Philly and Port-au-Prince, my two homes, have seen the rise and fall of major political mobilization in the last few years. I often ask myself whether we’ve taken the time to learn all the lessons these moments and movements have to teach us. In May of 2025, I had a chat with James Beltis. He is an organizer who has been at the forefront of some of the social movements in Haiti over the last few years, including the Petro Caribe movement. He has a great way of breaking down what’s happening and helping us focus on what’s essential.  

Pandan fedatifis t ap pete nan syèl etazinyen an wikenn 4 jiyè a, gen yon pi gwo dife ki eklate nan kapital Ayiti a, ki kraze otèl Oloffson atè plat. Tankou anpil kay ak biznis nan Pòtoprens ak kèk lòt kote nan peyi a, yo te oblije kouri kite otèl la pandan fòs viv nan san elit valpa yo ap sipòte yo ap ogmante taktik vyolans yo.

There are no memories before soup joumou. There is no marker in the mind for when this food was introduced to my body. As long as I’ve been collecting the trinkets of my days as souvenirs in my mind, there has been pumpkin soup.