On my return to Haiti …
by Jean-Bertrand Aristide
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 February
"A profit-driven recovery plan, devised and carried out by outsiders, can not reconstruct my country."
2011 20.00 GMT o
Haiti's devastating earthquake in January last year destroyed up to 5,000 schools and 80% of the country's already weak university infrastructure. The primary school in Port-au-Prince that I attended as a small boy collapsed with more than 200 students inside. The weight of the state nursing school killed 150 future nurses. The state medical school was levelled. The exact number of students, teachers, professors, librarians, researchers, academics and administrators lost during those 65 seconds that irrevocably changed Haiti will never be known. But what we do know is that it cannot end there.
The exceptional resilience demonstrated by the Haitian people during and after the deadly earthquake reflects the intelligence and determination of parents, especially mothers, to keep their children alive and to give them a better future, and the eagerness of youth to learn – all this despite economic challenges, social barriers, political crisis, and psychological trauma. Even though their basic needs have increased exponentially, their readiness to learn is manifest. This natural thirst for education is the foundation for a successful learning process: what is freely learned is best learned.
Of course, learning is strengthened and solidified when it occurs in a safe, secure and normal environment. Hence our responsibility to promote social cohesion, democratic growth, sustainable development, self-determination; in short, the goals set forth for this new millennium. All of which represent steps towards a return to a better environment.
Education has been a top priority since the first Lavalas government – of which I was president – was sworn into office under Haiti's amended democratic constitution on 7 February 1991 (and removed a few months later). More schools were built in the 10 years between 1994, when democracy was restored, and 2004 –
when Haiti's democracy was once again violated – than between 1804 to 1994: one hundred and ninety-five new primary schools and 104 new public high schools constructed and/or refurbished.
The 12 January earthquake largely spared the Foundation for Democracy I founded in 1996. Immediately following the quake, thousands accustomed to finding a democratic space to meet, debate and receive services, came seeking shelter and help. Haitian doctors who began their training at the foundation's medical school rallied to organised clinics at the foundation and at tent camps across the capital. They continue to contribute tirelessly to the treatment of fellow Haitians who have been infected by cholera. Their presence is a pledge to reverse the dire ratio of one doctor for every 11,000 Haitians.
Youths, who through the years have participated in the foundation's multiple literacy programmes, volunteered to operate mobile schools in these same tent camps. In partnership with a group from the University of Michigan in the US, post-traumatic counselling sessions were organised and university students
trained to help themselves and to help fellow Haitians begin the long journey to healing. A year on, young people and students look to the foundation's university to return to its educational vocation and help fill the gaping national hole left on the day the earth shook in Haiti.
Will the deepening destabilising political crisis in Haiti prevent students achieving academic success? I suppose most students, educators and parents are exhausted by the complexity of such a dramatic and painful crisis. But I am certain nothing can extinguish their collective thirst for education.
The renowned American poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote that "we learn geology the morning after the earthquake". What we have learned in one long year of mourning after Haiti's earthquake is that an exogenous plan of reconstruction – one that is profit-driven, exclusionary, conceived of and implemented by non-Haitians – cannot reconstruct Haiti. It is the solemn obligation of all Haitians to join in
the reconstruction and to have a voice in the direction of the nation.
As I have not ceased to say since 29 February 2004, from exile in Central Africa, Jamaica and now South Africa, I will return to Haiti to the field I know best and love: education. We can only agree with the words of the great Nelson Mandela, that indeed education is a powerful weapon for changing the world.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Alfred-Georges Hoen, 1925, magazine cover portrait of my Irish grandmother
Large portrait of my Irish grandmother, Marie Nichols, by
Alfred-Georges Hoen, 1925
This portrait was on the cover of a magazine. My mother had the magazine cover but it is now lost and I cannot recall the name of the magazine. I believe this was part of the cover girl series. This is a flapper portrait from the Roaring Twenties period. If you know the name of the magazine or want to correspond about this painting or artist, please write me at Michelle.Karshan@gmail.com Thanks
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide Statement, January 19, 2011
Dr Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Former President of Haiti
19 January 2011
I would like to thank the government and the people of South Africa for the historic hospitality, deeply rooted in Ubuntu, extended to my family and I.
Since my forced arrival in the Mother Continent six and a half years ago, the people of Haiti have never stopped calling for my return to Haiti . Despite the enormous challenges that they face in the aftermath of the deadly January 12, 2010 earthquake, their determination to make the return happen has increased.
As far as I am concerned, I am ready. Once again I express my readiness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time. The purpose is very clear: To contribute to serving my Haitian sisters and brothers as a simple citizen in the field of education.
The return is indispensable, too, for medical reasons: It is strongly recommended that I not spend the coming winter in South Africa ’s because in 6 years I have undergone 6 eye surgeries. The surgeons are excellent and very well skilled, but the unbearable pain experienced in the winter must be avoided in order to reduce any risk of further complications and blindness.
So, to all those asking me to return home, I reiterate my willingness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time. Let us hope that the Haitian and South African governments will enter into communication in order to make that happen in the next coming days.
United to the Haitian people, once again my family and I express our sincere gratitude to the government and the people of South Africa .
Former President of Haiti
19 January 2011
I would like to thank the government and the people of South Africa for the historic hospitality, deeply rooted in Ubuntu, extended to my family and I.
Since my forced arrival in the Mother Continent six and a half years ago, the people of Haiti have never stopped calling for my return to Haiti . Despite the enormous challenges that they face in the aftermath of the deadly January 12, 2010 earthquake, their determination to make the return happen has increased.
As far as I am concerned, I am ready. Once again I express my readiness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time. The purpose is very clear: To contribute to serving my Haitian sisters and brothers as a simple citizen in the field of education.
The return is indispensable, too, for medical reasons: It is strongly recommended that I not spend the coming winter in South Africa ’s because in 6 years I have undergone 6 eye surgeries. The surgeons are excellent and very well skilled, but the unbearable pain experienced in the winter must be avoided in order to reduce any risk of further complications and blindness.
So, to all those asking me to return home, I reiterate my willingness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time. Let us hope that the Haitian and South African governments will enter into communication in order to make that happen in the next coming days.
United to the Haitian people, once again my family and I express our sincere gratitude to the government and the people of South Africa .
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Rights Groups File Emergency Human Rights Petition to Stop Imminent Deportations to Haiti
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2011
CONTACT: Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
press@ccrjustice.org
Rights Groups File Emergency Human Rights Petition to Stop Imminent Deportations to Haiti
Earthquake, Cholera And Violence Is Death Sentence
MIAMI AND WASHINGTON - January 6 - Today six civil and human rights groups filed an emergency petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), to halt the roundups, detention, and imminent deportations of hundreds of Haitian nationals by the United States government. The petition, submitted by the University of Miami School of Law Human Rights and Immigration Clinics, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Alternative Chance and the Loyola Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice, argues that deporting people at this moment to Haiti, which is still reeling from the devastating January 2010 earthquake and is burdened with a massive cholera epidemic, political unrest, and rampant street violence, will result in serious human rights violations, including deprivations of the rights to life, family, and due process, and freedom from cruel or unusual punishment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 6, 2011
CONTACT: Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
press@ccrjustice.org
Rights Groups File Emergency Human Rights Petition to Stop Imminent Deportations to Haiti
Earthquake, Cholera And Violence Is Death Sentence
MIAMI AND WASHINGTON - January 6 - Today six civil and human rights groups filed an emergency petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), to halt the roundups, detention, and imminent deportations of hundreds of Haitian nationals by the United States government. The petition, submitted by the University of Miami School of Law Human Rights and Immigration Clinics, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Alternative Chance and the Loyola Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice, argues that deporting people at this moment to Haiti, which is still reeling from the devastating January 2010 earthquake and is burdened with a massive cholera epidemic, political unrest, and rampant street violence, will result in serious human rights violations, including deprivations of the rights to life, family, and due process, and freedom from cruel or unusual punishment.
Deportations from the U.S. to Haiti have been stayed on humanitarian grounds since the January 12, 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti. Advocates and community members were shocked when, on December 9, 2010, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unexpectedly announced that it was lifting the ban on deportations to Haiti for individuals with criminal convictions and that it would resume deportations in January 2011, the one-year anniversary of the earthquake.
"The U.S. Government is violating important human rights obligations," said Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, Director of the Human Rights Clinic at University of Miami School of Law. "These deportations will compound a catastrophic public health and humanitarian crisis in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is simply unconscionable to resume deportations to Haiti on the one-year anniversary of one of the most devastating natural disasters in world history, especially as a cholera epidemic rages across the country."
"The upshot of this abrupt change in policy," said Sunita Patel, Staff Attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, "is that the Obama administration plans to deport Haitian nationals, many living and working in the community here with their families, to a country in the midst of a cholera epidemic. Since 2006, Haiti has detained people like the petitioners in overcrowded police holding cells without toilets, sinks or access to safe drinking water. The government's actions will only put more people at risk of death."
The petition asks the IACHR to order the U.S. to adopt precautionary measures to prevent irreparable harm to the Haitians subject to imminent deportation. Specifically, the petition asks the U.S. to continue its stay of deportations, release the petitioners and grant "deferred action" status to all people facing removal. In addition, the petition asks that the U.S. government publicly release information about its decision to resume deportations to Haiti, and that the government publicly engage with the Haitian-American community before instituting policy changes that will dramatically affect community members.
The petition relies on information gathered from interviews by the Loyola Law Clinic & Center for Social Justice and Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center with Haitians detained in Louisiana. It also includes declarations from Michelle Karshan, the Director of Alternative Chance, and two doctors with extensive practice in Haiti, Dr. John May and Dr. Arthur Fournier. Together, these declarations paint a distressing picture of the disastrous consequences of these planned deportations.
Romy Lerner, Supervising Attorney at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center said, "We are deeply concerned that this policy is tearing apart the Haitian community. Our petition alleges that the United States has violated the human rights of the Haitians who are at risk of imminent deportations by separating them from their families without considering their ties to the United States or the welfare of their U.S. citizen children. In Miami, the community is terrified of what is about to happen."
"While the U.S. has often historically shirked its human rights obligations toward Haitian migrants, we hope our government will come to its senses and halt the planned deportations of the individuals whose stories are represented in this petition," said Rebecca Sharpless, Director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law.
To read the request for precautionary measures, go to CCR's legal case page.
###
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.
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Being Deported to Post-Earthquake Haiti?
Being Deported to Post-Earthquake Haiti?
Life-Threatening, Illegal and Inhuman Detention Conditions will make Newly Deported the Latest Victims of Deadly Cholera Epidemic
December 15, 2010, Port-au-Prince, Haiti – Alternative Chance (Chans Altenativ), a self-help, peer counseling, advocacy program for criminal deportees in Haiti was founded in 1996. For nearly fifteen years, Alternative Chance has been intervening on behalf of Haitian criminal deportees from the United States once they arrive in Haiti and are imprisoned in nightmarish conditions in police station holding cells or prisons. Following the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake, we welcomed the humanitarian gesture of the U.S. government when it announced it would suspend deportations to Haiti. We are shocked by this week’s pronouncements and actions by the U.S. government to resume these deportations at this juncture.
Earthquake conditions have not significantly changed since the U.S. saw fit to suspend deportations. In fact some conditions have worsened. Today there are more than 1.3 million persons still living in tent and tarp encampments with no transition or permanent housing on the horizon. Haiti was hit by a recent hurricane and flooding and its first cholera epidemic brought on by the arrival of a virulent South Asian strain. And, a week ago Haiti became embroiled in election chaos and violence in its streets. Today Haiti's Ministry of Health announced that since October 2010 there have been 2,405 known deaths from cholera and 109,196 persons have been sickened. Health organizations believe the numbers are at least double this. The World Health Organization predicts 650,000 persons will be sickened over the next year with a large percent to occur within the next few months.
Prior to the earthquake, Alternative Chance observed firsthand criminal deportees held in Haiti’s DCPJ police administrative building and in other police stations or prisons in and around the capital. Not charged with any crimes in Haiti, their detention is illegal under Haitian law and international standards. They are not provided any due process, a release date or an attorney. If they have no acceptable family member living in Haiti to apply for their release, the police enforce the Ministry of Interior policy and hold the criminal deportees indefinitely for months.
While in detention criminal deportees are not provided food, treated drinking water, medical or mental health care, and are not provided any necessary medications. Medical files transferred at the time of their deportation for those who have serious medical conditions are confiscated by the Ministry of Interior and never shared with any healthcare providers or hospitals.
Most of the police station holding cells are grossly overcrowded, are intended for short term detention and have no toilets or sinks. The detainees are forced to urinate in a communal bucket and defecate in paper bags. When there is room to lie down, criminal deportees must lay directly on insect, rat infested cement floors. Their cells usually have no lighting, are over 100 degrees, and the criminal deportees are locked in twenty four hours a day.
In pre-earthquake Haiti, criminal deportees have died while in police station detention or shortly after their release from these harsh conditions. In post-earthquake Haiti detention conditions are even more dire. Most prisons and police stations were damaged or destroyed leaving even less detention space per person.
Cholera, a deadly disease primarily caused by bacteria infected water or exposure to feces, can cause rapid dehydration, shock and death within the first few hours of its first symptom. Cholera is raging through prisons and detention facilities taking lives with it. Persons with cholera must be quickly rehydrated and in most cases placed on an IV drip. They must be attended to round the clock by medical personnel in either Cholera Treatment Centers or hospitals. In Haiti’s national prison, for example, it has been observed that many cholera victims died at night in the absence of medical care.
Humanitarian organizations in Haiti are already strained, have shortage of supplies to prevent and treat cholera and a shortage of medical personnel. Health organizations are currently in debate on treatment protocol as they are losing the battle to prevent cholera and to save lives.
We fear for the lives of those who would be deported to Haiti.
Michelle Karshan, Executive Director
Alternative Chance/Chans Altenativ
70A Greenwich Avenue, #373
New York, New York 10011
Answering service: 212-613-6033
Internet FAX: 1-212-202-3992
In Haiti: 011509-3-871-0400
In US: 347-281-2958
Skype: Michelle.Karshan
Email: altchance@aol.com
http://www.alternativechance.org/
Friday, December 31, 2010
Please donate to Li, Li, Li! reading out loud in creole program for Haiti's displaced children in the tent camps
 |
| Photo of Li, Li, Li! reading session donated by William Wheeler @2010 |
DONATE NOW to bring joy, literacy and employment to Haiti’s earthquake victims!
Dear Friends,
Please include Li, Li, Li! in your end of year donations. Donate by midnight tonight to claim your 2010 tax deduction. Click here to donate online.
Please take one minute to donate $20 or more to our not-for-profit organization Li, Li, Li! Read. Every dollar goes to our program in Haiti.
Li, Li, Li! is a storybook reading out loud in Creole program for Haiti's children living in tent & tarp encampments after becoming homeless or displaced by the January 12, 2010 earthquake. Our trained readers read in 25 camps per week – reaching more than 3,000 children per month in Port-au-Prince, Leogane, Tabarre, Cite Soleil, Delmas, Pernier, and other neighborhoods and towns.
Our program’s focus is psychosocial engagement, literacy promotion and job creation for Haitians. Since October, we also have a cholera education & resource component enlisting children in the prevention, identification and treatment of cholera (more than 3,300 deaths and 150,000 sickened by cholera in Haiti since mid-October). The World Health Organization predicts that 650,000 more will be sickened in Haiti this coming year.
Read more about us in the Edwidge Danticat article featuring Li, Li, Li! in the January 2011 issue of Good Housekeeping (on newsstands now). Danticat quotes one of our readers, Natacha: “Kids who are now laughing were crying so much after the earthquake…Many are always reliving the whole thing in their heads, but when I read them a story all of that disappears for a moment. They become children again.”
Alice Speri explains in her AFP article Reading sessions help Haiti children through quake trauma that “…Li Li Li! is not only about stress release, it is also an attempt to entrench a love for reading in a country where, before the earthquake, 44 percent of the population could not read or write, according to UN estimates.”
For a quick who, what, where, when, and why, visit our About Li, Li, Li! page. And, you can click here to review our Accomplishments and Goals. We need your help to make these goals happen.
As we approach the one year anniversary of the January 12th earthquake, approximately 1.3 million people remain in horrendous and unsanitary conditions in spontaneous encampments.
Please help us to continue to provide important and sustainable services to Haiti’s children in the tent & tarp camps. Join us in this timely, meaningful and uplifting work.
Donate by midnight tonight to claim your 2010 tax deduction. Click here to donate online.
Or mail a check to: Li Li Li! Read, 70A Greenwich Avenue, Suite 373, New York, New York 10011
Sincerely,
Michelle Karshan, Caitlin Karshan & Riva Precil
In Haiti: 011509-3871-0400, In U.S.: Leave messages at: 212-613-6033, Fax: 212-202-3992 (internet fax), Email: LiLiLiRead@gmail.com, Web: http://www.lililiread.org/ / Li, Li, Li! is a not-for-profit organization registered in the State of New York
Friday, December 24, 2010
Working Group on Media Protocols on Sexual Gender-Based Violence in Haiti Launched in Support of UN Campaign to Eliminate Violence against Women
Reporting on Sexual Violence in Haiti Requires new Guidelines
Working Group on Media Protocols on Sexual Gender-Based Violence in Haiti Launched in Support of UN Campaign to Eliminate Violence against Women
o Journalists, Photographers, and Authors: such as Claude Adams, Jennifer Cheek Pantaléon, Beverly Bell, Patrick Douge, Miriam Neptune and representatives of the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
o Women and Gender-Based Violence (GBV): including noted attorneys Elizabeth Barad, Esq. and Lisa Davis, Esq.; activist Melinda Miles; and Karen Musalo, Esq., director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS) at UC Hastings College of Law. GBV organizations in support of the working group include CGRS, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, MADRE, FAVILEK, and KOFAVIV—Commission of Women Victims for Victims.
o Justice and Human Rights: including representatives of the Lawyers’ Earthquake Response Network (LERN), Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, Haiti Justice Alliance, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights for the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Let Haiti Live/project of TransAfrica. Other members in this sector include Mario Joseph, Esq., director of Bureau des Avocats Internationaux; Privat Precil, the former Director General of Haiti’s Ministry of Justice; Bill Quigley, Legal Director for the Center for Constitutional Rights; human rights attorney Moira Duvernay; and Professor Mark Schuller, Professor of African American Studies & Anthropology at York College, CUNY and Holly Cooper, Esq. of the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic.
o Children’s Program: such as Zanmi Lakay, and Li, Li, Li! Read.
o Medical and Mental Health: including the Stanford University School of Medicine, along with Dr. Daryn Reicherter and Dr. Victor Carrion, co-directors of the Stanford University International Initiative's working group on Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
For further information on this release, please contact:
Jamie Moss
newsPRos, PR Counsel, Reed Smith LLP
(201) 493-1027
jamie@newspros.com
For further information on becoming directly involved in the Haiti Working Group on Media & Sexual Gender-Based Violence, please contact:
Michelle Karshan
(212) 613-6033
michelle.karshan@gmail.com
or
Sergio Garcia
(415) 659-4748
sgarcia@reedsmith.com
-###-
Working Group on Media Protocols on Sexual Gender-Based Violence in Haiti Launched in Support of UN Campaign to Eliminate Violence against Women
(December 16, 2010—PORT-AU-PRINCE)—A consortium of leading women’s, children’s and human rights advocates, health organizations, representatives of the media, and experts on gender-based violence have come together to form the “Working Group on Media Protocols on Sexual Gender Based Violence in Haiti.” The group will develop and recommend protocols for media coverage of sexual gender based violence against women and girls in Haiti. The group formally launched their mission this month in support of the UN’s “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign.”
Throughout the year, members of the group have worked with Haitian NGOs and earthquake survivors in various capacities, including providing aid and documenting the increasing incidences of rape and sexual violence since the January 2010 earthquake left more than 1.5 million people stranded in roughly 1,300 camps. Other members have provided advocacy on behalf of rape survivors and lobbied for their protection, shelter, food, and access to emergency medical care. All of this work has highlighted the common need for clear and consistent protocols on media coverage, so that victims of sexual violence are not again exploited and placed in further jeopardy by news reports on their cases.
“The continuing rise in sexual violence in Haiti has resulted in increased media coverage of the issue, as well as focus on those who have been victimized,” says group co-founder Michelle Karshan. “Media coverage is essential to focus attention on the issue, sensitize readers and to instill action.” However, the media faces many unique challenges when covering sexual gender based violence. “Often, journalists find themselves balancing the need to produce an engaging story while wanting to avoid exposing victims to additional or future risks and retaliation,” explains Karshan, who has been a social justice advocate for Haiti for 26 years. Karshan is currently the executive director of “Li, Li, Li! Read,” a psychosocial, literacy program for children in Haiti’s makeshift tent camps.
The working group concept began as a conversation between Karshan and attorney Jayne Fleming, who leads the Human Rights team at Reed Smith LLP. Fleming and Reed Smith are involved in a unique initiative in Haiti to identify and represent candidates for emergency Humanitarian Parole to the U.S. Fleming leads delegations of legal and medical experts to Haiti to identify candidates for Parole, provide advocacy for survivors, and document testimony from victims of sexual gender based violence.
Karshan, Fleming and other members of the working group frequently provide commentary and background information to media on the realities of the sexual violence epidemic in Haiti. Over the last year, they have helped journalists working in Haiti address and resolve such considerations as confidentiality, identifying victims and locations, obtaining proper consent, protecting the rights of minors, and what images are appropriate to share.
Members of the working group are currently researching existing guidelines and frameworks covering sexual gender based violence contained in government, press, legal, health, and human rights standards. They are also conducting focus groups with editors, news directors, journalists and other members of the media; meeting with women’s and children’s rights groups; seeking input from other participating international and state organizations, and are seeking to work with the Haitian government in developing and implementing these protocols as a step towards stemming the tide of sexual violence, and ensuring the rights of Haitian women and children survivors.
Another area that the Working Group on Media Protocols on Sexual Gender-Based Violence in Haiti will focus on is how new media is fast changing the rules for what is considered ethical reporting of sexual violence.
“Because of the rapid increase in mobile technology—including live Twitter feeds or Facebook coverage, as well as online radio and TV stations, and rapid translation capabilities—the majority of news coverage on Haiti is now shared almost instantly inside Haiti, regardless of where it originates,” said Sergio Garcia, Chair of Reed Smith’s Technology Transactions Team, who is helping to spearhead the project. “In our experience, this fairly recent development makes our mission all the more critical and timely, especially as it relates to protecting the rights and safety of Haitian victims of sexual violence.”
Members of the working group include a broad spectrum of affected sectors, including:
o Journalists, Photographers, and Authors: such as Claude Adams, Jennifer Cheek Pantaléon, Beverly Bell, Patrick Douge, Miriam Neptune and representatives of the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
o Women and Gender-Based Violence (GBV): including noted attorneys Elizabeth Barad, Esq. and Lisa Davis, Esq.; activist Melinda Miles; and Karen Musalo, Esq., director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS) at UC Hastings College of Law. GBV organizations in support of the working group include CGRS, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, MADRE, FAVILEK, and KOFAVIV—Commission of Women Victims for Victims.
o Justice and Human Rights: including representatives of the Lawyers’ Earthquake Response Network (LERN), Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, Haiti Justice Alliance, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights for the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Let Haiti Live/project of TransAfrica. Other members in this sector include Mario Joseph, Esq., director of Bureau des Avocats Internationaux; Privat Precil, the former Director General of Haiti’s Ministry of Justice; Bill Quigley, Legal Director for the Center for Constitutional Rights; human rights attorney Moira Duvernay; and Professor Mark Schuller, Professor of African American Studies & Anthropology at York College, CUNY and Holly Cooper, Esq. of the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic.
o Children’s Program: such as Zanmi Lakay, and Li, Li, Li! Read.
o Medical and Mental Health: including the Stanford University School of Medicine, along with Dr. Daryn Reicherter and Dr. Victor Carrion, co-directors of the Stanford University International Initiative's working group on Orphans and Vulnerable Children.
For further information on this release, please contact:
Jamie Moss
newsPRos, PR Counsel, Reed Smith LLP
(201) 493-1027
jamie@newspros.com
For further information on becoming directly involved in the Haiti Working Group on Media & Sexual Gender-Based Violence, please contact:
Michelle Karshan
(212) 613-6033
michelle.karshan@gmail.com
or
Sergio Garcia
(415) 659-4748
sgarcia@reedsmith.com
-###-
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Dr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide - Bòn Ane 2011
Bòn Ane 2011
Sè m, Frè m,
Se toujou nan menm lespri MEM AMOU an,
Minouche avè m salye w, anbrase w fratènèlman,
E swete w ak tout kè nou yon BON ANE 2011.
Plis pase 300.000 pitit tè d Ayiti ta renmen la,
Byen vivan, pou wè ane 2011 la menm jan avè n.
Domaj!Yo menm ak lòt Sè n, Frè n ki peri anba
Sikòn Toma ou maladi kolera a deja konte pami
56 milyon moun ki mouri pandan ane 2010 sa a.
Pandan klòch Bòn Ane 2011 la ap karyonnen,
Nou sonje yo e n swete tout lòt viktim kap soufri
Lakay ou aletranje: Anpil kouraj! Anpil kouraj!
Sè m, Frè m,
Se toujou nan menm lespri MEM AMOU an,
Minouche avè m salye w, anbrase w fratènèlman,
E swete w ak tout kè nou yon BON ANE 2011.
Plis pase 300.000 pitit tè d Ayiti ta renmen la,
Byen vivan, pou wè ane 2011 la menm jan avè n.
Domaj!Yo menm ak lòt Sè n, Frè n ki peri anba
Sikòn Toma ou maladi kolera a deja konte pami
56 milyon moun ki mouri pandan ane 2010 sa a.
Pandan klòch Bòn Ane 2011 la ap karyonnen,
Nou sonje yo e n swete tout lòt viktim kap soufri
Lakay ou aletranje: Anpil kouraj! Anpil kouraj!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Roundtable: Haitian Music, Part 2: What Does Revolution Sound Like?
Roundtable: Haitian Music, Part 2: What Does Revolution Sound Like?
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Official Website of Sydney Guillaume - Composer | SydneyGuillaume.com Homepage
Official Website of Sydney Guillaume - Composer SydneyGuillaume.com Homepage
Choral music in Kreyol! CLICK ON CONCERT WORKS to hear various pieces all sung in Kreyol!
And, if you click on LINKS on his page you can view performances on youtube.com
From website:
"Sydney takes great pride in his Haitian roots. He hopes that his music will serve as an ambassador for his country and create an awareness of the beautiful culture that exists amidst the economic and political turmoil. Sydney is an active member of the choral community both as a composer and singer. He has been commissioned by renowned choirs such as The University of Miami Frost Chorale, Seraphic Fire, The Young New Yorkers Chorus, The Miami Children's Chorus and Kokopelli Choir. He is in high demand for commissioned works and his music has been performed at ACDA, All-State conventions and abroad. Sydney resides in Los Angeles, California, where he is also pursuing a career in film music."
Choral music in Kreyol! CLICK ON CONCERT WORKS to hear various pieces all sung in Kreyol!
And, if you click on LINKS on his page you can view performances on youtube.com
From website:
"Sydney takes great pride in his Haitian roots. He hopes that his music will serve as an ambassador for his country and create an awareness of the beautiful culture that exists amidst the economic and political turmoil. Sydney is an active member of the choral community both as a composer and singer. He has been commissioned by renowned choirs such as The University of Miami Frost Chorale, Seraphic Fire, The Young New Yorkers Chorus, The Miami Children's Chorus and Kokopelli Choir. He is in high demand for commissioned works and his music has been performed at ACDA, All-State conventions and abroad. Sydney resides in Los Angeles, California, where he is also pursuing a career in film music."
Homeland Guantanamo
Homeland Guantanamo
The Untold Story of Immigrant Detention in the US. Facts and stats on all aspects of Immigration detention!
The Untold Story of Immigrant Detention in the US. Facts and stats on all aspects of Immigration detention!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Living With Music: Madison Smartt Bell (NYT)
Madison Smartt Bell (Jerome De Perlinghi)
New York Times
January 7, 2009, 7:00 am — Updated: 11:31 am -->
Madison Smartt Bell is the author of numerous books, including a recent biography of Toussaint Louverture.
Rebel Music Old and New
I started listening to most of this music in the early 1990s, as I was finishing the first of what would be three long novels about revolutionary events a long time ago in a small obscure place that few people in the United States had heard of and fewer cared about. What’s different now? At least a few more people are aware that Haiti, and the conditions of living in Haiti, are closer to us here than we used to like to think. …
1) President, Wyclef Jean. One of the few English-language tracks on Wyclef’s astounding “Welcome to Haiti: Creole 101″ — an album I’ve used for a language and cultural primer (exactly as advertised) since it came out in 2004. When I first heard this song I associated it with Haitian elections, and with a comment by a Haitian academic friend of mine who’d been invited to serve in the government and declined, with some regret, but firmly. It’s difficult, he explained to me, to find enough people who are capable and competent, whose probity is beyond question and who don’t object to the strong possibility of assassination. …
2) Revolution, Bob Marley. I first heard this one when “Natty Dread” broke on college campuses in the late 1970s. While writing “All Souls’ Rising,” I wore out the first two Wailers records. Marley’s is more tenacious than most other rebel music because the political message is so deeply rooted in religion — because the singer locates revolution in revelation with the first breath of this song.
See rest of article and comments at http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/living-with-music-madison-smartt-bell/?scp=3&sq=Madison%20Smartt%20Bell&st=cse
10 News photos that took retouching too far
10 News photos that took retouching too farThursday, May 21, 2009
Many news photographs are Photoshopped here and there to increase clarity or to optimize for print or online display. But there have been several instances where retouching has been pushed too far, changing the original intent or accuracy of the photo.
Retouching may seem innocent, but can have a profound effect on the way we remember an event, according to a 2007 study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology.
See article on the before and after photos! http://www.10000words.net/2009/05/10-news-photos-that-took-photoshop-too.html
Revolutionary Haitian priest Gerard Jean-Juste, presente! (BayView)
Jesus-like revolutionary priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste “suffered the little children to come unto him,” tending to their needs, body and soul, and fighting for their future and for justice in Haiti. May 30, 2009
Revolutionary Haitian priest Gerard Jean-Juste, presente!
by Bill Quigley
BayView National Black Newspaper
Though Haitian priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste died May 27, 2009, at age 62 in Miami from a stroke and breathing problems, he remains present to millions. Justice-loving people worldwide mourn his death and celebrate his life. Pere Jean-Juste worked uncompromisingly for justice for Haitians and the poor, both in Haiti and in the U.S.
Pere Jean-Juste was a Jesus-like revolutionary. In jail and out, he preached liberation of the poor, release of prisoners, human rights for all and a fair distribution of wealth. A big, muscular man with a booming voice and a frequent deep laugh, he wore a brightly colored plastic rosary around his neck and carried another in his pocket. When he was jailed for nearly a year in Haiti by the U.S.-supported coup government which was trying to silence him, Amnesty International called him a Prisoner of Conscience.
Jean-Juste was a scourge to the unelected coup governments of Haiti, who served at the pleasure - and usually the direction - of the U.S. government. He constantly challenged both the powers of Haiti and the U.S. to stop killing and starving and imprisoning the poor. In the U.S., he fought against government actions which deported Black Haitians while welcoming Cubans and Nicaraguans and others. In Haiti, he called for democracy and respect and human rights for the poor.
Pere Jean-Juste was sometimes called the most dangerous man in Haiti. That was because he was not afraid to die. His computer screen saver was a big blue picture of Mary, the mother of Jesus. “Every day I am ready to meet her,” he once told me, when death threats came again. “I will not stop working for justice because of their threats. I am looking forward to heaven.”
For rest of article: http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/revolutionary-haitian-priest-gerard-jean-juste-presente/
Trance, Sodo Waterfall, Haiti by Christian Cravo (Verve Photo)
Trance, Sodo Waterfall, Haiti by Christian Cravo
FROM VERVE PHOTO WEBSITE: http://vervephoto.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/christian-cravo/ for bio of photographer and description of photo.
Shell settles Nigeria killings (Al Jazeera English)
News Americas
Shell settles Nigeria killings suit
Shell was accused of colluding with Nigeria's government to silence rights activists [GALLO/GETTY]
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing the firm of complicity in the executions of human rights activists in Nigeria for $15.5m, the families of those killed have said.
The settlement agreement came on Monday as the more than decade-long dispute was due to go to trial in a district court in New York.
The lawsuit accused Shell of human rights abuses, including violations in relation to the hangings in 1995 of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a well-known rights activist, and eight other protesters by Nigeria's then-military government.
Shell, which still operates in Nigeria, said it had agreed to settle the lawsuit in the hope of aiding the "process of reconciliation", but acknowledged no wrongdoing in the case.
"This gesture also acknowledges that, even though Shell had no part in the violence that took place, the plaintiffs and others have suffered,'' Malcolm Brinded, Shell's executive director for exploration and production, said in a statement on Monday.
See rest of story http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=117758085408&h=khKfY&u=qpIx6&ref=nf
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Obama Flinches on Immigration
THE NEW YORK TIMES
March 24, 2009
EDITORIAL
Obama Flinches on Immigration
In a little-noticed act of political faintheartedness, the Obama administration has pulled back from nominating Thomas Saenz, a highly regarded civil-rights lawyer and counsel to the mayor of Los Angeles, to run the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
Mr. Saenz, the former top litigator in Los Angeles for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or Maldef, was privately offered the job in January. The floating of his name led to fierce outbursts from anti-immigrant groups and blogs, which detest him for being so good at what he does.
He was a leader of the successful fight to block California’s Proposition 187, an unconstitutional effort to deny social services and schooling to illegal immigrants. He has defended Latino day laborers who were targets of misguided local crackdowns, from illegal police stings to unconstitutional anti-solicitation ordinances. An editorial in Investor’s Business Daily slimed Mr. Saenz by calling him “an open-borders extremist” and said Maldef wanted to give California back to Mexico.
None of it was true, but it was apparently too much for the White House. Mr. Saenz was ditched in favor of Maryland’s labor secretary, Thomas Perez, who has a solid record but is not as closely tied to immigrant rights.
Immigrant advocates are stuck with the sinking feeling that Mr. Obama’s supposed enthusiasm for immigration reform will wilt under pressure and heat. Representative Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, found it sadly unsurprising that a lawyer could be rejected for the nation’s top civil-rights job because he had stood up for civil rights. “In what other position do you find that your life experience, your educational knowledge and commitment to an issue actually hurts you?” he asked.
Mr. Obama may have avoided a nasty fight this time. But if he is ever going to win the battle to put 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship, he will to have to confront and dismantle the core restrictionist argument: that being an illegal immigrant is an unpardonable crime, one that strips away fundamental protections and forgives all manner of indecent treatment.
The Constitution’s bedrock protections do not apply to just the native-born. The suffering that illegal immigrants endure — from raids to workplace exploitation to mistreatment in detention — is a civil-rights crisis. It cannot be left to fester while we wait for the big immigration bill that may or may not arrive under this president.
Mr. Saenz would have been an ideal candidate to reaffirm values that have been lost in the poisoned immigration debate, had Mr. Obama dared to nominate him.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
March 24, 2009
EDITORIAL
Obama Flinches on Immigration
In a little-noticed act of political faintheartedness, the Obama administration has pulled back from nominating Thomas Saenz, a highly regarded civil-rights lawyer and counsel to the mayor of Los Angeles, to run the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
Mr. Saenz, the former top litigator in Los Angeles for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or Maldef, was privately offered the job in January. The floating of his name led to fierce outbursts from anti-immigrant groups and blogs, which detest him for being so good at what he does.
He was a leader of the successful fight to block California’s Proposition 187, an unconstitutional effort to deny social services and schooling to illegal immigrants. He has defended Latino day laborers who were targets of misguided local crackdowns, from illegal police stings to unconstitutional anti-solicitation ordinances. An editorial in Investor’s Business Daily slimed Mr. Saenz by calling him “an open-borders extremist” and said Maldef wanted to give California back to Mexico.
None of it was true, but it was apparently too much for the White House. Mr. Saenz was ditched in favor of Maryland’s labor secretary, Thomas Perez, who has a solid record but is not as closely tied to immigrant rights.
Immigrant advocates are stuck with the sinking feeling that Mr. Obama’s supposed enthusiasm for immigration reform will wilt under pressure and heat. Representative Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, found it sadly unsurprising that a lawyer could be rejected for the nation’s top civil-rights job because he had stood up for civil rights. “In what other position do you find that your life experience, your educational knowledge and commitment to an issue actually hurts you?” he asked.
Mr. Obama may have avoided a nasty fight this time. But if he is ever going to win the battle to put 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship, he will to have to confront and dismantle the core restrictionist argument: that being an illegal immigrant is an unpardonable crime, one that strips away fundamental protections and forgives all manner of indecent treatment.
The Constitution’s bedrock protections do not apply to just the native-born. The suffering that illegal immigrants endure — from raids to workplace exploitation to mistreatment in detention — is a civil-rights crisis. It cannot be left to fester while we wait for the big immigration bill that may or may not arrive under this president.
Mr. Saenz would have been an ideal candidate to reaffirm values that have been lost in the poisoned immigration debate, had Mr. Obama dared to nominate him.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Diverse organizations demonstrate for TPS for Haiti on March 20, 2009 outside Federal Plaza, New York
Photos by Michelle Karshan
NAACP Action Alert Kit for TPS for Haiti
NAACP Action Alert Kit for TPS for Haiti
http://www.naacp.org/get-involved/activism/alerts/111thaa-2009-03-19-2/HAITIAN.pdf
(includes summary of issue, list of suggested actions to take. summary of the message to get across, and a sample letter to President Obama)
http://www.naacp.org/get-involved/activism/alerts/111thaa-2009-03-19-2/HAITIAN.pdf
(includes summary of issue, list of suggested actions to take. summary of the message to get across, and a sample letter to President Obama)
Friday, March 20, 2009
President of US Conference of Catholic Bishops for TPS for Haitians
UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
Office of the President
3211 Fourth Street NE
Washington DC 20017-1194
Cardinal Francis George, OMI
Archibishop of Chicago
May 19, 2009
Honorable Barack Obama
President
United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, I write to ask you to designate the country of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of eighteen months. The United States Catholic Bishops Conference (USCCB) has a long history of serving the Haitian community, both in the United States and in Haiti, and has first-hand knowledge of the great humanitarian challenges facing the Haitian people.
As you know, a designation of TPS permits nationals of a designated nation living in the United States to reside here legally and qualify for work authorization. A designation of TPS is based upon a determination that armed conflict, political unrest, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions exist in a nation and that the return of that country’s nationals would further destabilize the nation and potentially bring harm to those returned.
Haiti meets the standard for TPS because it has experienced political tumult, four natural disasters, and severe food shortages in the last year, not to mention the devastation of Hurricane Jeanne in 2004. In April 2008, starving citizens took to the streets to protest rising food prices, causing political instability.
In August and September 2008, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna passed through Haiti, causing severe damage and the death of close to 700 persons. Massive flooding from the storms has destroyed homes, crops, roads, and bridges, and largely rendered areas like Gonaives inaccessible to relief workers. Over 90 percent of Haiti has been impacted. Tens of thousands have been displaced, and the fate of thousands more is unknown. More than 300,000 children have been affected.
In addition, the conditions in Haiti are at least as bad, if not worse, than those in nations which recently received an extension of TPS. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced late last year that it was extending TPS for El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras because of “lingering effects” from the earthquakes in 2001 and from Hurricane Mitch in 2004. These effects included destroyed roads and bridges, high unemployment, and incomplete international development efforts.
We agree wholeheartedly with DHS’ decision to extend TPS to these countries. However, if “lingering effects” in these countries merit a grant of TPS, then so do the conditions in Haiti, where multiple disasters this year have left immediate and devastating effects.
Some observers argue that granting TPS to Haiti would cause a massive “boatlift” that would bring thousands of Haitians to the United States. In our view, this argument holds little merit, since TPS is only available to Haitian nationals already in the United States at the time of the designation. No such boatlift occurred in 1997, when President Clinton granted Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to Haiti, or in subsequent years when Haiti experienced increased political violence and civil unrest. Additionally, few Haitian water craft currently exist, having been destroyed by the recent storms.
Another consideration is that designating TPS to Haiti would allow Haitian nationals already in the United States to work and send much-needed remittances back to their poverty-stricken homeland. The Inter-American Development Bank reports that Haitians abroad sent close to $1.83 billion home in 2007, which equals about 35% of the country’s gross domestic product. It is critical that this life-blood of the fragile Haitian economy be sustained.
Mr. President, by any measure, the conditions in Haiti meet the statutory requirements for TPS. There has been “substantial disruption” in living conditions and Haiti is “unable to handle adequately” the return of its citizens abroad. Extending this mantle of protection to struggling Haiti is a just, compassionate, and concrete step the United States can take toward alleviating the human suffering of the Haitian people.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago
President
Office of the President
3211 Fourth Street NE
Washington DC 20017-1194
Cardinal Francis George, OMI
Archibishop of Chicago
May 19, 2009
Honorable Barack Obama
President
United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, I write to ask you to designate the country of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of eighteen months. The United States Catholic Bishops Conference (USCCB) has a long history of serving the Haitian community, both in the United States and in Haiti, and has first-hand knowledge of the great humanitarian challenges facing the Haitian people.
As you know, a designation of TPS permits nationals of a designated nation living in the United States to reside here legally and qualify for work authorization. A designation of TPS is based upon a determination that armed conflict, political unrest, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions exist in a nation and that the return of that country’s nationals would further destabilize the nation and potentially bring harm to those returned.
Haiti meets the standard for TPS because it has experienced political tumult, four natural disasters, and severe food shortages in the last year, not to mention the devastation of Hurricane Jeanne in 2004. In April 2008, starving citizens took to the streets to protest rising food prices, causing political instability.
In August and September 2008, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna passed through Haiti, causing severe damage and the death of close to 700 persons. Massive flooding from the storms has destroyed homes, crops, roads, and bridges, and largely rendered areas like Gonaives inaccessible to relief workers. Over 90 percent of Haiti has been impacted. Tens of thousands have been displaced, and the fate of thousands more is unknown. More than 300,000 children have been affected.
In addition, the conditions in Haiti are at least as bad, if not worse, than those in nations which recently received an extension of TPS. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced late last year that it was extending TPS for El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras because of “lingering effects” from the earthquakes in 2001 and from Hurricane Mitch in 2004. These effects included destroyed roads and bridges, high unemployment, and incomplete international development efforts.
We agree wholeheartedly with DHS’ decision to extend TPS to these countries. However, if “lingering effects” in these countries merit a grant of TPS, then so do the conditions in Haiti, where multiple disasters this year have left immediate and devastating effects.
Some observers argue that granting TPS to Haiti would cause a massive “boatlift” that would bring thousands of Haitians to the United States. In our view, this argument holds little merit, since TPS is only available to Haitian nationals already in the United States at the time of the designation. No such boatlift occurred in 1997, when President Clinton granted Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to Haiti, or in subsequent years when Haiti experienced increased political violence and civil unrest. Additionally, few Haitian water craft currently exist, having been destroyed by the recent storms.
Another consideration is that designating TPS to Haiti would allow Haitian nationals already in the United States to work and send much-needed remittances back to their poverty-stricken homeland. The Inter-American Development Bank reports that Haitians abroad sent close to $1.83 billion home in 2007, which equals about 35% of the country’s gross domestic product. It is critical that this life-blood of the fragile Haitian economy be sustained.
Mr. President, by any measure, the conditions in Haiti meet the statutory requirements for TPS. There has been “substantial disruption” in living conditions and Haiti is “unable to handle adequately” the return of its citizens abroad. Extending this mantle of protection to struggling Haiti is a just, compassionate, and concrete step the United States can take toward alleviating the human suffering of the Haitian people.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago
President
Thursday, March 19, 2009
NAACP Urges TPS for Haitian Refugees
NAACP Urges President Obama to Grant Temporary Safe Haven to Haitian Refugees Already In The U.S.
March 19, 2009 (from NAACP website)
The Issue:
Temporary protected status (TPS) grants temporary protection from deportation to nationals of a country in which environmental or political events have occurred which make it temporarily unsafe to deport them or when armed conflict poses a serious threat to public safety. TPS has been granted to nationals of many countries including those of Nicaragua and Honduras in 1999 following Hurricane Mitch, and of El Salvador in 2001 following severe earthquakes.
Recent devastating environmental disasters from which Haiti has not recovered, continuing violence, and unstable political conditions pose a serious threat at this time to the personal safety of anyone forcibly repatriated to Haiti. Last year's storms and hurricanes killed hundreds and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless. Fifteen percent of Haiti's already fragile economy was destroyed, the equivalent of eight to ten Hurricane Katrinas hitting the United States in the same month. Haitian deportees face hunger, homelessness, and grave threats to their security. The Haitian government's ability to provide basic governmental services--clean water, education, passable road and basic healthcare--has been severely compromised by the natural disasters and food crisis in 2008. Repatriating Haitians exposes them to these dangerous conditions, while imposing an additional burden on government resources that are already stretched too thin.
Furthermore, granting TPS to Haitian refugees would help Haiti recover, as Haitians in the United States could obtain work permits and would increase the already significant flow of remittances to their family and friends back home. Haitians who receive that aid are more likely to stay and rebuild Haiti. Many depend on those remittances for their very survival. That flow of dollars is among the best foreign aid that the United States can provide, and it costs taxpayers nothing. Strengthening Haiti’s economy will be the only sure way to ensure that more Haitians will not risk their lives on a perilous oversea journey to the United States. Granting Haitians TPS would also directly assist Haiti's nascent democracy in its efforts to recover from these conditions, stabilize the country's economy, rebuild its political and economic institutions, and provide a future of hope for Haiti's people. TPS would be extended only to those Haitians currently residing in the United States, so any concerns about a mass exodus to the US are unfounded.
Haiti is the hemispheres oldest democracy, and has always had a special relationship to the United States. Haitian immigrants have long contributed to America’s diverse and vibrant culture. The current plight of Haitians in their homeland clearly qualifies them for TPS here in the United States, and thus the NAACP strongly urges President Obama to grant TPS to Haitian refugees. Furthermore, the NAACP strongly supports legislation introduced by Congressman Alcee Hastings (FL) to grant TPS to Haitians (H.R. 144).
March 19, 2009 (from NAACP website)
The Issue:
Temporary protected status (TPS) grants temporary protection from deportation to nationals of a country in which environmental or political events have occurred which make it temporarily unsafe to deport them or when armed conflict poses a serious threat to public safety. TPS has been granted to nationals of many countries including those of Nicaragua and Honduras in 1999 following Hurricane Mitch, and of El Salvador in 2001 following severe earthquakes.
Recent devastating environmental disasters from which Haiti has not recovered, continuing violence, and unstable political conditions pose a serious threat at this time to the personal safety of anyone forcibly repatriated to Haiti. Last year's storms and hurricanes killed hundreds and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless. Fifteen percent of Haiti's already fragile economy was destroyed, the equivalent of eight to ten Hurricane Katrinas hitting the United States in the same month. Haitian deportees face hunger, homelessness, and grave threats to their security. The Haitian government's ability to provide basic governmental services--clean water, education, passable road and basic healthcare--has been severely compromised by the natural disasters and food crisis in 2008. Repatriating Haitians exposes them to these dangerous conditions, while imposing an additional burden on government resources that are already stretched too thin.
Furthermore, granting TPS to Haitian refugees would help Haiti recover, as Haitians in the United States could obtain work permits and would increase the already significant flow of remittances to their family and friends back home. Haitians who receive that aid are more likely to stay and rebuild Haiti. Many depend on those remittances for their very survival. That flow of dollars is among the best foreign aid that the United States can provide, and it costs taxpayers nothing. Strengthening Haiti’s economy will be the only sure way to ensure that more Haitians will not risk their lives on a perilous oversea journey to the United States. Granting Haitians TPS would also directly assist Haiti's nascent democracy in its efforts to recover from these conditions, stabilize the country's economy, rebuild its political and economic institutions, and provide a future of hope for Haiti's people. TPS would be extended only to those Haitians currently residing in the United States, so any concerns about a mass exodus to the US are unfounded.
Haiti is the hemispheres oldest democracy, and has always had a special relationship to the United States. Haitian immigrants have long contributed to America’s diverse and vibrant culture. The current plight of Haitians in their homeland clearly qualifies them for TPS here in the United States, and thus the NAACP strongly urges President Obama to grant TPS to Haitian refugees. Furthermore, the NAACP strongly supports legislation introduced by Congressman Alcee Hastings (FL) to grant TPS to Haitians (H.R. 144).
Cynthia McKinney on Obama boycott of Durban conference
http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/despite-obama-boycott-black-caucus-should-attend-durban-racism-conference/
San Francisco Bayview
Despite Obama boycott, Black Caucus should attend Durban racism conference
March 17, 2009 In Africa and the World |
by Cynthia McKinney
...This morning, I sent the following message to the White House:
“Mr. President, it was with great disappointment that I read of your decision to pull out of Durban II. Even the Bush administration, under pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus, provided some funding for the United Nations effort and sent staff to support the Congressional delegation that attended the conference. I was there. I was head of the Congressional Black Caucus Task Force that negotiated Congressional and administration engagement on this issue. There is still time for the U.S. to participate. Your decision is not irrevocable. I would encourage you to please reconsider this decision and not only attend the conference, but also provide funding to ensure its success.”
Dignity will not come without first an acknowledgment of the truth: With truth we can have justice; and with justice we can have peace; and it is only with peace that we can truly have dignity.
I implore the members of the Congressional Black Caucus to spearhead the participation of the United States in the United Nation’s World Conference Against Racism: to boldly go where we have gone before. Dr. King reminded us that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” On this issue, President Obama has shown us his measure. I hope that the Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive Caucus and the Democratic Caucus can show us, oh, so much more.
TO READ FULL TEXT: http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/despite-obama-boycott-black-caucus-should-attend-durban-racism-conference/ OR CLICK IN TITLE ABOVE
San Francisco Bayview
Despite Obama boycott, Black Caucus should attend Durban racism conference
March 17, 2009 In Africa and the World |
And now that I am as completely in the middle of the marsh as I was as completely in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea when my boat was rammed by the Israelis, let me make an observation about one aspect of marshes. I have witnessed the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the Savannah, Georgia, marshland. And the most beautiful rainbows. Being away from the glass and concrete can give one a better perspective.
by Cynthia McKinney
...This morning, I sent the following message to the White House:
“Mr. President, it was with great disappointment that I read of your decision to pull out of Durban II. Even the Bush administration, under pressure from the Congressional Black Caucus, provided some funding for the United Nations effort and sent staff to support the Congressional delegation that attended the conference. I was there. I was head of the Congressional Black Caucus Task Force that negotiated Congressional and administration engagement on this issue. There is still time for the U.S. to participate. Your decision is not irrevocable. I would encourage you to please reconsider this decision and not only attend the conference, but also provide funding to ensure its success.”
Dignity will not come without first an acknowledgment of the truth: With truth we can have justice; and with justice we can have peace; and it is only with peace that we can truly have dignity.
I implore the members of the Congressional Black Caucus to spearhead the participation of the United States in the United Nation’s World Conference Against Racism: to boldly go where we have gone before. Dr. King reminded us that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” On this issue, President Obama has shown us his measure. I hope that the Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive Caucus and the Democratic Caucus can show us, oh, so much more.
TO READ FULL TEXT: http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/despite-obama-boycott-black-caucus-should-attend-durban-racism-conference/ OR CLICK IN TITLE ABOVE
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Haiti's Quiet Corner
The Basin Bleu offers secluded waters for bathing outside of Jacmel. Luke Jerod Kummer / The NationalHaiti's Quiet Corner by Luke Jerod Kummer
The National Newspaper, December 20. 2008
Before I landed in Port au Prince I knew I didn’t want to stay there long. A generation of news footage had convinced me that Haiti’s capital was a city of unrest, despair and no place to holiday. When I left the airport I found the chaotic scenes I had imagined – city streets on fire with burning rubbish and UN vehicles patrolling shanty neighborhoods – as the recently elected president Rene Preval tried to find his footing in yet another of the Caribbean country’s uneasy political transitions. I was keen to escape and so the next morning Hattie, a friend from New York who had been interpreting at a medical conference, hired a driver with a 4x4 and we headed south for more tranquil grounds. Read article and see photos at http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081220/TRAVEL/788392063/-1/OPINION
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