Richard Morse

Political activist and top Haitian-American musician

Fierce, outspoken Haitian-American musician Richard Auguste Morse is known throughout Haiti for giving voice to political injustice.

When the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti it was Richard reporting from the ground, using Twitter, giving the world an up-to-the -minute story.  His powerful words and observations have been picked up by major news bureaus around the world

After graduating from Princeton with a degree in anthropology, Richard focused his energy on music.  He joined the punk rock band "The Groceries," which played sold-out gigs at Max’s Kansas City and other New York area clubs including Stick City Gardens in Trenton, New Jersey.

Morse went to Haiti after departing from the band in search of his roots; (his mother is a famous Haitian singer), and to explore his musical passion. Five years in the making he and his wife Lunise formed his band RAM, a “Racine" band, which became one of the most important musical movements in Haiti in the years following the exile of Dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.  Racine music combines elements of traditional vodou ceremonial and folkloric music with rock and roll.

RAM’s music became politically influenced, particularly after Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first elected president of Haiti after the exile of Dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, was overthrown in a coup d'etat in 1991. RAM and other rasin bands were strongly identified with Aristide and his political party, and while other performers left the country in exile, Morse and his band chose to stay in Port-au-Prince. Morse and his band mates were threatened or harassed by Aristide’s opposition, while his music became popular with sympathetic Haitians.

Despite death threats and many other challenges  (21 years of coups, hurricanes, invasions and occupations) Morse and his band RAM continue to grow and continue to pump out first-class political songs at a time when Haiti's youth are increasingly listening to hip-hop, dance music and gangsta rap. RAM performs in Haiti and tours the UK, New York, Miami and many Caribbean countries.