Celebrating Resilience

Huguens Jean, ’03, ’11, Ph.D., electrical engineering, and Clifford Muse, ’11, information systems, returned to Haiti in March 2010, after the devastating January earthquake, to fulfill their grandfather’s last request of them. As he was dying of cancer, he asked that at his funeral they celebrate his life and “find the joy.” “I had no idea what that meant until we encountered these people in Haiti,” said Jean, “These images of life continuing on.”

The brothers missed their grandfather’s funeral when the earthquake made travel to Port-au-Prince impossible, but they resolved to find a way to honor his memory. The new documentary film “Lift Up,” co-directed by Jean and UMBC alumnus Phillip Knowlton, records their journey back home.

“Lift Up” tells a story of people who have faced profound obstacles with resilience and courage. It also contests overly simplistic representations of Haiti that the filmmakers argue have too often dominated the media. Now reporters have a different story to tell.

In their grandfather’s honor, Jean and Muse built a kite like those they had flown together as children in Port-au-Prince, which they then flew in the 2010 Smithsonian Kite Festival in Washington, D.C. In some ways, however, it is this film that is the memorial, rather than the kite alone. As their grandfather wished, through this film Jean and Muse find the joy of life even at a moment of profound national suffering.

“Lift Up” has captured the public’s interest, appearing in the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post, as well as on WYPR’s Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast. “The brothers hope the film will introduce American viewers to another side of Haiti,” notes Sun reporter Childs Walker. “Growing up in Port-au-Prince, they saw the dark side of humanity but also reveled in warm households packed with extended family…and a rich tradition of passing stories from one generation to the next.”

Following a December preview screening at the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C. and a benefit screening in Los Angeles on January 12, the film will be shown during Welcome Week at UMBC on January 27, 8:00 p.m., in the Skylight room on the top floor of the Commons. The campus is invited to attend the free event, which will also include a talk with the filmmakers.

(1/20/2011)

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It’s going to be a big night… Because ForeverPlaid is taking over the USDemocrazy Twitter account to live-tweet the STATE OF THE UNION!

Tune into the speech at 9pm on the good old fashioned telly or watch the “enhanced experience” at the WhiteHouse.gov transmission. Whatever you do, keep on checking that Twitter page (give us a follow if you’re already on Twitter!) for some witty, frenetic, and even sometimes sincere commentary.

While you watch the clock as if a new Harry Potter book were coming out or something, check out these links for some pre-game HYPE.

Here’s what we hope to hear a bit tonight…

Happening TONIGHT: The State of the Union! It’s like a holiday here at USDemocrazy. Some pre-game analysis here.

A terrorist attack hits a Moscow airport…

Oh, #$%&. Rahm Emanuel gets thrown out of the Chicago mayoral race.

Also…

Well, today’s the BIG DAY. Happens once a year. The media will cover it and pundit will argue about it. Whatever happens, it’ll set America’s agenda for the weeks to come…

That’s right — today is the Oscar nominations day.

You can tune into the official Oscar website at 8:30am for the live broadcast and to hear the breaking news with the rest of the world — (including the hopeful nominees).

We’ve done some advance research to satiate our pop culture appetite. We’re taking bets to see which media outlet guessed correctly about the various nominations. Join us!

Linda Holmes from NPR’s pop culture blog Monkey See wonders about the answers to these five questions about the Oscar noms.

The Washington Post’s Celebritology blog has some pretty spot-on estimations on who will make it in the lead and supporting actor and actress categories.

The Week has a great “beginner’s guide” — or refresher guide for those followers who have forgotten — to the way the nomination and voting process works.

If “math” and “numbers” are more your thing, Nate Silver from the New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight blog figures up who will get a nod and why.

OK. Now it’s just time to sit and wait to see if “Sex and the City 2″ got some recognition or what.

Every year the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has among its attendees a hodgepodge of conservative leaders and supporters.  This year the crowd will be even more varied …but some members of the GOP aren’t happy about it.

The participation of GOProud, a group whose mission includes “represent(ing) gay conservatives and their allies,” has caused a number of top Republicans and organizations to boycott this year’s conference.

Over the weekend, Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC), who appears on the CPAC’s homepage, became the latest elected official to join in the rebellion.

Now, we know the GOP has not exactly been welcoming towards gays and lesbians but this seems to have taken the matter to new heights (or new lows).

Some see this as another sign of the drift to the right of the Party.