Great men, great minds, great food - Pierre Toussaint: A Biography; C.L.R. James: Letters From London; A Taste of Haiti - Book Review

Black Issues Book Review, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Ellieen V. Ancrum, Denolyn Carroll, Angela P. Dodson

Pierre Toussaint: A Biography

by Arthur Jones Doubleday, September 2003 $24.95, ISBN 0-385-49994-9

For many Americans, the Catholic Church has had little or no connection with the black experience. Arthur Jones's biography of Pierre Toussaint underscores the historical significance of black people in the Catholic Church.

With an impeccable sense of history, Jones, an editor-at-large of the National Catholic Reporter and the author of eight books, has written a scholarly retrospective. It covers the French occupation of Saint-Domingue, its violent revolution and the resulting immigration of the French to the United States with their converted slaves. The island, now known as Haiti, would be a major contributor to black Catholic history in the United States, bringing to its shores African descendants of remarkable tenacity and faith.

In this biography, the author presents a detailed portrait of the incredible life of Pierre Toussaint, one of the most renowned Catholics of all time. From the atrocities of revolt and slavery, Toussaint would make an indelible mark on New York City society and the Church. Born in 1781 as a child of an enslaved Haitian and owned by the Berard family, he would become a social reformer in New York, which was still engaged in slavery in the late 1700s. Relentless in his Catholic faith, he devoted his life to helping former slaves, as well as other immigrants, the poor and the oppressed.

Toussaint was the most sought after hairdresser among white high-society women in the city. His talent, along with his charm and sophisticated manner, would help him to defy the conventions of race and class. Toussaint would help found one of NYC's first orphanages with the first American saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and was instrumental in raising funds for the first cathedral in New York (the old St. Pat's).

Toussaint's remains are reverently held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. On November 14, 1993, Toussaint's cause was presented for the process of canonization by the Catholic Church, paving the way for his consideration for sainthood.

--Reviewed by Ellieen V. Ancrum Ellieen V. Ancrum is Secretary for Ethnic Ministries/Director of the Black Apostolate, Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey.

C.L.R. James: Letters From London

Edited by Nicholas Laughlin University Press of New England August 2003 $45.00, ISBN 9-769-50575-7

My introduction to C.L.R. James came through his seminal work, The Black Jacobins (1938), a page-turning historical account of the (Haitian) San Domingo Revolution (1791-1803) and its interrelation with the French Revolution (1789), bringing into sharp focus the potential of proletarian masses.

Letters From London--a first collection of essays written by James shortly after his arrival in England from his native Trinidad in 1932--provides insight into some of the early experiences and observations that helped shape James's revolutionary world view.

James set out for England at age 31--a British colonial, a highly educated black man who fancied himself more as he became equipped to deal with a culture he would find both foreign and familiar. His early impressions were recorded in the writings that form Letters From London. The seven essays were chosen from among nine articles by James that were published in the Port of Spain Gazette in 1932. With one exception, they have not been reprinted in 71 years.

James's vivid description and interpretations remind us of why he emerged as one of the greatest writers and revolutionary minds of our times. Kenneth Ramchand's brilliant Introduction highlights the relevance of Letters From London to James's evolution as international writer, historian, critic, activist, and to the pantheon of Caribbean writers who immigrated to England before, during and after the pivotal 1950s and early 1960s. Other works by James include the novel Minty Alley (1936) and a nonfiction classic Beyond a Boundary (1963). A reintroduction to C.L.R. James (1901-1989) can help a younger generation of readers understand from whence they came, and realize that the future is, indeed, without boundaries.

--Reviewed by Denolyn Carroll Denolyn Carroll is assistant managing editor at Essence magazine.

A Taste of Haiti

by Mirta Yurnet-Thomas and the Thomas Family Hippocrene Books, April 2002 $24.95, ISBN 0-781-80927-4

Haitian food owes a debt to African, American Indian, Arabic and French influences; Americans owe Haiti a debt for its contribution to the Creole cuisine of Louisiana and other parts South. The essence of Haitian cooking can also be found in the dishes of other regions, including New York and Baltimore, where many of its people fled to following the revolution 200 years ago.

Mirta Yurnet-Thomas, author of A Taste of Haiti, is a law school graduate who lives in New York City. She is not Haitian but her husband and in-laws are. She was reared on a farm in Puerto Rico, then married into the Thomas family and their culture. The food, so familiar to her native palate but different somehow, quickly captivated her.