Research Overview
My work is motivated by a commitment to understanding communities and their environments with depth and nuance, documenting their stories, examining the systems that shape their experiences, and showcasing the complexities of the challenges they face.
Background
Food serves as a powerful vector for human connection, creating community through collective experiences. Communities express their identities through culinary traditions passed down from generation to generation. Within Black communities, food plays a central role—from weddings and funerals to anniversaries and ancestral commemorations—all grounded in the principles of sharing, honoring, and caring. This study aims to capture the multifaceted nature of Haitian foodways, where production, access, distribution, and history constantly intersect
Background
The George A. Smathers Libraries, which owns approximately 500,000 volumes, over 50,000 microforms, thousands of current and historical serial titles, and a large number of digital resources, chose to highlight the story of Haitian migration to the US using their Latin American Collection to educate diverse audiences (students, faculty, community members, and K-12 teachers). This project tells the history of Haitian migration to the United States based on key and unforgotten events.