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    Start Over Collection Black Caribbean Literature (BCL) Subject Term Blacks Subject Term Haiti Subject Term Social conditions

    1. A Happy Birthday Wish and Prayer for Haiti from Jacqueline Damour

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    Collection:
    Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
    Format:
    Newspaper Article
    Publication Date:
    Jul 6-Jul 13, 2005
    Published:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Location:
    African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Journal Title:
    Haiti Observateur
    Journal Title Details:
    27 : 16
    Notes:
    On the fourteenth of July, the French Bastille Day, Ms. [Jacqueline Damour] will celebrate her 68th birthday. A vibrantly energetic widow, Jacqueline is proud of her Haitian heritage. She is the mother of six children whos-names are: Ossleine, Vaneek, Judith, Jacqueline, Amsden and James.

    2. Blacks and Latinos: Historic Alliances Must be Revisited

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    Collection:
    Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
    Contributers:
    Berry,W. K. (Author)
    Format:
    Newspaper Article
    Publication Date:
    1995-05-11
    Published:
    San Bernardino, CA
    Location:
    African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Journal Title:
    Precinct Reporter
    Journal Title Details:
    43 : A-1-1
    Notes:
    Portuguese and Spanish slavers supplied the Americas with "los Negros," the Blacks. Only those young and strong, impervious to European disease and able to withstand months of torturous living packed in the cruel quarters of slave shipholds survived the middle passage. Those who arrived, stunned and malnourished, lost in a foreign land, were easy prey to the slavers. Removed from a world that had nourished them, left to the mercy of those whose own lack of humanity prevented the recognition of theirs, they were utterly dependent and at the mercy of their captors. Vestiges of racism threaten to dismantle further progress in South America, as they do here. The prophecies of Willie Lynch, a slave owner who created a divisive plan to keep Blacks separate by fostering dissent among them, are coming true. Lynch outlined the differences in physical characteristics among the slaves-skin shade, hair texture, height, etc. By playing up these differences, Lynch promised, "The Black slave, after receiving this indoctrination, shall carry on and will become self-refueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands." Throughout North and South America, Lynch's plan lives on. Color lines rule, with the predominantly European strains remaining in power, and those of darker skin and crisper hair texture continue to be oppressed. It is a chilling reality that echoes down from the brutal suppression of the native peoples of Chiapas to the continued repression of Mexicans here and in their own country, to the harsh discrimination shown the Blacks of Brazil and America.

    5. Dr. Watson's faux pas

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    Collection:
    Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
    Contributers:
    Uttley,Jimmy (Author)
    Format:
    Newspaper Article
    Publication Date:
    Oct 24-Oct 31, 2007
    Published:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Location:
    African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Journal Title:
    Haiti Observateur
    Journal Title Details:
    44 : 7
    Notes:
    It goes something like this: A Dr. James D. Watson made a statement in an interview with the Times of London, which was interpreted to mean that blacks are dumber than whites (those are my words). Here's what he actually said: "...there are many people of color who are very talented," ...he is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Àfrica. ' "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really," the Times quoted him as saying. As a child growing up in Haiti, I often heard my peers making comments that would reflect views similar to that allegedly expressed by Dr. Watson. There's no truth to the belief that Haitians are inferior to citizens of other nations, but sadly, many Haitians believe that. Unfortunately, many non-Haitians believe that about Haitians as well. For as long as I can remember, there s been a cancer spread throughout that says that we as a people aren't capable of rising above our circumstances and becoming who we were created to be. It's time for all of us to recognize that all people are created in the image of God. One race or people group isn't created "better than another. We are all created equal and we are all loved equally by a Heavenly Father who desires the best for His creatures.

    7. Friends I Have Lost; Heroes I Have Found

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    Collection:
    Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
    Contributers:
    Lee,Nicole C. (Author)
    Format:
    Newspaper Article
    Publication Date:
    2008-05-08
    Published:
    San Bernardino, CA
    Location:
    African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Journal Title:
    Precinct Reporter
    Journal Title Details:
    41 : A4
    Notes:
    Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, is a Haitian activist and leader of Fondasyon Trant Septanm (September 30 organization), named in commemoration of the coup against democratically elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide in 1991. His organization worked with victims of torture, rape and extrajudicial executions by the Haitian military and paramilitary. I met Lovinsky when I lived in Haiti. I admire his fervent commitment to educate Americans about the negative impacts of US policies towards Haiti. In 2004, under threat by the former military whose human rights abuses he had vehemently denounced, Lovinsky left Haiti for the US. But two years later, after democratic elections, Lovinsky returned to Haiti. Like many of his friends, I was concerned for his safety, but Lovinsky was unwavering. Last August, while working with a human rights delegation, Lovinsky received a telephone call and left his home. His car was found the next morning, but he has not been seen since. He is "disappeared", a term used to describe someone who is kidnapped out of a political motivation.

    8. Haitians can't get past freedom legacy

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    Collection:
    Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
    Contributers:
    Harris,Barbra (Author)
    Format:
    Newspaper Article
    Publication Date:
    Jul 15-Jul 21, 2010
    Published:
    Jackson, MI
    Location:
    African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Journal Title:
    Jackson Advocate
    Journal Title Details:
    39 : 7A
    Notes:
    At [Henry Christophe]'s death, Haiti was taken over by General Boyer and civil war ceased. It was Boyer who obtained Haiti's official independence from France for 150 million francs. Unfortunately, Haiti's employment is less than 30 percent and its illiteracy rate is above 50 percent. Though its official language is French, Haiti's most widely spoken language is kreyol. Ninety percent of Haitians are Catholic although 99 percent worship their native religion of voodoo. Despite its tropical resort geography, living conditions in Haiti are comparative to those of many Third World nations. The Haitian economy is almost entirely dependent upon U.S. companies who horde the country's resources and only pay slave wages.