While at its inception, the revolutionary ideals of the newly formed nation called Haiti held great promise, the reality as understood today detracts from this plesant image . Still , our rituals and their symbolic associations mirror these revolutionary ideals. For example, soup joummou, the New Year's and Independence Day celebratory pumpkin soup, signifies the communion of equals through the consumption of the once forbidden delicacy reserved for the colonial masters. Today, as family and friends gather around the dinner table, we are clearly proud of our freedom and accomplishments, yet know that there are countless Haitians who are hungry, sleeping under tents. Two hundred and eight years after independence, many Haitians live in abject poverty and have no rights as humans.
In Message from the Grassroots, perhaps his most powerful speech, Malcolm X reminded us that "you don't catch hell because you're a Methodist or Baptist, you don't catch hell because you're a Democrat or a Republican, you don't catch hell because you're a Mason or an Elk... You catch hell because you're a black man.... All of us catch hell for the same reason." Malcolm could just as easily have said that we don't catch hell because we're Haitian or African American. A white supremacist system sees us as Black people. Abner Louima was not tortured because he was Haitian, nor was Amadou Diallo gunned down by the police because he was from Guinea. The offending officers saw no difference. In their eyes they were inferior, scorned Black men. Malcolm saw Black unity/ solidarity as the counter and corrective of racism and white supremacy.
In anticipation for the main event on May 20, there will be a special Haitian Flag Day lecture on Wednesday, May 13 from 6- 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Avenue. The lecture will be given by John Barnes and Josiane Hudicourt-Barnes, who will speak about the rich diversity that the local Haitian population has bestowed upon our city.
"That is the difference between the parade in Haiti and the parade in America. Here - it unites us," said [Wilner Auguste]. "I believe that if we can live with the idea of being united for one day then that idea can carry on throughout the rest of our days." The main objectives of the Annual Haitian Heritage Month celebrations, Auguste says, are to "highlight the Haitian culture by providing a better understanding and visual representation of the Haitian way of life to a wide range of authences." For more information, please see the website haitianheritagemonth.net.
In creating Scourge, a full-length work of hip hop theater, Joseph digs into his ancestral roots to tell the story of Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere with a long and violent history. The piece's main characters are two Haitian-American kids who are torn between their Caribbean roots and urban America where they have grown up.
"I knew in some quarters that linking the virus to Haiti would potentially raise some concerns, but for the better part often years I have been tracking the virus from Central Africa to elsewhere-which is the roadmap for useful vaccines and other control methods," [Michael Worobey] said. "Whether it be Haitian men and women or homosexual men and women there is no sense in blaming a group of people for a virus we did not know existed. Instead we as a community should be extra sympathetic to those who are infected with the virus."
Why would [Frederick Douglass], a former slave, newspaper publisher, author and United States Minister and Consul General of Haiti, so admire Haiti, its leaders during the Revolution and its contributions to the world? And why was Douglass, despite his realistic assessment of the nation, so very hopeful about Haiti's future?
In this issue, we'll see why [Frederick Douglass] believed Haiti not only worried but scared slave-holding Americans. We'll also discuss why he believed Haiti is a country of "firsts" and his answers to critics that the country is doomed due to its roots in voodo. His actual words will be in italics. While slavery existed amongst us, Haiti's example was a sharp thorn in our side and a source of alarm and terror.
[Frederick Douglass] lamented the fact that the U.S. continues to shun Haiti although it has enriched American merchants, farmers and the country overall. He acknowledged a common complaint of Americans at the time that Haiti was more friendly to France and other European countries than the U.S. However, he partly blamed the US for not reaching out to Haiti with respect and friendship. He also cited Haiti's many institutional and cultural connections to France - language, literature, laws and government - as reasons for its friendship with France. Still, Douglass asserted that the main reason for the United States' ambiguous attitude towards Haiti was racial. In discussing Haiti's geography, Douglass lavishly praises its climate; lofty mountains; strikingly beautiful valleys, lakes, rivers and plains; blue waters and the exquisite Bay of Portau-Prince and Mole St. Nicolas. Douglass noted that the U.S. wanted the Mole for a naval station in order to dominate the area's commercial market before and after the then anticipated Nicaragua Canal was completed. The U.S. was also considering taking the Mole by force, if necessary. However, Douglass warned them that Haiti would not peacefully give up the harbor and that it would cost too much to take it by force.
Denying Haiti credit where credit is due is an established tradition. In 1893, at the end of the century that started with Haitian Independence and the Slave Trade Act, the orator, statesman and emancipated slave Frederick Douglass told an audience at the Chicago World's Fair how Haiti "taught the world the danger of slavery and the value of liberty." He pointed out that: The world had a chance to recognize Haiti three years ago, during the celebration of Haiti's bicentennial. But once again, Haiti was penalized. On the big day, January 1, 2004, Thabo Mbeki, President of the most powerful African nation, South Africa, came to celebrate. But the former slaveholding nations, led by the United States, boycotted the events, and forced the less powerful countries of Africa and the Caribbean to stay away. Instead of sending congratulations to the Haitian people's elected representatives, the United States sent guns and money to those trying to overthrow the government. When the international spotlight came to Haiti in 2004, it was to witness the return to dictatorship rather than to celebrate freedom from slavery.
