Why Haiti needs new narratives now more than ever

On Feb 3 at 6pm, BHR hosts a book launch at Harvard's Starr Auditorium - 79 JFK st in CambridgeAn excerpt from "Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake", edited by Mark Schuller and Pablo Morales

...I realize that in focusing on this issue of representation, I am in a sense actually doing Haiti a disservice. After all, the emphasis on deconstructing symbols only reinscribes the dominant narrative, which already gets lots of airplay. So here my activist and academic goals clash. A deconstructive exercise alone cannot fill the lacuna of stories from Haitian perspectives with counternarratives about the earthquake and its aftermath.

Those of us who study Haiti know this conundrum only too well. As scholars, advocates, or just plain concerned witnesses, we know, to put it crudely and in layman’s terms, that historically speaking, Haiti has an image problem. That remains Haiti’s burden. Sometimes I joke that when the first free black republic made its debut on the world stage, Haiti lacked proper representation.

Two Years Later, Where is the Outrage?

Kafou Ayopo camp: May 23 Destruction of the Camp at the Airport Road Intersection: Mayor Wilson Jeudy of Delmas was the first local official in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area to begin illegally dismantling the camps of internally displaced people.There is not enough anger for my anger, there is not enough grief for my grief.

At the two-year anniversary of the earthquake, I am finding myself with a case of insomnia. Here I am, enjoying the perfect Haitian winter, lying awake with my head filled with thoughts I can’t escape. Sure, it’s natural to reflect on what has happened as another year ends, yet what I can’t seem to get away from is all the things that haven’t happened.

The hundreds of thousands who haven’t moved out of the camps they set up after the earthquake, two years ago. The permanent homes that haven’t been constructed, hell even the temporary shelters that haven’t been built. The tarps that only last a couple of months yet haven’t been replaced after two years. The jobs that haven’t been created, the billions that haven’t been spent, the building back better that apparently will never happen.

Within Haiti’s long history lies promise for its future

Author Laurent DuboisHistorian Laurent Dubois’ latest novel Haiti: The Aftershocks of History provides a rich narrative of the island’s long history, with a particular focus on the 19th and early 20th century. Dubois, a professor of Romance Studies and History at Duke University, is the author of the critically acclaimed Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution.

What sets Aftershocks apart from many recent historical narratives is not only the periods covered, but the extensive use of materials from Haitian scholars including luminaries such as Thomas Madiou, Roger Gaillard, Anténor Firmin, Dantès Bellegarde and Georges Anglade (to whom the book was dedicated).

The Boston Haitian Reporter recently connected with Dubois for an interview:

Two years later, many find comfort at Codman Square support group

Victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti continue to find solace and medical treatment at Dorchester’s Codman Square Health Center, which has created a special program to focus on the specific needs of the Haitian clients still coping with the after-effects of the disaster.

Olivia Appolon, a social worker at Codman who has worked there since 2001, estimates that the behavioral care staff saw an increase of 80 new Haitian patients in the first few months after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake.

Gengel family among honorees at annual HAU gala

Karen Keating Ansara of The Haitian Fund at The Boston Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the Jan. 7 gala dinner hosted by Haitian-Americans United, Inc. The 11th annual gathering was held in Randolph and paid tribute to a number of individuals and groups including Sen. John F. Kerry, whose award was accepted by Boston City Councillor Ayanna Pressley. Also honored for their continued dedication to the people of Haiti was the family of Britney Gengel, who was killed in the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake while on a humanitarian trip with her college.

Our national identity in limbo

Patrick SylvainTwo hundred and eight years ago, brave Haitians declared an end to slavery, giving birth to a new nation where each person was a human being. Tout moun se moun. This move advanced the notion of human rights for the first time in modern history, and was a vast departure from the values that were held in high regard during French colonial rule.

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.

A closer look at the Red Cross response

Following the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, the American Red Cross raised more money than any other American relief organization working in Haiti – a whopping $486 million from 60 percent of American households. In its newly-released update on its response to Haiti’s earthquake, American Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern writes, “…while there is still much work to be done, I’m proud to say that real progress has been made.”

Student group brings Emeline Michel to Harvard

Emeline Michel performs at Harvard on Nov 18Nedgine Paul, a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), has admired Emeline Michel’s music since she was a child.

“My passion for raising awareness about Haiti included inviting friends and colleagues to attend Emeline’s performances,”
said Paul.

When HGSE for Haiti decided to organize the Haiti Arts and Awareness Event to commemorate the historic Battle of Vertieres, the last victory before the Haitian independence, they invited Emeline Michel to perform on Nov. 18. The core theme of the event was the Haitian motto L’Union Fait La Force, In Unity there is Strength.

Traversiere is a Passion for Action scholar at Wheelock

Lyonel Traversiere's favorite proverb on responsibility: 21 an, pa 21 jou (21 years is not 21 days)On Nov. 16, Wheelock College hosted its annual Passion for Action Leadership Award Dinner. The event benefits Wheelock’s Passion for Action Scholarship program for students committed to service and the scholarship program awards $20,000 for four years. Since 2007, three to five students of each incoming first-year class are designated Passion for Action Scholars. The program provides leadership development, calls for a domestic service project and offers an international service opportunity. Students have worked in Ghana, Benin, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala.

“Service is a part of our culture, curriculum, college ethos,” said Jackie Jenkins-Scott, president of Wheelock College. “At Wheelock, its core to who we are…as an institution.”

Lyonel Traversiere, 21, is one of the Passion for Action scholars.

Can Conille control the President's men?

Fresh from a statePrime Minister Garry Conille (AP) visit to Cuba, President Michel Martelly hosted a “Invest in Haiti” conference in Port-au-Prince that attracted some 500 foreign visitors and investors earlier this month. Flanked by former US President Bill Clinton and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Luis Alberto Moreno, Martelly broke ground on a free-trade zone in the northeast of Haiti backed by US, IDB and South Korean funds that at its peak would employ some 20,000 assembly factory workers.

And the good news kept being rolled out at the conference: a Marriott-managed, Digicel-owned 150-room hotel in Port-au-Prince by 2013; a 250-room hotel near the country’s international airport by 2014; a 60-bed travelers hotel by 2012 — this one built with Haitian capital — also near the airport.

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