Ines P. Rivera Prosdocimi
This article encourages scholars to consider the historical, political, and social connections between the Dominican Republic and the greater Caribbean, and to do so through an examination of the modern-day maroon in Angie Cruz’s Let it Rain Coffee (2005). Cruz crafts a modern-day, transnational maroon, who constructs a new version of history through physical and psychological flight. Don Chan’s new version of history erases the border between the D.R. and Haiti. Additionally, Don Chan’s version of history also acknowledges modern-day maroons who have shaped the island. These individuals include the indentured laborer, Chinese Dominican, and dominicano ausente (exiled or excluded Dominican). This revisionist history highlights a shared history of black resistance across Hispaniola while expanding the boundaries of the island and redefining Dominican national identity.
Keywords: Charlemagne Péralte; Chinese-Dominican; Dominican Republic; Dominicano Ausente; Haiti; Hispaniola; Maroon; Marronage; Olivorio Mateo.