She said that, these are the harsh realities which result in significant measure from pervasive and systemic injustice and discrimination, for which the international community needs a "wake up call" in order to accelerate regional and international cooperation, "to ensure people of African descent have full enjoyment of their rights to participate in all the political, economic, social and cultural facets of society". The Acting CARICOM Secretary General said that the region's "highly respected international reputation' as being intolerant of inequality and discrimination' was built partly on the foundation of the unrelenting resistance of enslaved Africane, embodied in martyrs and leaders of the slave revolts such as Toussaint L'Overture in Haiti; Nanny and Tacky in Jamaica; Codjo, Mentor and Present in Suriname; Bussa in Barbados and Cuffy and Damon in Guyana. [Lolita Applewhaite] said the Rastafarian movement that "revolutionised the consciousness of the Caribbean people and many others outside of the region", pointing also to the strong influence of people of African descent in the creation of a "distinctive Caribbean brand".
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - As the despair and devastation caused by the 7.0 seismic earthquake that rocked Haiti in January threatens to shift to the periphery of America's consciousness, many of the nation's most respected celebrities, activists and businessmen recently joined forces to secure long-term relief for the ravaged country. Actoractivist Danny Glover and Haitian-born actor Jimmy Jean-Louis were honored at the To Haiti with Love benefit, Sun., March 21, a gathering of Black business leaders and entertainers designed to streamline both strategic and financial relief efforts.
Enrique Patterson, a columnist at Miami's El Nuevo Herald, recently spoke at Baruch College in New York City about racial discrimination in Cuba. Patterson, who is Cuban-American, said Cuban culture has a tradition of racism that developed before Fidel Castro and has not ended under Castro's reign. Patterson said racism is preventing a transition to democracy.
"I think we will do fairly well," said [Aiken]. "I think we have a good set of girls going over there that will do us very proud. We know the task ahead, and we know what we are going to come up against, and so we just need to put it together as a team," added Aiken, who plays for the Queensland Firebirds in the ANZ Championships in Australia and New Zealand.
IATI is a New York-based, nonprofit performing arts organisation, established in 1968, dedicated to serving both English and Spanish-speaking audiences of all ages. Its productions aim to be both play and provocateur, combining the prose of Gabriel Garc'a Marquez with the intrigue of Borges and Cortázar.
The news media showed pictures of the immediate family and family friends. What I found amazing is that it appears that only light-skinned Cubans are trying to escape from their homeland. I saw the Cuban basketball team in the late Olympics. I have also seen pictures of Cubans in a television special one by Harry Belafonte. What I saw were dark-skinned Cubans having the time of their lives. It made me wonder, in light of what I have been told by African people living in Florida, that the light-skinned Cubans are more racist that some southerners. What is really going on in Cuba, and what is this Elian Gonzales issue about? The more I got into thinking this way, the more questions were raised. Why are most of the people trying to escape from Cuba light-skinned? Why are the majority of the athletics in the Olympics dark-skinned? The women's basketball team and the volleyballs teams were the bomb. They were some big, pretty sisters. I also thought of the Haitians. Why are Haitians sent back to Haiti and Cubans allowed to stay in America? They are both supposedly oppressed people. The Haitians are dark and the Cubans, who are trying to escape, light. Is there something more than meets the eye?
The last week of January 2005, the Fifth Annual World Social Forum was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, bringing together 150,000 grassroots leaders, intellectuals and activists to discuss how the world can be made more free and more just. The conference's theme was "Another World Is Possible," and the speakers and participants showed that another, more fair treatment of Haiti is possible. The conference's keynote speaker, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, discussed the debt that the world owes Haiti in a press conference. He acknowledged that Haiti's Constitutional President had been kidnapped, and declared that he and other Latin American Presidents understood that there could be no solution to Haiti's crisis without President Aristide. At a workshop in Porto Alegre, called "Haiti, the International Community's Dictatorship," speakers from Haiti, the U.S. and the Caribbean led a discussion of the human rights crisis in Haiti, and explored ways that people from outside Haiti could promote the country's sovereignty and the return of its democracy.
The letter expresses gratitude to the South African government, and people of South Africa, for hosting the Airistides. "We also heartily support the efforts of the South African government to assist President [Jean-Bertrand Aristide] and his family in quickly returning home," the signers state, noting that "Any delays to the Airistides' prompt travel to Haiti would be yet another disappointment to a people that have already experienced a long list of tragedies, disasters, and heartbreak."
Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer on Saturday. August 1 urged citizens to ensure that the horrible and dehumanising system of slavery is never allowed to happen again while encouraging closerunity between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Africa. "Therefore celebrating our Emancipation should inspire us to unite as citistens of the Caribbean to ensure that we never allow ourselves to be subjected to any form of slavery^'Spencer said in a message marking the 175th anniversary of the end of slavery.
