{"product_id":"three-leaves-three-roots-isbn-9780807020487","title":"Three Leaves, Three Roots","description":"\u003cb\u003eA Haitian-born, Boston-based poet explores the personal and political stories of the Haitians who were part of Congo’s 1960s decolonization movement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBetween 1960 and 1975, thousands of Haitian professionals emigrated to Congo, a fellow Black francophone nation that emerged under the revolutionary new leadership of Patrice Lumumba. As Danielle Legros Georges writes in the introduction to this collection, these émigrés sought to “escape repression in Haiti, start new lives in Africa, and participate in a decolonizing Congo.” Among them were her parents.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrounded in these personal and social histories, \u003ci\u003eThree Leaves, Three Roots \u003c\/i\u003eis a collection of Legros Georges’s creative reconstructions of the Haiti-Congo experience. She interweaves her verses with excerpts from primary sources such as the interviews she conducted with the Congo émigrés and letters written by people both famous and obscure, including Lumumba, Fidel Castro, and members of Legros Georges’s family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe result is a richly layered portrayal of an era of decolonization and rebuilding, a time that sparked with both promise and vulnerability for the Pan-Africanist and Black Power movements. This collection is an important work of Haitian American poetry and of Black history: it reminds us, artfully, that movements of solidarity among people of color have always existed and always will exist.\u003ci\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCONGO–1960s\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eWhites in Congo Flee by Ferry\u003cbr\u003ein this poem, do not use the word revolution\u003cbr\u003eHands are a matter,\u003cbr\u003eCobalt\u003cbr\u003eMy beloved companion,\u003cbr\u003eA Reply of Pauline Opango Lumumba\u003cbr\u003eLe Congo, c’est moi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCUBA–1950s\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eFidel Wears No Hat\u003cbr\u003eEstimada amiga,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHAITI–1960s\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eInstructions in Times of Emergency\u003cbr\u003eWhen a book is a sentence\u003cbr\u003eFrançois Duvalier, Country Doctor\u003cbr\u003eFrançois Duvalier, Living God\u003cbr\u003eSimone Duvalier\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCROSSINGS–1960s\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eDiaspora\u003cbr\u003eDiaspora\u003cbr\u003eWhat Is Water?\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eI Pray the United Nations Bureau Will Forward This Card to My Brother Rodney Georges Who Is Currently in the Congo, Whose Address I Don’t Know\u003cbr\u003eLetter from Léo\u003cbr\u003eThe Reasons of Jacqueline Romain\u003cbr\u003eThe Reasons of Rigobert Carty\u003cbr\u003eThe Lake Behind You\u003cbr\u003eThysville, 1966\u003cbr\u003eHeadwaters\u003cbr\u003eThe Reasons of Ertha Élysée Auguste\u003cbr\u003eNotes on the School in Kinshasa\u003cbr\u003eMax Manigat in Kenge\u003cbr\u003eThe Work\u003cbr\u003eUnannounced Evaluation\u003cbr\u003eCritique de Leçons\u003cbr\u003eThe Contract of GEORGES, Rodney\u003cbr\u003ean accolade and ache\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCONGO–1965–1975\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eThe environment was different from what I had known all my life\u003cbr\u003ewhat we missed and attempted to replicate\u003cbr\u003ewhat we found new and glorious\u003cbr\u003eAvenue des Flamboyants\u003cbr\u003eBeer and Babies\u003cbr\u003eIn Kinshasa\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eTrouble in Your Country\u003cbr\u003eMakak\u003cbr\u003eMobutu Sese Seko, Messiah\u003cbr\u003eThe Record of An Attempt to Purge the Country of Colonial Influence by Mobutu (and Unrelatedly a List of Cities in Which Haitians Lived, with Underscores Signaling Antecedents Unknown to Me)\u003cbr\u003eI could have\u003cbr\u003ePostcard | Front and Back\u003cbr\u003eYour Footprints\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCROSSINGS–1970s\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Tintin Books\u003cbr\u003eSunday\u003cbr\u003eUnwritten Letters to Their Parents by Children Boarding with Relatives in Port-au-Prince\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCROSSINGS–1986\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePower\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCROSSINGS–ARTIFACTS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCarved Ivory Head of a Woman\u003cbr\u003eA Congolese Cotton Shirt Embellished with a Portrait of Mobutu from the Collection of the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam\u003cbr\u003eA Closing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCODA: CROSSINGS–2000s\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause\u003cbr\u003eCrossings\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eBibliography\u003c\/i\u003e“Impactful, breathtaking poetry . . . This important historical and personal collection does justice to the complex tapestry of Haitian emigrant legacies.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A brilliant achievement. Danielle Legros Georges’s \u003ci\u003eThree Leaves, Three Roots\u003c\/i\u003e makes a compelling case for the role of poet as custodian of what once was lost and now is found. In these times of voluntary and forced migrations, these poems are shining testaments and urgent exposés of historical injustice and tender lyrics. This collection places this poet where she belongs, in the front ranks of poets writing today.”\u003cbr\u003e—Lorna Goodison, author of \u003ci\u003eMother Muse\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“As the poet moves us through landscapes lost, discovered, and found again, from Port-au-Prince, Kinshasa, to the banks of the Rio Grande, we discover voices displaced, exiled, and scorned, with love for their shared African roots even as these move from one geography to another. Sweeping in its breadth and historical coverage, \u003ci\u003eThree Leaves, Three Roots\u003c\/i\u003e is a triumph of poetic quietude in the midst of the chaos that surrounds depictions of Haiti today.”\u003cbr\u003e—Myriam J. A. Chancy, author of \u003ci\u003eWhat Storm, What Thunder\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThree Leaves, Three Roots\u003c\/i\u003e is a captivating collection of poems that vividly portrays the journeys of Haitian professionals, including Danielle Legros Georges’s parents, who traveled to the Congo in the 1960s to support the decolonization movement. Through beautiful and captivating language, Georges intertwines personal narratives and letters, crafting a compelling testimony to a pivotal yet often overlooked moment in history. This profound exploration of migration and solidarity pays tribute to the lives of those we encounter within its pages while illuminating Haiti’s potential as a symbol of global liberty.”\u003cbr\u003e—Edwidge Danticat, author of \u003ci\u003eBrother, I’m Dying\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Crafted in a poetic gift full of compassion, \u003ci\u003eThree Leaves, Three Roots\u003c\/i\u003e should be seen as a welcome addition to the axis being formed in this, our time of resurrection and change like none other. Georges’s work is an elegant brilliance, nurtured in silent meditations on courage in a life lived deep inside the heart of Blackness.”\u003cbr\u003e—Afaa M. Weaver, author of \u003ci\u003eA Fire in the Hills\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“As the poet tells us in her introduction, \u003ci\u003eThree Leaves, Three Roots\u003c\/i\u003e is an act of reclaiming the ‘little known’ story of Haitians, including her parents, who traveled to the Congo in the 1960s to work and live. Legros Georges’s opus is impressive in its scope, and one can sense the research undergirding every word. But make no mistake: this is a poet’s reckoning with history. Legros Georges’s language is chiseled and sonically rich, her poetics potent and dazzling. In epistolary poems and dramatic monologues drawn from interviews and other source materials, she delivers a powerful melding of personal and public testimony. \u003ci\u003eThree Leaves, Three Roots\u003c\/i\u003e is a searing work of documentary and lyric poetry.”\u003cbr\u003e—Shara McCallum, author of \u003ci\u003eNo Ruined Stone\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eDanielle Legros Georges\u003c\/b\u003e (1964-2025) was a Haitian-born professor emerita of creative writing at Lesley University. She served as poetry laureate of Boston from 2014 to 2019 and was the author and translator of several books of poetry. Her work has been supported by fellowships and grants from the American Antiquarian Society, the PEN\/Heim Translation Fund, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Boston Foundation, and the Black Metropolis Research Consortium.","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303436308709,"sku":"NP9780807020487","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780807020487.jpg?v=1767742574","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/three-leaves-three-roots-isbn-9780807020487","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}