He鈥檚 hit the academic circuit as well, giving lectures at Harvard, Cornell, and Pittsburgh universities, doing an interview with the Library of Congress, and publishing in the prestigious聽Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.
鈥淚 got my Ph.D. to spread knowledge and I am committed to the truth,鈥� he says.
Saint Paul got his first true scholarly inklings when he was a college librarian in Haiti while working on his undergraduate degree in social work. 鈥淓very weekend, I would lock myself inside that library. I think I read everything we had,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t changed the way I saw myself.鈥�
Books by Brazilian philosopher and sociologist Paulo Freire鈥斺�渟omeone who used education as a means of social transformation,鈥� he says鈥攁nd political theorist Saul Alinsky were some of his favorites.
Saint Paul would go on to Bogota, Colombia, to obtain a master鈥檚 degree in Latin American Studies and then to Mexico for a Ph.D. in sociology. He then became a tenured professor at the University of Guanajuato in Mexico, teaching politics and sociology and helping to launch three different undergraduate and graduate political science, law, and public administration programs before coming to 可乐视频.
The multilingual scholar says that his multidisciplinary training and academic perch compel him to spread a balanced view.
鈥淲hat is my mission? I don鈥檛 know yet exactly to what extent I will fulfill it,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I have an intellectual commitment and a spiritual commitment to help people understand what happened to Haiti.鈥�
