In the 1960s, the 1970s, black models shined, and very, very few shined as lustrously as Jany Remponeau Tomba, who became one of the USA’s very first black supermodels. Her modeling career spanned three decades, with her face appearing on the cover of American Girl, Woman’s Day, Mademoiselle, Essence, not to mention groundbreaking ads for Coke, Maxi, Johnson and Johnson products, Clairol, and other famous brands. Tomba’s journey as a model started with her arrival as a young immigrant in New York in the mid-1960s.

A stunningly beautiful girl, she had a dimpled smile, shapely legs, high cheek bones, and a remarkable face that could have given any onlooker the impression that she she had had angels in her parental lineage. Not too long after Tomba’s arrival in the United States, she caught the eye of a photographer who asked permission to take her photo. Tomba refused outright.

Her next encounter with the fashion world would occur not long after—this time she was approached by a woman who told the young Tomba that she was from the publishing conglomerate Conde Nast. The woman was at the time the beauty editor at Glamour magazine, and Tomba, blessed with good sense accepted her invitation into the upscale offices of magazine. From there, Tomba was groomed; sent to a beauty shop for a hair makeover, and assigned to a fashion photographer, and thus begun her ascent in the world of high fashion. The little girl from Port-au-Prince, who had originally had her mind set on a medical career, signed to Ford, one of Fashion Land’s most prestigious modeling agencies then and now. She was in high demand everywhere, strutted her stuff at casting auditions, dimpled for photographers, and landed in the pages of the fashion world’s most popular magazines, including Time.

She shared her reminisces about her modeling career and her life after.

(Right): Tomba as a little girl in Haiti, posing for her first communion photo

Q&A

What kind of childhood did you have?
I was born in Haiti of a family where my father was an artist. We lived in Port-au-Prince in a neighborhood which then seemed country. At that time there might have been no more than ten houses around. Today, it is sadly an overbuilt and crowded commercial strip. When on a recent visit I drove by the old house among the small houses squeezing her in, she stood freshly painted, behind tall brick walls. I was happy to see the trees were still there and almost could feel the spirit of my grandmother who lived with us. I had a wonderful childhood filled with joy, artistic activities and mango trees. I love to climb the trees where I found my solitude. I was the fourth child of a family of 6. My mother helped my father run his studio where I was fortunate to meet many prominent artists. I enjoyed the gallery openings, the production of carnival floats, and Christmas time was also a time of involvement as all the kids hand painted Christmas cards. During the summer my Father took us fishing. Although my family was Catholic we and extended members also visited yearly the wonderful waterfall of Saut d’Eau. It was a day of joy and the spiritual element was palpable even though I did not understand any of it then. I went to Catholic school which I did not like because the nuns were oppressive. Later on I went to a boy girl school where I blossomed as an adolescent. In 1965, my family left the native land and settled in New York City.

Why did they choose the USA as opposed to France, since France was usually the destination of the professional class?
Usually in migration patterns people follow the earlier migrants. People go where there is connection and opportunities. In my case my Father had moved to New York in 1964 so the rest of the family joined him. My Father had traveled a lot. Before that, he had studied at Hampton Institute in the South and he had worked in Ghana and had been to New York where he had family and friends. Although he had been to France, we did not have family there. Many families had moved to many places at that time. I would say my parents chose to leave. I was not asked where I wanted to go. We packed and left. The situation in Haiti at that time was very oppressive and not conducive to the growth of young individuals.

As one of the first black supermodels of the world, what obstacles did you find yourself facing?
It was 1969. The Black Power movement had just settled and the African-American consumers were being courted. There was a need to satisfy the Black consumer. However it was not an easy transition. To see a Black girl next to the White girls was to be a challenge. It was okay to show a Black model but often she would not be photographed single. It was rare to have a cover. It was customary to photograph a Black girl with a Blonde and a Brunette. Some photographers then told me they had a difficult time to light the three together so I was perfect with my tan look not too dark not too light. Plus I had the bright energetic smile that made people feel comfortable or should I say not feel threatened? It was not long after the Civil Right movement.

You’ve discussed modeling in the 1960s, but what did it feel like to be a new immigrant in the mid-1960s…the transition from Haiti to New York?
As difficult as it was to leave my homeland I welcomed the new adventure. I did miss my grandmother and my friends, but I loved being in New York. It was a very cold day in March. It had been snowing and the ground was covered. Everything was new. I was so young and as long as I had my family I felt secure. We lived in upper Manhattan in a very nice building and I loved the elevator! I was fascinated by the constant lights in the city. I remember thinking there are no trees, the streets seemed so sterile! I missed the crawling lizards. The transition was pretty smooth and in the summer I discovered Central Park, Coney Island and the Museums and Greenwich Village, where an abundance of art made up for my green land.

Collage via: Divalocity

A lot of wisdom comes with time. What do you wish you had known when you first started out as a model?
What I wish I had known then as young starting model? I am glad I had not known so much that I do today. My path was guided by intuition and a result of my upbringing. I was confident without arrogance, and had I known what I know today I mean my political placement in that industry I would have been hindered because the fashion industry likes the girls to be young of mind and body. I did not analyze the why and the how of modeling; it just happened to me as if I had been chosen. The only effort on my part was to show up on time ready and respectful. I think my natural comfort with myself helped sell my image.

What were some of the best moments of your modeling career?
I learned very early on to enjoy all my assignments. The best moment was, when I went on a go-see at Mademoiselle Magazine and in the waiting room were several other young Black models; an editor came out and loudly announced to me that I was their January 1970 cover girl. Another great moment was when I got a call for a national commercial for Coca-Cola and I had gone the week before to an audition for another product which I did not land but the same director chose me for the “Have a Coke and a smile commercial” [campaign], which ran during superbowl. There were many good moments like going on trips to the Caribbean in the middle of the winter. Working with the great Irving Penn or landing an Essence spread with the famous photographer Francesco Scavullo. Most of those moments had to do with prestige, landing a good campaign because after all it is a very competitive business. It is a business that can build your self-esteem or take it away over night!

What do you feel is the biggest misconception about models?
Modeling has a lot to do with identity and I was lucky to have kept my roots. Unlike the information in the media where girls are shown behind the scene hanging out together this profession can be very isolating. Girls stick together excluding others ; models come from different social backgrounds, many from small towns, so at times clans are formed: the models and the photographers gathered at night. The only things we had in common were the clients and the desire to reach the top.

So many models from the 1970s and 1980s ended up getting wasted and getting burnt at an early age.
I don’t know that many models in the 1970s-1980s got burned or wasted. Of course people rejoice in the fall of perfection. I am not saying that models are perfect, but during the day we sell the image of perfection and some might have partied too much and got burned. It was a time past the Woodstock era and the time of free sexuality, the pre-AIDS era and it was the disco time. People partied like in many other industries, the difference was that at a models’ party, a club would be filled with beautiful people and the promoters excluded others waiting behind the velvet rope! Having a strong self-esteem, clear eyes, a healthy skin and showing up on time was what helped to maintain and lengthen one’s career.

For each model, there is an ending point. What was your life like after modeling?
My career lasted from 1969 till 1998 when I landed my last cover for an Essence publication with my then teen daughter. While I was modeling I continued to show up for casting calls and I busied myself doing small parts and extra work in movies around New York City. I was always busy.

What are you up to these days?
In 1988—still at the top of my career—I started to attend art school in NYC, the Sculpture Center and also to paint. So while modeling I was doing art and exhibiting my work. My identity was shifting from Cover girl to Artist. I remember when I first showed my sculpture at the gallery my family attended and I felt I had come full circle reminiscing on my Father’s gallery openings back in Haiti. So it was not an abrupt cut off of my activities. A few years later I stopped modeling, went back to school and graduated at Hunter College where I became a special correspondent for The Word their online newspaper. I took classes at CUNY Grad Center, where I researched early Haitian Kreyòl linguistic and published a paper in the Linguistic American Society.

My heart has always been with my roots. I recently returned from a trip to my native land and this visit reinforces my love for Haiti. Today I am busy being a caring mother and daughter my dad is now 95 years old and my daughter and her husband gifted the family with two children. I continue doing my artwork, I think of ways I can involve myself in the reconstruction of the image of Haiti, pride of Haiti is in the main focus of my thoughts. I attend lectures and cultural events related to Haiti around New York City and network and have fun. My life is where it should be with much more to come.

You’re involved in activities involving Haiti. Have you done anything in particular to keep your culture vibrant in your children?
My Father Geo Remponeau is a legendary Haitian artist, so it was quite easy for me to keep my daughter in an environment that recalls Haiti. My parents spoke Kreyòl in the home and Haitian music was often part of the background in our home. We went to visit Haitian friends we stayed close to my parents and siblings. I took my child when she was quite young to visit Haiti. I have only one daughter and I made sure she ate Haitian food, learned Kreyòl and participated in family gathering so that she would be aware of her roots. When she married I gave her the present of a root dance performance by the fabulous Haitian dancer Mikerline, her dancers and her drummers. Today to my daughter’s three year old child I teach words of Kreyòl, and when we part, he says: “Mwen renmen-w”!

Jany Tomba today, posing with her niece Sasha Huber. Photo: Kirsi Mckenzie

What would you say has been your greatest regret?
I have learned to live and accept my life as my destiny had it written. I continue to show up and do the right thing: love of my brothers and sisters. Compassion is the key to happiness. I have no regrets.

Main Photo: Rolf Bruderer

The day she learned she had breast cancer will always go down as the worst day of Michelle Duverneau Carries. To use words like “shock” and “disbelief”, would be understating her reaction. Questions flew in her mind. How was she going to tell her son? Her brothers and sisters? And most alarmingly of all, how was she going to take care of herself financially?

Duverneau Carries was born in Haiti and immigrated to New York during her early teens. She moved to Florida in the late 1970s and worked in the advertising departments of several retail stores including JCPenney, before working for a series of major ad agencies.

In the late 1990s, she started investigating possibilities in entertainment production and started her video production company, Lacaye Production Incorporated, which eventually produced her television show, “Weekend à L’Haitienne”, an English-language entertainment show, that featured Haitian music, artists, and culture. The show, she says, was timely, and was used to counteract negative and mediocre images of Haitians in the media. It had the distinction of being the only Haitian TV show that figured in the Nielsen Rating system while airing on PBS affiliate WLRN. The entertainment mogul also had a hand in creating and producing commercials, music videos, and promotional segments.

She was high on her success. And then the news came. The awful, hard-to-take news that she had breast cancer.

Since her diagnosis, Duverneau Carries has not only made it her duty to take care of herself but to reach out in the Haitian community to other women with breast cancer diagnosis, as well as those who may be at risk for the disease. The cancer surgery left the TV host with Lymph Edema in the right arm, which reduced her ability to do one of my favorite things: camera work. Thankfully, she was still able to edit, produce and direct. The first option was to sit there and look woeful, but she chose another option. Upon her recovery, she went back to school to study multimedia design. Duverneau Carries hopes to bring back her show. Meanwhile, reruns still air on Miami’s Island TV. A true crusader, she’s chosen to share her story in the book Twenty-One Months: My Journey Fighting Breast Cancer.

Q & A

Was it especially trying for you to sit down and write about dealing with a disease that has changed your life? Writing personal things aren’t easy, let alone about one’s illness. How did you find the courage to come forward?
It wasn’t too difficult to sit down and write about my journey fighting breast cancer. From when I started going to the hospital for my treatments, I decided then and there to start creating a journal about what I was going through. Being a well-known TV show host in my community, it was important for me to share my story to help other families who are going or will be going through this same journey to know that they are not alone and that they will get through it. I also wanted others in our community with misconceptions of the disease to understand what having breast cancer and going through the treatments was about. The difficult part was to share some of my personal life with all my readers, but it was important to share it because my perseverance, strong will, and my personality played an important part in fighting the disease.

What response have you gotten about your book?
I’ve gotten very good and positive responses form the book. Thanks to the Haitian media: radio, TV, as well as the web, such as your site, the book is getting a lot of exposure.

Do you have any plans to make your book available in French or Creole?
I do plan on doing a French version to make it available to the French speaking readers in the near future as well as an audio version. It will take time.

“To some Haitians sickness is never natural.” I’ve heard that thrown about a lot. Sometimes when some in the Haitian community are ill, whether with heart disease or diabetes or cancer, they tend to think that someone is out to get them. I’ve heard all types of stories from different people, whose family members are sick, or who are sick. What do you think can be done to change that mentality, especially in the older folks?
Too often in our culture, having diseases like cancer, heart disease, AIDS, are diagnosed too late because our fellows Haitians are too afraid to visit a doctor and discus their discomforts because they are ashamed of being shunned by the community or even by their own family members. Some just don’t want to find out the truth about these diseases…Sometimes we tend to rely on religion and remèd fèy to heal the disease – not that there is anything wrong with them, but there is a question of dosage and if it will clash with the medication given by the doctors. The other big issue is the beliefs that maybe someone had made a Vodun curse; therefore, looking for a Vodun priest to counter attack. I can tell you about stories I heard at the hospital from some of the Haitian women while waiting to get my treatments. It was very sad to hear some of these beliefs even though they were there getting the treatments, they still drinking some other potions to ward the evils that was done tot hem. I once attempted to explain that Vodun curse would not have given them breast cancer, but was snapped at and was told that I didn’t know what I was talking about because I was too Americanized. All these issues definitely were my main reason for sitting down and writing the book. Changing that mentality will be a monumental task. We are talking about centuries of misconceptions, intentionally misinforming, and instilling the fear of religion, whether Catholicism, and or Vodun upon us, in order to keep a small group in power.

What more do you think can be done to bring awareness about breast cancer in the Haitian community?
There are many Haitian breast cancer survivors who are doing a great job at spreading the word in the community from West Palm Beach, to Miami through their radio programs. I had been invited to many of them to talk about prevention. But, we don’t have enough funds to create good video programs in Kreyòl. I truly believe if we can bring the visual to them, it would be a much better venue. As they say: “Seeing is believing”. I would gladly step forward to head that project. The other issue is that—I am sad to say—we Haitians don’t like working together for a common cause. Instead of pulling of the resources in one place and get the funding to create a statewide, nationwide, or even a worldwide Haitian non-for-profit organization like Suzan G Komen, that would help educate, and assist Haitians all over the world, we go behind each other’s back to discredit each other, therefore, keeping the funding to a minimum. Don’t even get me going with that.

Michelle Duverneau Carries promoting her book on NBC.

Sometimes when someone is diagnosed, we can be at a loss in terms of what to say. How can we best help someone who has breast cancer?
It is always difficult to find the right word. The best thing is to be sincere and say you’re sorry about the news. If you want to give some help by bringing food, or help with some house chores, ask the person first if they want the help and when you can come by. Sometimes you just want to be alone dealing with the pain, some other times you want some company. Always ask first. Let the person know that you will be there for him or her. The worst thing to do is distant yourself form the person because you’re don’t now what to say or do. Another thing is not to lecture the person. The other bad thing is to suggest praying God for forgiveness; that, to me, is the most insensitive thing a person can say to someone fearing the worst.

You are a fighter. What lifestyle measures did you take to fight the disease?
Beside a family history, science has not pinpointed what causes breast cancer, but there are certain types of food that have been linked to preventing it. So, I decided to change my diet, stay away from anything with saturated fat and other unnecessary food additives, most canned food; instead, eat fresh vegetables—lots of greens—lean meats, etc. As much as I love griyo, I only eat it three to four times a year, instead of every weekend, and I exercise. I continue my breast self-exam every monthly, and do my yearly mammograms. Prevention is the key.

What have you learned about prevention?
As I mentioned earlier, I never thought I would have breast cancer. I ate the right food, exercised every day. I was in great shape, had a mammogram two years earlier, but I disregarded the small lump that was growing under my arm. Even though it was hurting and gave me great discomfort when lying down, I totally dismissed it as just a swollen gland from lifting too much weight. I didn’t know you could have breast cancer under your arm. Had I gone to a doctor much earlier, maybe I would have to do one year of grueling chemo treatments. The moral of the story is: it is your body, if something doesn’t look or feel right, go see your doctor right away. Better be safe than sorry!

Duverneau Carries on her crusade against breast cancer in the Haitian community. Here she is being interviewed for a Creole language radio show.

What are you most grateful for?
I am most grateful for my family who was there every step of the way with me during my 21 months of fighting breast cancer. I am also grateful to some of the member of the media who have kept in touch to follow up with my progress. I am also grateful for being alive and able to spread the word about breast cancer prevention.

You can check out Michelle Duverneau Carries’ book HERE.

Noemie Lorzema is the singer all of Canada can’t stop talking about. At 18, she’s the star of this year’s La Voix Canada (the Canadian version of The Voice).

Watch this video of her blind audition for the show.

The song is “Lift Me Up”, by Christina Aguilera.

And here she is again, this time doing her take on “Hello” by singer Adele.

Even when she’s doing covers of well-known songs, her talent shines through.

Here she is remaking “Give Me Love”, by Ed Sheeran.

A native of Canada born of Haitian parents, the Haitian-Canadian community wasted no time in acknowledging her and her accomplishments.

Here is Noemie Lorzema being honored by the Haitian Consul in Montreal, Canada.

What’s next for her? I’ll be watching this singer, and you should too.

CLICK HERE TO KEEP UP WITH HER ON TWITTER

If you haven’t seen The Agronomist—-Jonathan Demme’s documentary about Jean-Léopold Dominique, the trailblazing Haitian journalist—you really should allocate about 90 minutes of whatever time you have left in your life span to do so.

The helmer of Radio Haiti-Inter died at the age 69 in 2000 from (an) assassin(s) bullets (along with his caretaker Jean-Claude Louissaint), but thankfully Demme already had plenty of footage of the journalist, captured over the years, during two exiles that he and his wife Michèle Montas spent in New York, and pieced them together to create what has got to be one of the most compelling documentaries about Haiti. Ever.

This documentary is interesting from so many angles. There’s the freedom of speech angle. Although born into an intellectual family, and one of the most elite families in the island nation, Dominique’s heart was always with the people. Many people were puzzled that Demme chose to title his documentary The Agronomist and not The Journalist (after all, that’s the profession that brought him fame), but Dominique clarifies this at one point during one of his many sit-down interviews with Demme. He is really a farmer at heart, a lover of the land, who became a journalist, a spokesperson for the poor—out of necessity—because there was no one else to speak for them. From the time Dominique’s father would take him to tour the outskirts of Haiti, and make the rounds of farming lots, the love for the earth was apparent in him. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dominique stood up for Haiti’s farmers, whose rice harvest was being forcibly divided with corrupt countryside chiefs. This was top news on Dominique’s radio broadcasts on Radio Haiti-Inter, which he had by now, purchased from the original owner.

One cannot talk about the Jean-Léopold Dominique experience without mentioning Michèle Montas. It’s no wonder the two joined forces to create one of the most admired journalistic teams in Haiti. Behind every great man, there’s a spectacular woman, and Michèle Montas was that person in Dominique’s life. She had no typical childhood, at least not “typical”, in the sense of what we “typically” think we know about people’s lives in Haiti. At one point, nearly her whole family was wiped out, prompting an early exile to Maine, where she finished high school. Her move to Maine, brings us to another angle, the immigration and social class angle. Montas had a privileged childhood indeed. She actually became a homecoming queen pre-Civil Rights in the United States of America. Yeah, you read right, a little Haitian girl became homecoming queen at a probably predominantly white senior high school. Granted, it was in Maine, not in Deep South Mississippi or anything, but that part of the documentary really caught my attention…that waay back in the early 1960s, some scrawny little Haitian girl was voted homecoming queen at an American school. Didn’t she think the odds were against her? Or because she was not accustomed to color discrimination in her home country, she went in, fully confident, and that confident won those voters over. Her brother, Montas said in the documentary, was already living in Maine, which of course just confirmed what I’ve read in books about Haitian immigration…first the exodus started with the middle class (who’ve always sent their sons and daughters overseas to get educated, anyway), and then came the boat people (their drowning and mistreatment and repatriation is also well-documented in the documentary). This aspect of the documentary took my mind back to this letter that was being auctioned on Ebay once. It was a letter from a Haitian student in 1927 who was attending some prestigious U.S. university, that he sent to his father in Haiti. Nothing new under the sun, as the maxim goes. Montas, is the woman behind the man, indeed. A graduate of Columbia University’s journalism school, she is equally as intriguing as her husband, and with good reason, is a chunky part of this fascinating documentary.

One cannot help but be taken with the use of throwback, sepia and black and white photos and paintings and how they were blended to lend to the narrative power of the documentary (Demme is a renowned Haitian art collector). In the last few minutes of the documentary, one feels as if one knew Jean-Léopold Dominique personally. He was quite a personality, one can surmise. The sniffing of the air, the mariner’s caps, the trademark pipe, the journalist mannerisms, and the boldness, his intrepid laughter, his uncanny sense of humor, his audacity when it came to outing the truth. How can a man whose life was threatened so many times, have insisted on continuing to speak so boldly? He seems to have had the premonition that he would be killed eventually (he had already told his wife that that he wanted his ashes to be spread in a river).

If you’re hoping to learn more about Dominique, or to gain a more in-depth perspective about Demme’s love for Haiti, don’t look to the DVD. One was expecting some extras on the DVD, but perhaps Demme felt that all that could have been said was already said by Dominique. The art on the cover, with Dominique having his two fingers in the air, looks odd. If one were an Illuminati theorist, one would say that Dominique’s fingers look like the pagan god Batshuphet. The photo used on the DVD is actually photo taken of Dominique in 1986, upon his return from a nearly 6-year exile. That scene is telling. People have gathered at Haiti’s airport, friends, fans, fellow journalists, curious onlookers, and perhaps future foes. “Dominique! Dominique!” they start to chant. But he reverts the chant away from himself, shouting “Haiti, Haiti”, and the whole crowd joins with him.

Demme recruited Wyclef to do the score for the documentary (“Yo di-m drug dealer Ayiti/Se Mercedes Jeep yape kondi…I heard that all the drug dealers in Haiti are rolling their 4×4 Mercedes…”), and also interviewed Aboudja, a colleague, Dominique’s sisters, daughter, Montas herself, as well as Rassoul Labuchin and Arnold Antonin, two men who were members of Dominique’s cinema club in the 70s. It could have easily been Demme’s show, after all, he is one of the most acclaimed cinema directors of our time. But he made sure that there was one star throughout, and that was Jean-Léopold Dominique.

You cannot kill the truth with a bullet, is the documentary’s tagline. But apparently they killed a man with one.

JM Lominy is the author of the thriller/mystery novel The Deadly Rose, An Assassin’s Tale , published through his very own publishing company Five Sons Publishing. Lominy was born in Port-au-Prince and at age seven he immigrated to the USA, along with his sister to join his mother in Brooklyn.

Upon his graduation from high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in the Gulf War. Following an honorable discharge at the age of 22, Lominy enrolled at The City of New York and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing.

The father of five is based in Marietta, Georgia where he lives with his wife and their three youngest sons.

Lominy says he’s been writing for the past twelve years. “I am a writer with a lot of passion, determination,” he says, “and the desire to touch generations of readers with an emphasis on the Haitian experience.”

He gave Kreyolicious.com a behind-the-scenes look at how his pulse-pumping debut novel came about.

Was writing a book always a dream of yours?

Writing was not always a dream, most of my life I enjoyed many things in passing. I became an avid reader while in the Marine Corps. At that time, the Commandant of the Marine Corps required every Marine to read a list of books based on their rank. These books were mostly fiction with a military theme. I enjoyed those books so much I have not stopped reading [ever since].

My passion for writing began in college with poetry that few people have seen or read. It was not until 2001, when I visited Haiti for the funeral of my maternal Uncle did I start to write with a purpose. The vivid environment of Port-au-Prince and Pétion-Ville unleashed story ideas I have always had but never saw as potential book material.

Granted, you could have chosen to have the setting of your novel in contemporary times, or any other decades in Haiti’s history. Why the late 1950s?

I chose the late 1950s as the setting of The Deadly Rose, An Assassin’s Tale because it was a unique time in Haitian history. The late 1950s was the first time the exile of a president resulted in three short presidency and two military juntas, all between the periods of December 1956 to October 1957, which lead to a dictatorship and a violent period in Haitian history. The only other time you had such turmoil was post-Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986.

How did you go about doing the research for The Deadly Rose?

My research for The Deadly Rose, An Assassin’s Tale began in 2001, after my visit to Haiti. The research was originally for another book I planned to write, but soon felt I was not skilled enough for such a complex and important book, so I put it on the shelf.

When the idea for The Deadly Rose, An Assassin’s Tale came to me, about five years ago, I used the research from the initial book. The research consisted of books written about that period, Haitian music provided me with vision about the period, a map of Port-au-Prince helped with the reality factor, and I consulted friends and relatives. I also used the Internet as a source for detailed topics I could not find elsewhere.

Were there tools and resources that you found especially helpful in publishing your book?

There are multitudes of websites and blogs dedicated to publishing, publiteriat.com is one of my favorites. Books like APE How to Publish a Book by Kawasaki and Welch is a must own. Other author’s websites may list information on publishing. In addition, I attended author conferences on publishing. These sources will cover publishing, printing, and marketing.

Most published authors will say that writing a book and completing a book is one of the most satisfying things they’ve ever done. Once you finished the first draft of The Deadly Rose, what came next?

The feeling I got from completing The Deadly Rose, An Assassin’s Tale was like catching my first fish; a total joy. Once I completed the first draft I started the editing process and sent copies to several friends for further editing before sending it to my editors.

Do you have plans to write more books?

I am working on the sequel to The Deadly Rose, An Assassin’s Tale and I am halfway to completion. I plan to write one book a year, if time allows, two. So far, I have 10 books I plan to write, all interrelated. I am constantly researching, which brings on more book ideas.

There are a great number of aspiring authors out there. What words of wisdom do you wish to throw on them based on your own journey as an author?

My advice for any author who desires to be accomplished; define your own goals, successes, and who you are or who you want to become. Write a wonderful book. Don’t take any short cuts and hire professional editors, book designers, and learn or hire marketing professionals. Reading is fundamental to writing, so read and write often. If you don’t enjoy the writing and publishing process, it will show.

You can preview the first chapter of The Deadly Rose by clicking HERE. Check out the book on Amazon!

Connect with the author on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and CLICK HERE to visit his website.

Folks on Instagram know him as Chef Greg. Based in South Florida, he’s a member of the legion of young chefs of Haitian descent who are experimenting with Haitian cuisine, giving it mainstream presentation, while keeping its flavor intact. Keep scrolling down to read all about Chef Greg and his journey as a foodie and culinarian!

Kreyolicious: Tell us about yourself.
Chef Greg: About myself? Well, let’s say that [I’m] still a mystery I have yet to discover…But I grew up with my mother and my grandmother. Watching them cooking was beautiful and they had always let me be in the kitchen with them which was probably the happiest moments of my childhood.

Kreyolicious: When you were little, what sort of messages did you get from your surroundings about a man in the kitchen?
I didn’t know my dad until I was four years old but my grandma and mother always told me to be true to myself, do what’s makes me happy but most of the kids in the neighborhood would tease me. They thought I was gay since I didn’t care much about other things other than cooking [Laughter], but I did not care. I knew who I was.

Kreyolicious: Who taught you to cook?
I learned how to cook from my grandma who I miss dearly.

Kreyolicious: Scientists are always discovering new planets. What if you were chosen for a mission and had to stay goodbye to your friends and fam. You decided to cook them a dinner. What would you make?

Kreyolicious: What if you could create a committee of advisors…made up of chefs and food influencers? Who would you choose and why?
I would choose Paul Bocuse. I hope someday to be just like him. I haven’t met him, but I study his work a lot which is why I believe so much on fresh ingredients when cooking. Gordon Ramsay ’cause of his high demand [for] perfection.

Kreyolicious: You been to Haiti?
Yes. I grew up in Haiti, but the last time I was there it was on my 18th birthday.

Kreyolicious: Have you ever had a bad cooking day? If so what led to it and how did you resolve it?
Yes I have. My cooking is based on my emotions, so if I’m not happy with my mother or my girlfriend, then I’ll have a hard time to keep going…If I hear from my mom or my girlfriend, then I can recover from anything.

Kreyolicious: What do you consider your biggest triumph?
I don’t care much for triumphs, but I gotta say it brings me joy seeing the plates going empty in the dishwasher each time I send them out. I love when I see my customers with a big smile after eating…but if I have to choose I’d say closing Halloween night dinners without any complaints ’cause it’s my busiest day of the year.

Kreyolicious: Do you think Haitian cuisine can get as mainstream as Chinese and Mexican food?
Absolutely! I believe Haitian cuisine has the potential to be bigger than any of the names cited, but it’s all up to us Haitian chefs not to change the ingredients. Simply present it in best possible way as most people eat with the eyes.

Kreyolicious: Did you receive any formal chef training?
Yes. And still learning.

All images are courtesy of Chef Greg, and are his intellectual property.

CLICK HERE to follow Chef Greg on Instagram and see gorgeous photos of his scrumptious dishes.

CLICK HERE to read interview and profiles of other chefs of Haitian descent.

La Source is an inspiring documentary made by Patrick Shen, a documentary filmmaker, whose independent production company Transcendental Media is based in Pasadena, California. The doc has been screened at every major documentary festival, including the prestigious Sebastopol Film Festival.

The documentary seems simple enough: Josue Lajeunesse, one of Haiti’s native sons, who immigrated to the United States in the 1980s, returns to his homeland. But the story is much deeper than that; he has returned to his remote town of La Source, for a special purpose, and a purpose that goes back to his childhood.

La Source, which Lajeunesse says is a thirty minutes drive from the city of Jacmel, lacked a clean water source when Lajeunesse was growing up there as the youngest of five children of Carobert Lajeunesse and Gina Jean-Charles.

In 1989, Lajeunesse left Haiti for New Jersey. Like a great many new immigrants, Lajeunesse worked many odds jobs. Then in 1994, an acquaintance of his, who worked in security at Princeton University, told him about an opening for a janitor position at the Ivy League Institution. Lajeunesse applied and was hired for the job. Along the way, he used his earnings from that job alongside miscellaneous businesses he started (including a taxi service company) to channel money back home to go towards improving the lives of the townspeople back in La Source. Most important to Josue was that La Source be furnished with a water source, so that his townmates would not have to take dangerous commutes to get water.

Between working to bring La Source to a bigger audience and developing ideas for some new documentaries and planning a feature narrative project, the documentary’s helmer Patrick Shen broke things down for us. Kreyolicious also had a conversations with Josue Lajeunesse—the native son himself.

Q& A with Josue Lajeunesse

How do you feel about the fact that your town’s story is on the big screen?
When I was in Haiti, I was always involved in the community, doing things. I was part of my theatrical troupe in Haiti. It is what it is. I feel the same way as I felt before. Nothing has changed. I feel normal. I am a simple guy.

You came to this country in the late 1980s, as part of a group of immigrants who came to find a better life. What are you most proud of among all your accomplishments towards the American Dream?
I will give you three items. I love my family. I love everyone. Right now, I am proud of—not of myself—but of the people of the town where I’m from. We are in the process of building a school in the town [of La Source]. They have clean and purified water.

What are your earliest memories of growing up in La Source?
I was little, but I remember everything. The way people had to climb mountains to get to the water. It was a disaster. People would fall down everyday. Break their arms. The people would get sick too, because they didn’t have access to the clean water. So now, they don’t have to go up the mountain anymore. Now, they have the tower.

When did the clean water journey begin?
It was something we did little by little. Every time I had a little money, I send it. Maybe around 1998. My brother Chrismedonne and me, we thought about the people there. It was my dad’s dream, but my dad didn’t have the chance to do so. Me and my brother ever since we were little, we thought about it. When I was in high school in Haiti, I remember in physics they said when you lower the volume, you can increase the. My brother does construction; he does plumbing. He does a lot of stuff. With him, we will be able to do [the job of bringing clean water]. All the physical jobs, he’s in charge; he knows what to do. I don’t have any finance coming back to me or anything; everything is for the community.

Do you think it’s important for people to go back and give back to Haiti like you did?
I think it’s like an obligation. It’s mandatory for everyone to think of where they’re from. We don’t have a government in the world that can do everything for everybody. If everyone—so many of them successful—help, we can [achieve] big things. You have a lot of people who have a lot of riches. They forgot where they came from. I never forgot where I come from. When you have a good heart, you will do so many things you will never think you would do. If everyone put their hands into the pot, when you close you eyes, you will see that the food is done. You got a vision. You have an idea. You cannot live like you don’t care. You have to understand you come from somewhere. Why you’re not coming back to do some public service—to give back where you [went] to high school? Where you [went] to middle school? You have to go back. Give something to the community where you come from. Even if you earn $400 a week—I don’t care—you can do something for the community where you come from.

What message would you like to send to Haitians of all backgrounds, whether born in Haiti or elsewhere but living away from Haiti?
The message is: a kingdom divided cannot be successful. And even in the family, when you’re divided, you cannot make any progress. We have one country and one nation. And when we’re together, we are a big force. We can do anything to take the country [to the next level]. The people outside; the people in Haiti. The country can be beautiful like every other country.

Q& A with Patrick Shen

Was your initial meeting with the Lajeunesse brothers as inspiring as the project? How did you meet? At which point did you decide that it was a worthwhile project to pursue?
My initial meeting with Josue took place under very different circumstances. I didn’t know anything about his dream to bring clean to La Source. I only knew that he was a janitor at Princeton and that he was originally from Haiti. He was a bit of a mystery and something about him was very intriguing. Josue was one of 8 janitors I featured in my last film The Philosopher Kings, which was a documentary about the lives and wisdom of janitors employed at universities throughout the United States. It wasn’t until the end of a long interview with Josue that I learned about La Source and the water project, which he mentioned to us very matter of factly as we were about to pack up our equipment. I thought instantly, “Looks like we’re going to Haiti”. It wasn’t until we arrived in La Source that I was able to see the scope of Josue’s dream for his village. That was also the first time I had met Josue’s brother, Chrismedonne. We were all instantly drawn to the brothers, the village, and the cause. In The Philosopher Kings audiences got a glimpse of Josue’s dream for La Source and his frustrations in fulfilling that dream. That film premiered at the AFI/Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival in June of 2009 and Josue became an instant hero that audiences really gravitated toward. People started throwing fundraisers for Josue – money came in from all parts of the country – and before Josue knew it, completing this water project in the way that he had always imagined was becoming a reality. Among those we encountered at Silverdocs was Jordan Wagner, executive director of Generosity Water. He instantly fell in love with Josue and offered his full support in helping Josue complete the water project.

How ironic is it that the little town that the documentary La Source is about, had water issues. After all, La Source does mean The Source.
I believe the town was named La Source because the natural spring in the mountain had been the source of water for many villages for decades. There are no historical records in La Source and any information about the origins of La Source had been passed down through generations and details were not entirely clear or at least not translated in a way that we were able to comprehend fully.

None other than Don Cheadle is the narrator of the project. Was it a challenge getting him involved with your project?
It all came together pretty quickly. We reached out to his agent on a Friday and met Don at studio in Santa Monica the following Friday to record the narration. His agent loved the film and really had a heart for Haiti, as does Don, so I don’t think it took much convincing to get him on board.

How did you and the rest of the La Source crew feel about being one of just 17 projects to be selected for screening by the International Documentary Association for DocuWeeks?
It’s such an honor to have the IDA’s support. The DocuWeeks showcase exists solely to support a handful of films each year that the IDA believes has Oscar potential. When you’re in the throes of making a film, Oscar potential is the last thing on your mind. Whether we get nominated or not, it’s been great to know that people have responded to the film like they have. It’s rewarding after all the years of hard work and struggle.

Has the community of La Source seen the documentary?
We’re in the midst of raising funds to do this. Because there’s no electricity there are some logistics and costs involved in screening the film in La Source. Not only do we have to arrange to bring a generator, screen, and sound system to La Source, the film also needs to be translated. We’re hoping to make a trip out there in [this year].

Is this documentary the last time you’ll be involved with Haiti?
Josue and the people of La Source have become like an extension of my own family. My involvement as a filmmaker might end here, but not as a friend. In fact, we’re in the midst of launching a social action campaign alongside the release of the film – the hope with this campaign is to raise enough funds to continue helping Josue fulfill his dreams for his village, which include a school for the children in La Source.

Did you come across any hardships as you sought to put together the documentary?
Hardships and documentary filmmaking are totally synonymous. Funding is always a struggle as is following a story that is unpredictable and unfolding before your eyes. Beyond that, the language barrier was tricky to navigate as we didn’t have enough funds to hire a proper translator for the first two trips we took to Haiti and had a hard time knowing what it was we were getting early on.

Be sure to purchase the La Source documentary here, and help support Josue’s work!

[Photos: Transcendental Media, except for photo of Josue in the black-suit…Credit: Angela Weiss]