The first Africans came to America in August, so obviously, it's our entire history - in so far as the celebration or acknowledgement was. It has to do with [Jonathan Jackson], George Jackson and prisons. I believe in a time when the United States has more people in prison than any other industrialized nation, the prediction that if the current rate of incarceration stays the way it is now, one in three men will be incarcerated or on parole in 2020, which is not very far. I think it is contingent on us to look at that - the re-enslavement of African Americans continuing. I think this benefit for Haiti is important, because of what Haiti represents - a nearby island that had a successful slave rebellion, it has always suffered from intrusions from America from as far back as the 1800s, so I think joining together the national and international struggles is important. It is important for African Americans to look at themselves locally, nationally and internationally - to see ourselves in the world. Black August 2003 offers an opportunity to do that.
In the midst of a historic political crisis in Haiti last February, Boston-based Haitian Americans United Inc. (HAU) and State Representative Marie St. Fleur convened an emergency town meeting at Codman Square's Church of the Nazarene. St. Fleur and the panelists addressed a sizeable crowd, including the likes of Reverend Eugene Rivers, Senator Jarret Barrios, Reverend Paul Jones of the Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus and representatives from the offices of U.S. Senator John Kerry and state Senator Jack Hart, among others. Held on Feb. 25, St. Fleur and others called for United Nations peacekeeping troops to ensure public order and disarm both pro and anti Aristide agitators.
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.
There is a bit of hope on the horizon. According to the Associated Press, self styled "General Toutou," one of the most powerful armed gang leaders linked to [Aristide], said he'd be willing to give himself up if United Nations peacekeepers would guarantee his safety. "If the (U.N. mission) is ready to guarantee our security, we'd be ready to give up the fight," said Toutou," whose real name is unknown. Government officials have accused "Toutou" of involvement in the slaying of prominent Le Matin journalist Jacques Roche along with dozens of other killings and kidnapings. "Toutou" has denied any connection with Roche's death.
Within the framework of the vast campaign led collectively by the former Haitian president, from his exile in South Africa, his partisans and sympathizers as well as personalities and bribed organizations, in Haiti and abroad, to defeat the election process, is the stepped up strategy to have Mr. Neptune released. This strategy is entirely consistent with the logic according to which Lavalas would have no luck in imposing itself on the political scene if the next ballot were to be organized in a context where the high dignitaries of the former regime are called upon to answer charges before the courts. Obviously, the eventual indictment of Yvon Neptune, the highest Lavalas official involved in the crime of the La Scierie massacre, will without doubt also implicate Mr. [Jean-Bertrand Aristide] himself. The lawsuit, which would possibly be determined by the committing magistrate of Saint Marc, the jurisdiction which has the responsibility for handling the case, will put the whole Lavalas regime on the stand. Thus the doggedness to resort to obtain the "unconditional" release of the exPrime Minister by all means possible.
