Wyclef Jean - the trailblazing hip-hop artist and Haiti's answer to Jamaica's Bob Marley and Ireland's Bono - last month unveiled an ambitious new philanthropic effort aimed at bringing the power and wealth of his own celebrity - and the collective muscle of the Haitian Diaspora - to bear to help his native land. Wyclef christened the emerging non-profit "Yéle Haiti" during a tour of Haiti last month, in which he announced plans to help fund the reconstruction of schoolhouses and a vast scholarship program, among other initiatives.
"In our Cold War fight with Castro, (we were) willing to subsidize Cubans to leave to come here and at the same time lock Haitians out. That is not fair, and we deserve a different policy," [Jesse L. Jackson Sr.] said. He said the U.S. pays to bring Cubans here, subsidizes them, but pays to send Haitians back to Haiti. "That's not fair," he stated. "Haiti fought for our freedom." "The Cubans are political refugees looking for political freedom, and they're given money to come, but, the Haitians are economic refugees so they must go back. There are more Haitians who've died... than Cubans," Jackson said calling for an end to the double standard of refugees between Cuba and Haitians seeking to come to America.
