Nou Nen Mera: Haiti, Trump and the Zeitgeist of Interlocking Emergencies
CERLAC in collaboration with the Blackhurst Cultural Centre presents the lecture – Explorations in Freedom – a bilingual (French/English) discussion featuring Haitian-Canadian writer Gabriel Osson. The Haitian Creole phrase “nou nen mera” translates to “we’re in deep trouble” and is used here to capture collective frustration in the face of institutional decay that makes a community less safe and prosperous. Blending insights from an expansion of George Grant’s concept of “interlocking emergencies” and Hegel’s philosophy of history, Gabriel Osson draws a parallel between Haiti’s chronic instability and the steady erosion of America’s political institutions as evidenced by the elections of Donald Trump. He argues that Haiti’s instability foreshadows a potential future where the U.S. and the West in general face similar crises of governance because it is based on shared drivers. The talk will close by contemplating the potential for structural renewal premised on new systems of values aligned with current sociopolitical realities.
Register here.
