Creole epistemologies in Afro-Caribbean feminisms: A decolonial engagement with Marie Lily Cérat

This article conceptualizes a Haitian feminist praxis of negotiation of systems of power and inequality through their transformation in everyday experiences and knowledges. The title, ‘Creole epistemologies’, has a double meaning: it highlights how feminist perspectives can push back against the structuring effects of traditional political economy that often make marginalized people passive in their own struggles. At the same time, it recognizes the power of everyday, collective practices in decolonial and grassroots movements. I take inspiration from Haitian American activist and scholar Marie Lily Cérat to insist on the intellectual, interdisciplinary and political charges of everyday struggles for existence in enabling collective action grounded in hope, healing and transformation. Drawing on both Cérat's activism in Brooklyn and her literary work, I explore how everyday struggles for survival can also be acts of resistance and transformation. Especially, a close reading of Cérat's short story ‘Maloulou’ helps explore these ideas in practice, using insights from Black feminist studies, Afro-Caribbean literature and decolonial thought. Ultimately, this article proposes a Haitian feminist praxis that focuses on how people create change through their daily lives and shared experiences in societies marked by their long history of enslavement and colonialisms.