one month later

So much for commitment. no reservations. no negative energy.
Don't try to think, cause if you do before you blink,you realize before your eyes that what you think, is not...what you thought that you knew. real talk, the stereotypes not always true. It's true you cant judge me, and hey  I can't judge you.we're both way under-qualified no matter what we do.so All we can do is pray... everyday...that our Lord lead the way and that from God's good graces we don't stray.And when you sit in prayer, in awe, mesmerized, don't be surprised, if the spirit reaches out and opens up your eyes.opens up your heart, for a brand new start,for a brand new life, for a brand new day, asking "Lord Jesus show me the way".Be receptive to love, as soft and peaceful as a dove,sent down constantly to us, from our Father up above. But for love to bloom, you have to give it room. It's from within that it must begin,a love that's pure and without sin.Agape LOVE! manifested in the Highest,is the best! for real, I'm serious,I think that you should try it.

Trying to get into the groove.

I'm going to make an effort to post daily. I will not concern myself  too much with content. I'm just going to speak my mind. I'll try to be pertinent and  effective. That said. I have a great idea for Haiti. research and a plan is in the making.

1 month later

Friday marked the one month anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. I have not been posting regularly because I found that writing this blog has not helped me feel like I'm helping. I feel as if the situation has too quickly moved to the back burner in the media and in the lives of most people who were not directly affected by this disaster. It seems as if everyone was waiting for the people of Haiti to lose it and start rampaging in the streets, and when this did not happen, the world lost interest. I have to admit that the media coverage did quickly reach saturation overload and that people far too quickly became numb to the images, but what concerns me is the lack of follow up coverage. Why isn't the media focusing on the potential for the balkanization of Haiti? Who is focusing on the lack of fair and equal distribution of donations and who is watching the NGOs? Where is the Haitian Government and why has the international media not given them the airtime to speak with the Haitian populace? Haiti needs effective leadership and a clear plan of action, not some back room deal meant to en richen countries who can buy and sell Haiti 100 times over.  If the international community truly cares about Haiti, it will assure that Haitian sovereignty is not overlooked in it's rush to "do good". Haitian's are not the children of the world. The Haitian people must be involved at all levels with the reconstruction efforts and public discussions should be held before any decisions can be made regarding rebuilding plans. I feel that the hearts of most people involved in the work in Haiti are in the right place but the, " we are here to help as long as you do what we say" attitude is not benevolence  but economic dictatorship.

The true cause of Haiti's problems

The hate and the quake

BY SIR HILARY BECKLES

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES is in the process of conceiving how best to deliver a major conference on the theme Rethinking And Rebuilding Haiti.

I am very keen to provide an input into this exercise because for too long there has been a popular perception that somehow the Haitian nation-building project, launched on January 1, 1804, has failed on account of mismanagement, ineptitude, corruption.

Buried beneath the rubble of imperial propaganda, out of both Western Europe and the United States, is the evidence which shows that Haiti's independence was defeated by an aggressive North-Atlantic alliance that could not imagine their world inhabited by a free regime of Africans as representatives of the newly emerging democracy.

The evidence is striking, especially in the context of France.

The Haitians fought for their freedom and won, as did the Americans fifty years earlier. The Americans declared their independence and crafted an extraordinary constitution that set out a clear message about the value of humanity and the right to freedom, justice, and liberty.

In the midst of this brilliant discourse, they chose to retain slavery as the basis of the new nation state. The founding fathers therefore could not see beyond race, as the free state was built on a slavery foundation.

The water was poisoned in the well; the Americans went back to the battlefield a century later to resolve the fact that slavery and freedom could not comfortably co-exist in the same place.

The French, also, declared freedom, fraternity and equality as the new philosophies of their national transformation and gave the modern world a tremendous progressive boost by so doing.

They abolished slavery, but Napoleon Bonaparte could not imagine the republic without slavery and targeted the Haitians for a new, more intense regime of slavery. The British agreed, as did the Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese.

All were linked in communion over the 500 000 Blacks in Haiti, the most populous and prosperous Caribbean colony.

As the jewel of the Caribbean, they all wanted to get their hands on it. With a massive slave base, the English, French and Dutch salivated over owning it - and the people.

The people won a ten-year war, the bloodiest in modern history, and declared their independence. Every other country in the Americas was based on slavery.

Haiti was freedom, and proceeded to place in its 1805 Independence Constitution that any person of African descent who arrived on its shores would be declared free, and a citizen of the republic.

For the first time since slavery had commenced, Blacks were the subjects of mass freedom and citizenship in a nation.

The French refused to recognize Haiti's independence and declared it an illegal pariah state. The Americans, whom the Haitians looked to in solidarity as their mentor in independence, refused to recognize them, and offered solidarity instead to the French. The British, who were negotiating with the French to obtain the ownership title to Haiti, also moved in solidarity, as did every other nation-state the Western world.

Haiti was isolated at birth - ostracized and denied access to world trade, finance, and institutional development. It was the most vicious example of national strangulation recorded in modern history.

The Cubans, at least, have had Russia, China, and Vietnam. The Haitians were alone from inception. The crumbling began.

Then came 1825; the moment of full truth. The republic is celebrating its 21st anniversary. There is national euphoria in the streets of Port-au-Prince.

The economy is bankrupt; the political leadership isolated. The cabinet took the decision that the state of affairs could not continue.

The country had to find a way to be inserted back into the world economy. The French government was invited to a summit.

Officials arrived and told the Haitian government that they were willing to recognize the country as a sovereign nation but it would have to pay compensation and reparation in exchange. The Haitians, with backs to the wall, agreed to pay the French.

The French government sent a team of accountants and actuaries into Haiti in order to place a value on all lands, all physical assets, the 500 000 citizens were who formerly enslaved, animals, and all other commercial properties and services.

The sums amounted to 150 million gold francs. Haiti was told to pay this reparation to France in return for national recognition.

The Haitian government agreed; payments began immediately. Members of the Cabinet were also valued because they had been enslaved people before independence.

Thus began the systematic destruction of the Republic of Haiti. The French government bled the nation and rendered it a failed state. It was a merciless exploitation that was designed and guaranteed to collapse the Haitian economy and society.

Haiti was forced to pay this sum until 1922 when the last installment was made. During the long 19th century, the payment to France amounted to up to 70 per cent of the country's foreign exchange earnings.

Jamaica today pays up to 70 per cent in order to service its international and domestic debt. Haiti was crushed by this debt payment. It descended into financial and social chaos.

The republic did not stand a chance. France was enriched and it took pleasure from the fact that having been defeated by Haitians on the battlefield, it had won on the field of finance. In the years when the coffee crops failed, or the sugar yield was down, the Haitian government borrowed on the French money market at double the going interest rate in order to repay the French government. When the Americans invaded the country in the early 20th century, one of the reasons given was to assist the French in collecting it's reparations.

The collapse of the Haitian nation resides at the feet of France and America, especially. These two nations betrayed, failed, and destroyed the dream that was Haiti; crushed to dust in an effort to destroy the flower of freedom and the seed of justice.

Haiti did not fail. It was destroyed by two of the most powerful nations on earth, both of which continue to have a primary interest in its current condition.

The sudden quake has come in the aftermath of summers of hate. In many ways the quake has been less destructive than the hate.

Human life was snuffed out by the quake, while the hate has been a long and inhumane suffocation - a crime against humanity.

During the 2001 UN Conference on Race in Durban, South Africa, strong representation was made to the French government to repay the 150 million francs.

The value of this amount was estimated by financial actuaries as US$21 billion. This sum of capital could rebuild Haiti and place it in a position to re-engage the modern world. It was illegally extracted from the Haitian people and should be repaid.

It is stolen wealth. In so doing, France could discharge its moral obligation to the Haitian people.

For a nation that prides itself in the celebration of modern diplomacy, France, in order to exist with the moral authority of this diplomacy in this post-modern world, should do the just and legal thing.

Such an act at the outset of this century would open the door for a sophisticated interface of past and present, and set the Haitian nation free at last.

Sir Hilary Beckles is pro-vice-chancellor and Principal of the Cave Hill Campus, UWI.

To My Father

To My father

I remember most your laughter, how quick you were to smile
remember the delicious meals you cooked, the friends you served in style.
remember now the joy you had with pheasant's in the sun
to you they were so special, you wouldn't eat not one.
remember when I was little, you calling me to watch TV.
and how when I lay there snuggled close, you would be so happy
“Give respect to earn respect.” was something you once said
so many of your words of wisdom, recorded in my head.

With your sudden passing, came a huge hole in my heart.
 With so many words left unsaid I don't know where to start.
You were my Hero, you were my Teacher, you were my Friend
And since we shared that special bond, I never dreamed that it would end,
or at least that when it ended,  it wouldn't end like this
Without the chance to say farewell, without a goodbye kiss
 I did not write you when I could, nor did I seek to call
our conversations, brief hellos, or sometimes none at all
Why did I let the years go by, too busy with my life,
and now the knowledge that you're gone, cuts through me like a knife.
And as I sit here, drenched in tears and wailing to the sky.
I know that mine is not to know, the purpose, or the why.
I just know that someone close to me was torn out of my life.
And though your pain is ended, many more live still in strife.
 Many people still need help, and this I know is true,
That if you had been alive today, you would be helping too.
So  Daddy I will try my best, to honor you if I can.
You taught me to enjoy my life, and how to be a man.

R.I.P Wesner Toussaint (1942-2010)

Wyclef takes on the Haters

Yesterday Wyclef  Jean, a famous Haitian Rap/R&B artist, gave a press conference to contest accusations that His organization YELE HAITI misappropriated donations.  An emotional Jean vehemently denied any wrongdoing on the part of the non-profit which he founded. Questions remain, but the facts will speak for themselves. Yele Haiti has received a significant amount of money in the last few days due to the disaster in Haiti and an active participatory role of  the Haitian Diaspora. The future will tell if YELE is on the up and up. This holds true for all NGOs operating in Haiti. The hundreds of millions already invested in the past went like water through sand,. disappearing with not much to show for it. There must be a high level of on the ground accountability for all organizations in Haiti.  Money will continue to disappear  as long as the system allows it. It is up to us to see that this is no longer the case. Some participants in the online web chat connected to the press conference expressed outrage at the presence of combat troops  sent by the US and others.  I know that these troops are needed now for security of the relief effort. I also know that the Haitian Police force is not currently capable of maintaining order in the country. Troops are essential now but the highest priority of the rebuilding effort is should be to shore up the national police force so that troops on the ground can be released to perform non-police duties, or be withdrawn altogether, as the needs of the situation dictate. I want to take a moment and express my gratitude to all the nations of the world who responded with so much compassion towards the people of Haiti. Thank you for all that you have done and are continuing to do.

So much to do

Haiti has been dealt a blow but this gives us the opportunity to start fresh.  The people need a vision. Anew focus for the nation. Haiti must use this tragedy to act as the catalyst for a paradigm shift in thinking about what it means to be Haitian. Pride and industry is part of the Haitian psyche. This  makes Haitian immigrants in other countries successful because of the backing they have a stable infrastructure and government. Every person of Haitian lineage has a responsibility to make an effort not to let this disaster destroy the opportunity we have to rebuild right. Almost a week into the relief effort and I have not seen much in the way of  visible leadership on the part of the Haitian government. There has to be a mobilization of the people into organized groups to accomplish set tasks in order to facilitate the distribution of aid. Refugee camps are needed outside of Port-au-Prince and other cities in Haiti. Food/water needs to be airdropped or LAPES dropped in places like Leogane, Jacmel who have yet to receive ANY assistance.

Haiti shall rise

The eyes of the world are once again focused on the island nation of Haiti following the disastrous earthquake on Tuesday. Haitians and people of Haitian descent around the world anxiously watch the news and monitor social sites like Twitter and Facebook for information on missing loved ones.The wails of people crying for the dead can be heard throughout Port-Au-Prince, and abroad. The logistical difficulties presented by the damage done to the country's infrastructure, as well as to it's Port facilities, has severely impacted international relief efforts. As the situation deteriorates and people start reacting to lack of food water and shelter, it seems that the worst is still in front of us. It isn't easy to feed and house 2 to 3 million people. The Haitian government should concentrate it's relief efforts in an area outside of the capitol city and focus on encouraging the population to return to the towns of their birth in order to receive additional assistance. The city of Port-Au-Prince must be emptied as much as possible in order to facilitate ongoing relief efforts as well as the rebuilding effort which is to come. Port facilities should be repaired as soon as possible in order to facilitate relief efforts. Temporary refugee camps should be set up north and south of the city. It is much easier to bring people to water, food and medical supplies than the other way around. A digitally documented photo census should be taken now of all earthquake victims (living and dead) so that a precise figure can be established of the need base. I am writing this blog because I feel that this situation requires that each individual do what he or she can to help. I am prepared to work with any individual or organization to see that my vision of a secure and prosperous Haiti is realized. This blog will be a forum for discussion of the relief efforts and the reconstruction as well as long term sustainability projects. I welcome any comments and or ideas on how this can best be done.