Martelly, the consolidation of power, and the tailoring of Iron-Pants

Patrick SylvainPresident Martelly declared education and fighting corruption among his highest priorities in the reconstruction of Haiti. Simultaneously, he extended a participatory hand to some of the country’s former leaders — known human rights violators, drug traffickers, and corruptors. For some reason, Jean-Claude Duvalier and former President Aristide are held in high regard by Martelly and have been sought by him, in this, the first year of his presidency.

Martelly’s overtures to political leaders can simply be read as symbolic, which, in a country like Haiti that has historically been mired in exclusionary politics can result in personal and political triumph. Martelly’s embrace of both friends and foes automatically garners him political points that his predecessors have failed to earn. Whether his political embraces and and maneuverings are genuine or not is absolutely irrelevant; what is important is the how his presidency has been perceived during this period of power consolidation, the most critical for any government.

Boston hosts Haiti Movie Awards on Nov. 20

On November 20, Boston will host the first annual Haiti Movie Awards. This celebration is organized by the Motion Picture Association of Haiti (MPAH), which is run by movie enthusiast, Hans Patrick Domercant. Boston-based MPAH works to help further develop and bring structure to the burgeoning Haitian movie industry.

More recently, the movie industry has been slow to recover after the Jan. 2010 earthquake. According to MPAH, very few movies have been produced in the last two years and morale has been generally low. Domercant hopes to change that with this year’s Haiti Movie Awards.

Sant Belvi serves the needs of Haitian retirees

November edition of the Reporter
“We’re like a family.” That’s how the staff at Sant Belvi, (Good Life Center, in English,) describes their relationship with their clients. Some might say that the Dorchester-based center sometimes does a better job caring for their clients than their real families. The organization is also known as the Haitian Adult Day Health Center. Through the center, clients receive individualized services that meet their social, emotional and medical needs in a caring, dignified and respectful manner. Cultural responsiveness is at the heart of all interactions, activities and programs. Indeed, the spacious gathering area is warmly decorated with beautiful Haitian arts and crafts.

Seated at a desk at the entrance of the lobby, Lourdes Almonacy, one of the program assistants, greets visitors with a warm, welcoming smile. Most of the men and women are seated comfortably in armchairs and sofas watching a Haitian news program.

Mass. Black and Latino Legislative Caucus joins the chorus of support for humanitarian parole

This week, the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security urging Secretary Janet Napolitano to create a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program. The lawmakers join Governor Deval Patrick and most of the Mass. congressional delegation in this call for humanitarian parole for Haitians who have already been approved to come to the US.

“As representatives of the state containing the third largest population of Haitians and Haitian Americans, we are deeply concerned about the precarious status of many Haitian children, elders and families as they wait in Haiti to be reunited with their families in the United States,” the caucus wrote.

Four at-large seats; seven eye one of them

The Dorchester Reporter's latest overview of the Boston city council race provides context to an election that features strong personalities and unlikely allegiances.

"...Flaherty’s entrance radically re-jiggered a municipal election since in many parts of the city the seven-person at-large field will be the only item on the ballot. Dorchester, with an open district seat for the first time in nearly two decades, is one of the exceptions. Voters will get to pick a district councillor and fill in four slots for City Council At-Large.

Most political observers are predicting a citywide voter turnout of 12 percent – barely one in 10 voters – and an election similar to 2007. That was the year City Councillor At-Large Felix D. Arroyo was knocked off the council by West Roxbury’s John Connolly.

But it’s unclear who will be clearing out their desks come January, if Flaherty manages to get back on the council."

Mass. delegation appeals for Haitian humanitarian parole

Members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are urging the Obama administration to expedite humanitarian parole for approved Haitian petitioners.

In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, along with Representatives Edward Markey, Barney Frank, John Olver, Jim McGovern, Stephen Lynch and Michael Capuano, ask that the DHS grant entry into the U.S. for beneficiaries of already approved family-based immigration petitions.

The individuals in question have already been approved, but remain in Haiti because Legal Permanent Residents, who have the right to petition for spouses and children, face a delay of as long as five years before families can be reunited. There are 105,000 Haitian beneficiaries – of which 16,000 are children and spouses – who are ready to come to the United States.

UN envoy Paul Farmer: Haiti cholera outbreak is now world’s worst

PORT-AU-PRINCE _ Haiti has the highest rate of cholera in the world a mere year after the disease first arrived in the Caribbean nation, a leading health expert said Tuesday.

Dr. Paul Farmer, one of the founders of the medical group Partners in Health and U.N. deputy special envoy to Haiti, said cholera has sickened more than 450,000 people in a nation of 10 million, or nearly 5 percent of the population, and killed more than 6,000.

Farmer told The Associated Press on the anniversary of cholera’s arrival in Haiti that it’s also on the verge of becoming the leading cause of death by infectious disease in the Caribbean nation.

Community meeting to address post-quake challenges

On Thursday, October 20, social service advocates host a meeting to address continuing needs and challenges faced in the community after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. Local officials will tackle a host of issues such as immigration, housing, education and job training for the displaced.

This community meeting will take place at the Boston Baptist Missionary Church, 336 Dudley Street in Roxbury, from 6-8 pm. Featured speakers include Anny Jean-Jacques Domercant from the Governor's Office of Community Affairs, Vivie Hengst from the Office of Immigrants and Refugees, Robert Pulster from the Department of Housing and Community Development, and Dennis Riordan from the Boston branch of US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

For more information, contact Keke Fleurissaint at 617-296-6000 or Jean Vatelia at 617-866-3633.

Anténor Firmin’s work resonates at NAACP centennial

Anténor Firmin: Photo published by the Public ArchiveLast month was the 100th anniversary of the death of Haitian scholar Joseph Auguste Anténor Firmin. Anténor Firmin is best known for his seminal work De l’Égalité des Races Humaines (The Equality of Human Races), which was published in 1885 as a response to French writer Count Arthur de Gobineau’s work Essai sur l’inegalite des Races Humaines (Essay on the Inequality of Human Races). Gobineau’s book asserted the superiority of the Aryan race and the inferiority of blacks and other people of color.

Firmin argued the opposite – that “all men are endowed with the same qualities and the same faults, without distinction
of color or anatomical form. The races are equal.” He pioneered the integration of race and physical anthropology and is now considered by many as one of the fathers of anthropology and the first Black anthropologist.

State’s first school for Immigrant families opens in Boston

A new charter public school has opened its doors in Boston with a unique focus — immigrant families. It is the bay state’s first school that specifically focuses their efforts on English Language Learners and one of the first charters in the country to do so.

MATCH Community Day Charter Public School began its first school year with 100 pre-K and 2nd grade students from across the city. 70% of the students come from families whose native language is not English. This high rate is a result of robust community-based outreach.

Boston Haitian Reporter