Former Harvard President Claudine Gay made a rare public appearance late last month, moderating a discussion with author and anthropologist Rich Benjamin at Brookline Booksmith in Boston, according to a recent report in The Crimson. The event, which drew a crowd of about 40 attendees, focused on Benjamin’s new memoir about his mother and grandfather, former Haitian President Daniel Fignolé.
Gay, who resigned from Harvard’s top post last year, has largely remained out of the public eye. Before this event, she had only spoken publicly once since stepping down, delivering a keynote address at the Harvard Black Alumni Association in September. Currently, she teaches a graduate research seminar in Harvard’s Government Department and is occasionally seen at university sporting events.
During the discussion, Gay—herself the daughter of Haitian immigrants—praised Benjamin’s book as “a light in what is otherwise a really dark moment.” She reflected on the broader struggles facing both Haiti and the Haitian diaspora, noting her father now carries his U.S. passport with him everywhere despite having lived in the country for nearly 60 years.
Gay also connected personally to Benjamin’s account of his mother’s strength, likening it to her own upbringing. “She’s formidable in ways that I recognize—the ‘stop crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about,’” she said with a smile.
Benjamin shared insights into his grandfather’s complicated legacy. Fignolé, a prominent labor leader, served as Haiti’s president for just 19 days in 1957 before being ousted in a U.S.-backed military coup. Forced into exile in New York, he and his family endured years of hardship.
Benjamin spent over a decade researching his family’s history, including a 12-year legal battle with the U.S. government to unseal federal records about Fignolé.
“I sued the State Department in federal district court and, after multiple denials, finally won on the fourth appeal,” he revealed.
He hopes his book will encourage Americans to acknowledge their country’s role in shaping foreign governments. “People can be sleepwalking through history,” Benjamin said. “But what you do matters.”
