In 'Talk to Me,' the grandson of a former Haitian president uncovers family secrets
In 1957, a labor leader named Daniel Fignolé was the president of Haiti for 19 days. Just two weeks after his inauguration, he was forced to sign a resignation letter as part of a U.S.-backed coup. But growing up, Rich Benjamin – Fignolé's grandson – didn't know anything about his grandfather's political career. The cultural anthropologist says his family, especially his mother, erected a "wall of silence" around him. A new memoir, Talk to Me, is Benjamin's attempt to fill in these gaps in his family history. In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's A Martínez about Fignolé's work with labor unions, state-sanctioned silence, and the State Department documents that helped Benjamin piece together his grandfather's story.
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In 1957, a labor leader named Daniel Fignolé was the president of Haiti for 19 days. Just two weeks after his inauguration, he was forced to sign a resignation letter as part of a U.S.-backed coup. But growing up, Rich Benjamin – Fignolé's grandson – didn't know anything about his grandfather's political career. The cultural anthropologist says his family, especially his mother, erected a "wall of silence" around him. A new memoir, Talk to Me, is Benjamin's attempt to fill in these gaps in his family history. In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's A Martínez about Fignolé's work with labor unions, state-sanctioned silence, and the State Department documents that helped Benjamin piece together his grandfather's story.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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2025-02-25
7 min
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