My fellow heirs to the Haitian Revolution:
The future of Haiti hinges upon more than its people developing strong political and physical infrastructure. If those who seek to develop a new Haiti are unwilling to confront certain aspects of our old society and culture, we will fail. There are phenomenon and institutions that existed in Haiti that we as Haitians have tolerated too long and cannot allow to persist. If we are unwilling to confront many of these “cultural nuances” that are nothing but mere pathologies, nothing will change.
We as Haitians know that we have been abused and mistreated by Western nations in ways few could understand. We understand the tortured nature of our History relative to the Great Western Powers that have ravaged us for years. We should remind the world of that history when they cavalierly seek to dismiss our poverty and misery as mere “cultural ineptitude.” However from this point on, our mantra cannot be victimhood. We cannot confront our former antagonists seeking to merely lay blame. Two types of peoples will never gain the world’s respect: A people of beggars; and a people who simply Blame others for them being beggars. We have to be willing as Haitians to confront the faults of our oppressors, but admit aspects of our own culpability for our misery.
The issues that have been a barrier to our development actually have little to do with our inability to culturally compete. If the world needs a measure of the capacity of the Haitian people, I challenge it to look to any Hospital in NY, Montreal, or Chicago, as well as Zaire and Francophone Africa. Ask them: “What of the Haitian Doctors you have here; The Haitian Nurses?” Let us look at the major Universities throughout the world, ask them: “What of these Haitians? How have their youth performed?”
We Haitians can point to ways in which our mettle as a people has been proven in the West with excellence, yet largely unnoticed. Even the much beloved first Black President has chosen as his most trusted adviser, his “Karl Rove,” a Haitian: Patrick Gaspard. Therefore our competitive edge as Haitians, relative to the West, should never be questioned.
My fellow Haitians, our pathologies lie much deeper. They lie in the way we both view each other and treat each other upon a mere glance. They lie in they way we seek to distinguish ourselves, not on individual merit and tenacity, but in a feudal caste like class system that breeds stagnation and resentment. Our pathologies lie in the hypocrisy of our being the first free post colonial African Republic, yet being a nation of many Haitians who crave and yearn for Paris and Marseilles while ignoring and deriding Timbuktu and Guinea.
In closing, we as the Haitian people and diaspora know what the problems are. We have rehearsed them amongst ourselves for generations. The question persists: what direction will we chart for ourselves in the wake of the destruction our homeland faces? When that little Black girl is pulled from the rubble of debris for the world to see, will ALL Haitians view her as their daughter? For if not, Haiti will go down in history as the Pompeii of the modern age: A land with a rich history destroyed by natural disaster, never to be rebuilt again. A nation and a culture to be tossed on the ash heap of the dozens of “Once Great Peoples” we’ve all studied through history.
My Haitian Brothers and Sisters, the choice is ours. Let us be deliberate. Time steals dreams faster than it builds nations.
I say these words in the spirit of L’Ouverture, Dessalines, Petion, and Christophe: L’Union Fait La Force
May God Bless Haiti and the Haitian People. Amen.
W.E.B. DuBois
W.E.B. Du Bois detailed his French Haitian background in his autobiography:
“Of grandfather’s life in Haiti from about 1821 to 1830, I know few details. From his 18th to his 27th year he formed acquaintanceships, earned a living, married and had a son, my father, Alfred, born in 1825 [In Haiti]. I do not know what work grandfather did, but probably he ran a plantation and engaged in the growing shipping trade to the United States. Who he married I do not know, nor her relatives. He may have married into the family of Elie Du Bois, the great Haitian educator. Also why he left Haiti in 1830 is not clear. It may have been because of the threat of war with France during the Revolution [in France] of 1830 and the fall of Charles X.”
DuBois’ father was actually born in Haiti and lived in that Country until his youth. W.E.B. DuBois was a child of the Haitian Revolution…
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez celebrates a painting of Simon Bolivar. Pic From Flickr
From Wikipedia at: http://thelouvertureproject.org/index.php?title=Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvar
and at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvar
Simon Bolivar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (July 24, 1783 Caracas, Venezuela – December 17, 1830 Santa Marta, Colombia) South American liberator. Bolívar traveled on December 24, 1815 to Haiti, arriving in the coastal town of Les Cayes on his way from Jamaica were he was expelled.
Simón Bolívar received help from the Haitian goverment under Alexandre Pétion for his military campaigns. Pétion secretly supplied Bolívar with 4,000 muskets, 15,000 pounds of powder, flints, lead and a printing press and asked in return for South America’s slaves to be freed. (Heinl p. 158 – See also footnote 430 of The Struggle for the Recognition of Haiti…).
Bolívar left Haiti on April 10, 1816 for Venezuela, but returned in mid September of that year to Les Cayes after lost battles in South America. Resupplied by Pétion he sailed again from Haiti on December 28, 1816, this time to successfully conclude his struggle for South American liberation from colonialism. The Haitian help was given because he promised to free slaves, Bolívar landed in Venezuela and captured Angostura
Despite the crucial logistical support from Haiti, Bolívar never recognized the independence of the former French colony Saint-Domingue.
One of Bolívar’s predecessors in the liberation struggle from colonialism in Spanish ruled South America, Francisco de Miranda, created the first Venezuelan flag near Jacmel in the South of Haiti. Anchored in the Bay of Jacmel, he first raised the flag on March 12, 1806 on the Corvette Leander. This day is celebrated is still celebrated as Venezuelan Flag Day.
Importance of Bolivar to Latin America:
Simón Bolívar (July 24, 1783 – December 17, 1830), was one of the most important leaders of Spanish America’s successful struggle for independence from Spain, along with Argentinian general José de San Martín.
After the triumph over the Spanish monarchy, Bolívar participated in the foundation of Gran Colombia, a nation formed from the liberated Spanish colonies. Bolívar became President of Gran Colombia from 1821 to 1830, President of Peru from 1824 to 1826 and President of Bolivia from 1825 to 1826. His legacy contributed decisively to the independence of present-day Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panamá, Perú and Venezuela.
Could any of this have been achieved without the help of Haiti?
more about “ Haitian Ambassador Sets the Record S…“, posted with vodpodTelevangelist Pat Robertson said Wednesday that earthquake-ravaged Haiti has been “cursed” by a “pact to the devil.”
“Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it,” he said on Christian Broadcasting Network’s “The 700 Club.” “They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it’s a deal.”
Robertson said that “ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other” and he contrasted Haiti with its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.
Pat Robertson has a completely warped historically incorrect understanding of the factors that gave birth to the Haitian Revolution. But the video of Ambassador Raymond Joseph is the best retort for Robertson’s ignorance.
There rest of the piece on Pat Robertson with video can be seen here:
A fierce earthquake struck Haiti late Tuesday afternoon, causing widespread damage around the capital, leveling countless shantytown dwellings and bringing even more suffering to a nation that was already the hemisphere’s poorest and most disaster-prone.
The powerful earthquake of 7.0 magnitude rocked Haiti just before 5 p.m. Eastern time, 10 miles southwest from the densely populated capital of Port-au-Prince, according to the United States Geological Survey. But damage to the capital city of 2 million people was apparently widespread, according to reports from the scene. Pictures from the scene appeared to show serious damage to the National Palace.
Tequila Minsky, a photographer based in New York who was staying the Oloffson Hotel in Port-Au-Prince, said that a wall at the front of the hotel had fallen down, killing a passerby, and that several nearby buildings had collapsed, trapping people.
There were at least a dozen aftershocks — the worst two were 5.9 and 5.5 magnitude — that followed in the next hour, and more were expected, according to David Wald, a seismologist with the survey.
“The main issue here will probably be shaking,” Mr. Wald said, “and this is an area that is particularly vulnerable in terms of construction practice, and with a high population density. There could be a high number of casualties.”
According to several news reports, a large hospital in the capital had collapsed, and people were screaming in streets full of rubble.
Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Raymond Alcide Joseph, said in an interview on CNN that the country’s first lady, Elisabeth Débrosse Delatour, called the Haitian consul general in Miami to report that although she and the president, René Préval, were fine, the presidential palace and the nation’s ministry of commerce were damaged.
“These are very sturdy buildings,” Mr. Joseph said. “So if those buildings are damaged, can you imagine what’s happened to all these flimsy abodes around Port au Prince in the hillsides. I say it’s a major catastrophe.”
Mr. Joseph said that he had also spoken to the secretary general of the presidency, Fritz Lonchamps, who told him he was driving through Port au Prince when the earthquake struck.
“Buildings started to collapse right and left around him,” Mr. Joseph said. “He said, ‘Mr. Ambassador, tell the world it is a catastrophe of major proportion.’”
For the rest of this piece go here:
