“So much of my recent work and research has been sourced in Haiti’s rich history and folklore. From the history of Victoria "Abdaraya Toya" Montou to the Haitian revolution - Haiti deserves more respect on its name than people put on it. The first free black republic. Can you imagine?! My heart breaks for the continued environmental tragedy countries like Haiti and Puerto Rico face due to capitalist moves by America and European nations to this day… not in the past but currently. So let us continue to stand together as Caribbean family and support one another” - Christopher Udemezue, RAGGA Founder
ARTISTS FOR HAITI : RELIEF AND LOVE TO OUR HAITIAN FAMILY
Christopher Udemezue and Carolyn Lazard of RAGGA NYC are raising funds for LGBTQ+ Haitians who have been affected by the August 14th earthquake.
Through crowdsourcing our extended communities and offering limited-edition prints from RAGGA NYC’s chosen family of Caribbean-American artists, we aim to raise $10,000 for KOURAJ, an LGBTQ+ Haitian organization that is providing hygiene and food kits to Haitians affected by the earthquake.
RAGGA NYC, a platform and network for queer Caribbean artists, is offering prints to the first 24 US-based donors who contribute over $200 -- the amount needed to fund a hygiene and food kit from KOURAJ for each of Haiti’s 1200+ LGBTQ+ people who have been displaced by the August 14th earthquake.
ARTISTS’ PRINTS
We are working exclusively with artists of the Haitian Diaspora including Firelei Báez, Adler Guerrier, Abigail Lucien, and Didier William, who have generously contributed their work as incentives for donating to ARTISTS FOR HAITI. *
THE DISASTER AND ITS CONTEXT
The Haitian people are facing incredible challenges after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit the Les Cayes region destroying homes, schools, and businesses. Many have died and tens of thousands of people have been displaced without access to food, sanitation, and shelter as recovery efforts go on.
Haitians continue to fight for self-determination and political stability in the face of U.S. imperialism and paternalistic intervention from the international community. This disaster comes at a complex time for Haitians as President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021, while Haiti continues to face a COVID-19 surge, and limited access to vaccines.
Haitian communities are based in practices of collectivity, reciprocity, and trust. Mutual aid is embedded in Haitian culture, and we aim to support those systems that are already in place. As members of the Caribbean diaspora, we acknowledge the ways in which we are mutually bound with our siblings in Haiti as we continue to struggle for black liberation globally.
ARTISTS FOR HAITI is raising funds for KOURAJ to aid in post-earthquake relief. KOURAJ was formed in January 2012 as a grassroots M (Masisi, Madivin, Makomer, Mix) organization to fight against all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In the wake of disaster, LGBTQ+ Haitians are lacking access to food, sanitation, and shelter amid infrastructural damages, while also facing increased food scarcity. KOURAJ is currently organizing the distribution of hygiene and food kits in Les Cayes. Funds donated to ARTISTS FOR HAITI will support their efforts to help the queer and trans community there in need.
KOURAJ took shape at the end of 2011 to advocate for and support the defense of human rights of Haitian M people (Masisi, Madivin, Makomer, Mix). KOURAJ's work already includes two main components, a diverse national communication campaign to convey a positive discourse and change mentalities around the M Community; and legal support to victims of human rights violations based on their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Historically non Haitian NGOs have mismanaged and embezzled donations for relief efforts in Haiti. In order to account for this history we are in direct communication with the folks at KOURAJ to coordinate how to get funds into their hands as quickly as possible. This Gofundme campaign is linked to a designated bank account of one of our team members from which we will send a direct bank transfer to KOURAJ.
WHO WE ARE
RAGGA NYC is a growing collective of Queer Caribbean artists and allies. Founded by Christopher Udemezue (Neon Christina), the group was created to make space for and nurture ties amongst a group of artists who feel a deep commitment to their ancestral and diasporic histories.
Working across various disciplines, ranging from visual art and poetry to performance and fashion, RAGGA NYC interweaves art-making, cultural practice and community building. The collective has at its base a longing for an authentic and extended network that could support one another through ideas and activity centered around solidarity, visibility and expression. As a growing contingent of many artists – each quite distinct in the form, style and concerns of their practice – RAGGA materializes the impact of collective assembly in practices of social emancipation and celebration.
Carolyn Lazard is a first generation Haitian artist and writer based in Philadelphia and New York. Lazard has participated in exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France; Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) Vilnius; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; New Museum, New York, New York. Lazard is a 2020 Disability Futures fellow and a 2021 United States Artists fellow. They hold an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Film and Anthropology from Bard College.
Christopher Udemezue is a first generation Jamaican artist born in Long Island, NY. Udemezue has shown at a variety of galleries and museums, including the New Museum, Queens Museum of Art, PS1 MoMa, Bruce High Quality Foundation, and Envoy Enterprises. Udemezue recently has utilized his Jamaican heritage and the complexities of desire for connection, tragedy through personal mythology and public lynching as a primary source. As the founder of the platform RAGGA NYC & CONNEK JA, he completed a residency with the New Museum "All The Threatened and Delicious Things Joining One Another" in June 2017. Also being the lead organizing member of the art collective House of Ladosha, Christopher has shown recently in the New Museum’s “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon” 40 year anniversary show and he was apart of the chosen artists in The Shed's Open Call grant program/ show that was on show in the new Hudson Yards Shed gallery, NYC in June 2019. In 2021 Chris was elected to be Co-Chair of board at Recess Gallery, Brooklyn NY.
This effort was coordinated with the help of Angela Conant, an artist and curator; The Artists’ Co-op ; and EFA Project Space , a program of The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts..
Mesi Anpil!
In Solidarity,
Chris & Carolyn (RAGGA NYC)
*Prints are only available for individuals and not for institutional acquisition. Shipping of prints is only available to donors within the US. The organizers of ARTISTS FOR HAITI will contact the first 24 donors who contribute $200 or more to arrange their gift of a limited edition print.