STATELESS

Michèle Stephenson’s documentary Statelesscenters grassroots organizer and attorney Rosa Iris as she works with Dominican families of Haitian descent who have been stripped of their citizenship. In 2013 Domininca Republic. From Rosa’s encounters with these families and individuals, the tense and complex history between Haiti and the Dominican Republic unearths tensions of politics, identity, race, humanity and belonging - a complex history that impacts present day politics and the safety and privilege of people in both Dominican Republic and Haiti. As the Dominican Nationalist Movement works tirelessly to protect the borders into Dominican Republic to keep Haitians out, those with Haitian ancestry work even harder to legitimize their existence and value in a system and a political structure that keeps to limit their possibilities and humanity.

This guide was created as an offering to support community approaches to collective processing, and a direction towards healing after screening Stateless. This guide offers you the opportunities to engage with your audience once during the screening and also the opportunity to create experiential workshops following to deepen the work.

THIS GUIDE CAN BE USED TO EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING THEMES:

1. White supremacy, ultra Nationalism, & racial capitalism on a global scale: “These expressions of hate can lead to physical violence” Rosa Iris
   
2. Anti Haitianism: “Someone called me Haitian because of my skin color. They called me Haitian as an insult. I answered, “Why would that upset me?” Elias
   
3. Anti Blackness: “Or a plan to whiten the population. Their problem is with blacks not whites.” Juan Teofilo
   
4. Xenophobia: “The Haitians have a plan that the Dominican Republic take care of their citizens.” Gladys
   
5. Mental wellness: “Maybe nothing was physically missing...But they stole my peace of mind, how do they pay for that?” Juan Teofilo
   
6. Fatherhood: “They say mothers feel the deep connection with her children. But I have a special connection with my children. I can feel when something happens to them.” Juan Teofilo
   
7. Duty: “I decided to run for congress. As a mother I have to leave my son, But the conservatives want to limit the freedom of Dominicans of Haitian descent.” Rosa Iris
   
8. Voting: “I could give you 50, 100 pesos to go vote, but if you vote for someone who serves the community, you’ll get so much more!” Rosa Iris
   
9. Government: “Who will help me feel safe? The State? When the State is the one persecuting me?” Juan Teofilo
   

Download the full resource here.

About the Author:

Clarivel Ruiz
Clarivel Ruiz(we, us, you) child of the African and Indigenous Diaspora, parents from Ayiti Kiskeya (aka Hispaniola, aka the Dominican Republic and Haiti), raised in NYC on the ancestral bones and covered shrines of the Lenape people. In 2018 we initiated Dominicans Love Haitians Movement, Inc., an arts nonprofit agency to heal from colonialism’s traumas. Our goal is to restore the rights OF ALL PEOPLE, HAITIAN AND DOMINICAN, to live in an inclusive environment free from harmful negative narratives, perceptions, and propaganda that negate our commonalities and humanity through antiblackness, anti-Haitianism, and xenophobia. Our purpose is to give rise to ways to counteract these divisive ways of thinking and being.

Simultaneously, as an Artist, Educator, and Coach with over fifteen years of experience creating media programs as a former director at a DCTV, nonprofit agency, supporting students as a facilitator at Boricua College, and guiding people to live a life they love through participatory engagements.

We are alumni of Hemispheric Institute’s EmergeNYC, Culture Push’s Utopian Fellow, a Civic Practice Seminar participant at the Metropolitan Museum, The Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellowship at CCCADI, a 2019 Brooklyn Arts Council award recipient, and an MFA graduate of CUNY, City College.

Stateless is a co-production of Latino Public Broadcasting and a co-presentation with Black Public Media.