Artists, Performers, and Black Masculinity in the Haitian Diaspora

Download or read book Artists, Performers, and Black Masculinity in the Haitian Diaspora written by Jana Evans Braziel and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2008-06-27 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jana Evans Braziel examines how Haitian diaspora writers, performance artists, and musicians address black masculinity through the Haitian Creole concept of gwo nègs, or "big men." She focuses on six artists and their work: writer Dany Laferrière, director Raoul Peck, rap artist Wyclef Jean, artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, drag queen performer and poet Assotto Saint, and queer drag king performer Dréd (a.k.a. Mildréd Gerestant). For Braziel, these individuals confront the gendered, sexualized, and racialized boundaries of America's diaspora communities and openly resist "domestic" imperialism that targets immigrants, minorities, women, gays, and queers. This is a groundbreaking study at the intersections of gender and sexuality with race, ethnicity, nationality, and diaspora.