The Power of the Baton

About the Book

During the Duvalier (Papa Doc) era, many Haitian families were desperate to escape the reign of their ruthless dictator. An eight-year-old boy migrates to Brooklyn, New York, to reunite with his family. His status as a Haitian immigrant leads to bullying and ridicule while social and economic conditions threaten the family’s survival. Through the power of prayer, and an unprecedented bond that turns uncles, aunts, cousins, and siblings into a family of one, they overcome impossible odds. He documents his inspirational life journey to teach the new generation about the power of prayer and the value of family unity.

About the Author

Daniel Labossiere was born the fourteenth of fifteen children on July 12, 1967, in Les Cayes, Haiti. It was the height of the Duvalier (Papa Doc) era, and the citizens of Haiti were eager to escape the political persecution of the Duvalier regime. Daniel migrated to Brooklyn, New York, in June 1975, where he was reunited with his parents who had begun moving the family out of Haiti a few years earlier. Bullied and ridiculed by schoolmates for being a non-English speaking Haitian immigrant, he turned to reading and writing as an escape and as a tool for perfecting English as a second language. In 1981, Daniel and his family moved to Miami, Florida, where he attended American High School. His creative writing skills would prove to be a tremendous asset as it led to multiple scholastic awards to help fund his college education after graduating high school in 1985. Though encouraged by educators to pursue a career in writing, he elected to follow a business path in order to achieve his dream of entrepreneurship. In 1989, he graduated from the University of South Florida’s school of business with a degree in accounting. Within four years of his graduation, his dream of entrepreneurship was realized when he started his own IT business, specializing in health-care automation. At the time of this writing, Daniel Labossiere still lives in South Florida. He has been happily married for twenty-three years and has two sons, aged nineteen and seventeen. He still owns and operates his IT business and continues to write creative works mostly for personal enjoyment.