Emailed back and forth with some folks. My Dad, Tamiko, Sean and so on.
Looked at the HuffPo (which had an interesting article about the french and their Haiti aid efforts in diplomatic conflict with the usa efforts)
and kept my eye on the Haiti situation (ie: Preval addresses the Dom.Rep for their assistance) while listening to the BBC.
And a really good rebuttal by Talibi on Brook's NYTimes OpEd originally sent to me by Tanis several days ago.
It's good that some websites are now beginning to do a Haiti 101 of sorts- such as on the commondreams website at http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/14-13.
And from the Socialistworker (uk) Online.
Harpers magazine has a story on the media's santization of Haiti's history at http://harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006353
The same theme is taken by a HuffPo blogger http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/media-coverage-of-haitian_b_427006.html
"...The most devastating natural disaster to hit the Western Hemisphere in decades inundates the American news media. The humanitarian effort from across the globe in response to the disastrous earthquake in Haiti has been astounding. Mainstream television has produced an array of shocking and heroic visuals sandwiched between car commercials and ads for Viagra and processed food. The media attention paid to Haiti is a welcome development. Publicizing the catastrophe has generated tens of millions of dollars in relief donations. That's a good thing. But why were Haiti's long-suffering people deemed so un-newsworthy before the quake? Passed over in the process have been some uncomfortable truths behind the outpouring of compassion toward the plight of the Haitian people..."even a NewZealand journalist/reporter is rather suspicious of the current activity and asks rhetorically if the US is involved in Humanitarian acts or soon to be occupation.
Its nice to read these isolated accounts that question the official "line" of "Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere". here is yet another one at http://trueslant.com
And from the Wall Street Journal's blogs : Danticat took the time today to recommend some books and music that people who are interested in Haitian history and arts should seek out in order to place the current disaster in a broader context.
- “The Black Jacobins” by C.L.R. James: A groudbreaking account of the Haitian revolution of 1791-1804 that examines that leadership of the rebel commander Toussaint L’Ouverture. Other slave uprisings in the Americas ended in defeat; James looks into why the slave rebellion in Haiti was victorious.
- “The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier,” by Amy Wilentz: This nonfiction book documents the period between 1986-1989 when Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier was forced to flee the country and mass strikes, government-sponsored vigilante groups, and other kinds of chaos swept though the streets. The book, which blends current events with cultural history, seeks to detail the society beyond the headlines.
- “Love, Anger, Madness: A Haitian Trilogy” by Marie Vieux-Chauvet: This triptych of novellas, recently published in English with an introduction by Danticat, was initially suppressed when it was first released in French in 1968 during François “Papa Doc” Duvalier’s Haitian reign of terror. The trilogy offers portraits of people struggling to survive dictatorship and oppression. “Hurricanes, earthquakes and drought, nothing spares us,” says the narrator of the first novella, titled “Love.”
- Boukman Eksperyans: A “mizik rasin” band from Port-au-Prince that combines elements of Haitian Vodou and folk music with rock and roll. First formed in 1987, its albums include “Vodou Adjae.” The group weaves themes of rebellion into its music, and its 1990 song “Kem Pa Sote” was banned on Haitian radio. You can see a video from the band here.
- Ram: Another mizik rasin group from Port-au-Prince. Formed in 1990, one of the band’s singles, “Fèy” was banned by the military because it was seen as an anthem of support for exiled Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide. You can hear the song here.
********************************************************************************
On the surfing front I cam across this interesting site http://debtoutof.com/ about keeping a control on debt.
And the related issues of thrift by living in small houses.
In the mean time, during all these distractions- ElizWarren fights on through the financial mess in the usa.
Haiti timeline
- 1492 – The islands are “discovered” by explorer Christopher Columbus and claimed for Spain as a colony
- 1697 – What is now Haiti is occupied by France and named Saint-Domingue. The French begin bringing in 20,000 slaves a year to grow sugar cane for export
- 1804 – Haiti win its independence following a slave revolt. It becomes the first black republic in the world. A new constitution is adopted, giving people more rights and freedoms
- 1825 – The new country is forced into paying reparations to France for loss of property during the revolt, keeping it locked in a cycle of debt
- 1867-1915 – Intermittent civil war and coups
- 1915-1934 – US occupies Haiti, saying the country is in massive debt to American banks
- 1957 – Francois Duvalier – a doctor known as “Papa Doc” – takes power
- 1964 – Papa Doc declares himself dictator for life
- 1971 – On his death his son, “Baby Doc”, takes over. He rules using his “Tonton Macoutes” secret police
- 1985 – Regime murders 40,000 amid protests and strikes
- 1986 – Uprising overthrows Baby Doc, who goes into exile
- 1990 – Priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected on pro-poor platform
- 1991 – Military coup removes Aristide
- 1994 – US troops restore Aristide after he agrees to implement a neoliberal programme
- 1996 – The troops leave
- 2004 – US-backed coup against Aristide. US marines sent in, followed by UN troops, who take over the occupation of Haiti and remain there to this day
- 2006 – Aristide ally Rene Preval elected president
- 2008 – Food riots force out prime minister Jacques Edouard Alexis
- 2010 – The earthquake hits. US troops return to Haiti
No comments:
Post a Comment