Oral history interview with Abraham Joseph

Abraham Joseph, a driving school owner from Haiti, talked about his family, including his siblings, his parents who were farmers, and his children; walking to school; the village, Gros-Morne, where he lived in Haiti; and working as a carpenter in Haiti and the Bahamas before immigrating to the United States in 1980 because he had a fear of Tonton Macoute. He explained the power of Tonton Macoute, including the time his brother was arrested. Joseph described traveling on a little boat from Haiti to the Bahamas and then to Miami; moving to Washington, DC because his fiancée, who he met in the Bahamas, lived in DC with her relatives; and his reaction to seeing snow for the first time in Washington, DC. Joseph detailed the challenges of working as a porter, his first job in Washington, DC. He explained his decision to become a taxi driver and how he accomplished his goal; how he helped others from all over the world learn how to drive; why he opened a driving school, called AB Discount Driving School; and the challenges of running a business and securing insurance for the driving school. Abraham Joseph was interviewed by Tamara Brown on July 26, 1994. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include very loud white noise, static, and background noise; interviewee can be heard clearly for the most part.