NYYA
TOUSSAINT.

BIOGRAPHY

Nyya Toussaint, M.A.R./M.A., is a Haitian-American scholar of Linguistics, International Affairs, and the Sociology of Religion. Under the mentorship of and in partnership with Professor Nicolas Andre, Nyya utilized his interest in educational tech to establish the Konbit Kreyòl Ayisyen in January 2017. Konbit Kreyòl Ayisyen utilizes education and technology to establish and disseminate Haitian Creole’s grammatical rulings set by the Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole Academy) of Port-au-Prince. The Konbit is a collaborative effort between students and scholars of Haitian Creole who are committed to utilizing decolonized pedagogies to teach and formulate widely inclusive Creole curricula. Konbit Kreyòl Ayisyen has gained the support of FIU’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACC) and the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Language Area Studies program (FLAS). Of worthy accolade is Konbit’s ongoing partnership with Duolingo which has resulted in the only free online Haitian Creole course that adheres to the standards of the Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen. Duolingo users are taught over 2,500 Haitian Creole words through over 23,000 translation exercises. Konbit Kreyòl Ayisyen is one of the first Black languages available on Duolingo’s language learning app. The work of Konbit Kreyòl Ayisyen has received Silver recognition in the 2023 Anthem Awards and been featured on NPR/WRLN South Florida. Members of Konbit Kreyòl Ayisyen have experience offering translation and interpretation services, publishing books and dictionaries, curriculum development, and linguistical research. 

 

As a scholar at the intersection of International Affairs and Religion, a large component of Nyya’s professional and academic work has been dedicated to imagining a better world by observing humanity’s political history and spiritual inspiration. His research has pertained to the relationship between race, migration/dislocation, and spirituality with a regional focus on New York City and the Caribbean; this has drawn him to actively present on NYPD-Caribbean migrant relations at multiple academic conferences internationally, study the Dirty War in Buenos Aires, and become immersed in U.S. detention centers and immigration courts in Miami and Texas. In 2022, Nyya was sponsored by the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and the U.S. State Department as an Ambassador to South Korea to discuss U.S.-Korean interests in the Caribbean with high-level officials from both nations. Hundreds of people have gathered for Nyya’s public programs on Caribbean spirituality that are co-hosted with his long time academic advisor, Rev. Dr. Samuel Cruz. Their recorded events garner thousands of playbacks. Presently, Nyya serves as the co-editor for Dr. Samuel Cruz’s publication on Global Latinx Pentecostalism as well as a forthcoming book on African Spirituality in the Americas. Nyya is a Junior Board member of the Congress of Santa Barbara (KOSANBA), an academic association for the study of Haitian Vodou and other African-based traditions. Nyya sits on the Haitian Studies Association’s Emerging Scholars committee.

 

Nyya is the visionary behind Lanbi ak Manchèt, LLC, a cultural and spiritual organizing hub committed to social advocacy and liberation. Partnering globally with spiritual communities, artists, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and political leaders,  the organization advances equity initiatives, offers Black interfaith rituals/ministries, and hosts cultural events. Additionally, to maintain robust programming, Lanbi ak Manchèt provides services to individuals and organizations in the areas of career advancement, web design, admissions, grant writing, and curriculum development.