Dec 21, 2009

Breath, Eyes, Memory | Topics for Further Study

Read about the dictatorship of Jean Claude ‘‘Baby Doc’’ Duvalier in Haiti and discuss how it affected poverty, illiteracy, and crime in Haiti.

Explore the use of voudon, or voodoo, by Jean Claude Duvalier and his father, Francois "Papa Doc’’ Duvalier, to frighten the population of Haiti into submitting to their rule. How did these dictators use people's spiritual beliefs to enhance their power?

Research the Haitian deities of voudon, particularly the goddess Erzulie, and compare her to Catholic images of the Virgin Mary.

Find a Haitian...