Hometown associations, the regional clubs Haitian immigrants formed to send aid to the towns they came from, are treated here as political institutions rather than charities. Pierre-Louis argues that they allow Haitians in New York to pursue a segmented assimilation, holding on to Kreyòl, Vodou and a claim on Haiti's revolutionary past while building the coalitions and civic skills that later put Haitian Americans into city and state office. The tension he tracks runs between immigrants who want to settle into United States society and those who live transnationally, a response to arriving as a triple minority of immigrants, black people and non-English speakers. Much of the material comes from the umbrella federation FARHE, from interviews and personal archives lent by organizers in New York and Haiti, and from the author's own movement between the two, including service in Aristide's cabinet. Later chapters examine how the Haitian state courted its diaspora.