African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
78 p., This documents the lack of access to reproductive and maternal care in post-earthquake Haiti, even with unprecedented availability of free healthcare services. The report also describes how hunger has led women to trade sex for food and how poor camp conditions exacerbate the impact of sexual violence because of difficulties accessing post-rape care. It looks at how recovery efforts have failed to adequately address the needs and rights of women and girls, particularly their rights to health and security.
Explores the way writers address the formation and fate of the contemporary American working class in an age of neoliberal globalization. Specifically, the essay examines Russell Banks's 1985 novel Continental Drift, which interweaves the stories of two characters who pull up stakes and head to Florida in search of a better life: an oil furnace repair man from New Hampshire and a young, single mother from Haiti.
Grassroots Haitian movements for social justice have set themselves a formidable task: not only addressing the ongoing humanitarian crisis, but also challenging the reconstruction effort to include their leadership and avoid reproducing the conditions that helped make the earthquake so disastrous.
Despite the righteous platitudes of the American and French Revolutions, the idea of an independent Black Republic created through force of arms did not sit well with the powers that be in the Capitols of Europe and America. There was virtually universal agreement among the European/White leaders of the time, including President Thomas Jefferson, that the example of Haiti was a threat to their national interests - profiting from the slave trade and/or colonialism in Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Therefore, it was imperative that Haiti be isolated, marginalized and rendered weak as a "Black nation." Under threat of a new invasion, Haiti succumbed to demands from France to pay millions of dollars in reparations for title loss of property (enslaved Africans and the plantations) incurred during the Revolution. The burden of this debt would cripple Haiti's struggle for development well into the 20th century. In 1915 the U.S. invaded and occupied Haiti until 1934, and has treated Haiti as a neo-colony ever sense.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
The Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL) is an independent, non-partisan think-tank dedicated to strengthening Canadian relations with Latin America and the Caribbean through policy dialogue and analysis. It seeks to create new partnerships and policy options throughout the Western Hemisphere through its promotion of good governance, economic prosperity and social justice.
The 39-member Congressional Black Caucus is on record as supporting Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the deposed Hatian president, but is split on whether the US should use force to reinstall him.
Index number: AMR 25/007/2012, 18 p., Criticism of the government is not tolerated in Cuba, and it is routinely punished with arbitrary and short-term detentions, intimidation, harassment, and politically motivated criminal prosecutions. Amnesty International makes recommendations to the Cuban government aimed at ensuring greater respect for the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and movement.
'Environmental justice' refers to the human right to a healthy and safe environment, a fair share of natural resources, access to environmental information and participation in environmental decision-making. Some analysts have argued that environmental justice is undermined by the political economy of capitalism. This paper builds on this analysis by evaluating the environmental justice situation in Cuba, a country where there is little capitalist influence. Evidence is based on participant observation and interviews in Cuba, as well as secondary quantitative data. The research findings suggest that Cuba fares relatively well in terms of environmental justice, but still faces a number of challenges regarding the quality of its environment and some aspects of the environmental decision-making process. However, many of its ongoing problems can be attributed to global capitalist pressures.
Uses the content analysis of publicly available information to explore the posture of key public-policy actors on homosexuals and homosexuality. Concludes that this discourse evinces a settled heteronormative value system, reflecting a consensus on either side of the political divide and applauded by popular culture and popular opinion.
Makes reference to the sixth visit of Radio International Feminista (Feminist International Radio Endeavour, FIRE) on April 8-15, 2011 to highlight the development in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Particular focus is offered on the role of Haitian women and other citizens in providing first hand information on policies on international humanitarian aid, offer their inputs to international actions on women's groups and human rights, among others.