Haiti, Is That One of the Tahitian Islands?\r\n\r\nThe Yuppie Silence\r\n\r\n<\/p>
By JG<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n
The \"progressive\" community in America has always and will continue to\r\nflabbergast my perception of know-all. As one who commonly identifies with the\r\nmonolithic-activist-culture, furthermore a proud son of Haiti (albeit Diaspora)\r\nstriving to fulfill the prodigal Caribbean prophecy, an anomaly has manifested\r\nitself on the crown of this dualistic self-perception; grant me the luxury of\r\nexpounding as to why.<\/p>\r\n\r\nThe issue du jour\r\n\r\n
The ongoing coup d'etat in Haiti is more or less a semi-torrid rehearsal of the\r\nBush administration's Grand Imperialist Strategy; an anabolic fetus to Reagan's\r\nCaribbean Basin Initiative (the precursor to NAFTA, FTAA etc.), with a twist of\r\nindirect-interventionist militarism. Aristide has fled the country,\r\nallegedly...Correction, Aristide was sternly relieved (sic) from his\r\nConstructional post and the baton is in passing. The most up-to-date \"FRAPH\"\r\n(violent blow) one-upped 650 million USD in withheld aid, multiple embargoes and\r\nNeo-Liberal sanctions, Yanqui sponsored political destabilization (terrorism) by\r\nGroup 184 & The Democratic Convergence and the vile hijacking of 1991, in\r\npotentially obliterating popular sovereignty in Haiti, permanently.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Let us for once (including myself), as \"lefties,\" refrain from 10,000 word odes\r\nto statistical analysis: The Bush Administration publicly advocated that a\r\ndemocratically elected leader step down; a hijacking of guard attributable to\r\ninternal rebel pressure. The extent of this advocacy has yet to de revealed in\r\nfull, but based on the bloody evolution of U$ hemispheric policy, one has reason\r\nto believe that the operation was, from start to finish, a military offensive.\r\nAs the astute foreign policy paralegal that he is, would Secretary Powell allow\r\nus the privilege of forecasting a parallel anchored in this precedent?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"President Bush speaks from the Oval Office: Throughout my term, I have\r\naddressed the nation on matters that I believed to be of national importance.\r\nThis time I come to you with a heavy heart. Unidentified rebels have taken siege\r\nof the\r\nBreckenridge Ski Resort in the Rocky Mountainous region of the country. Prior to\r\nthese illegal actions, I had requested aid from our international allies. To my\r\ndismay, they have not responded. Today I announce that I am resigning my post in\r\nhopes of preventing blood shed. In the case of the war in Iraq, the war on\r\n'terrer' (pronounced tear-were), thousands of lives were lost. I listened to my\r\nadvisors, perhaps foolishly But, there is a saying in Tennessee, and I think\r\nthey have it in Texas Fool me once (pause), sh-sh-sh-shame on me (stutter). Fool\r\nme twice\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A bit dramatized yes, but point exhibited. The same argumentation could be used\r\nto prove why Nazi Germany had better reason to attack the U$ (ala Pearl Harbor),\r\nas a form of preventative warfare, motivated by the theory of encirclement, than\r\nwe in our manifold of Cold War counter-insurgencies!<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Haiti could be looked at as the ideal battleground for U$ proxy-class warfare --\r\nAndy Apaid and his \"eight-percenter\" oligarchs in cohorts with Guy Phillipe and\r\nhis column of Uncle Tom thugs, versus the starving Black Proletariat. If the\r\nabove parties were the only characters in play, various Third World truisms\r\nwould reign above all. Actually, the pseudo-inbred French descendants (the\r\nHaitian elite), and the Black majority are not even the protagonists at center\r\nstage; instead the U$ government and public opinion, the world's superpowers.\r\nThrough a deliberate assault on the labor movement in the early 1900's, the\r\ncorporate privatization of the press, tripled with the American Left's penchant\r\nfor self-destruction, public opinion rarely reflects a populist perspective.\r\nThis being said, one can call witness to several exceptions and variations to\r\nrule.<\/p>\r\n\r\nAs to my confusion, the dilemma, the anomaly\r\n\r\n
In my brief 26 years, I've observed demonstrations that defy this anti-populist\r\njudgment of public opinion. It seems as though the activist movement is\r\nuninterruptedly fickle in how it pursues varying injustices. One can safely\r\npoint to a few that are synonymous with Folk music, rallying, protesting,\r\nleafleting and so on: Tibet, East Timor, Chiapas, Iraq. Dare I say that if there\r\nwere an omniscient pathology fueling the Circadian rhythm of secular\r\nhumanitarians, it would be collectively named after these causes! Are the\r\npressures instigating support for the \"famous four\" valid in their potency?\r\nUnquestionably. Is there a correlation between celebrity endorsement and the\r\npopularity of an examined issue? Unequivocally.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Brothers like Zack De La Rocha, Bono, Tom Morello, Serj Taniken, Chuck D., have\r\nall exploited their status as celebrities to bring about awareness to numerous\r\nexamples of social injustice. Actions such as theirs are invaluable in such\r\ndowntrodden times. They epitomize the essence of art, of the artist. They make\r\n\"the revolution irresistible\" (Toni Cambi). The inherent quandary arises when we\r\nas activists posture as bovine simpletons, endorsing solely, strictly and\r\nreligiously the movements associated with Pop Culture.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
For years I have battled a rising tide of anger, disbelief and RAGE. Oddly\r\nenough, these sentiments haven't been poised to attack the Dixiecrats of this\r\nera, rather aimed at the so-called activists. I wholeheartedly admit to a degree\r\nof selfishness pursuant to this discontent. By rite of heritage and blood, my\r\nforemost concern is that of the valiant men and women of Haiti.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
At every juncture wherest I've taken to stage, in either a musical or oratorical\r\ncapacity, the very mention of the word \"Haiti\" disconfigures otherwise stoic\r\nbrows to shriveled temples of confusion. There may be a soul or two who are\r\nfamiliar with the Mariel Boat Lift, Abner Louima or the Crome Detention Center.\r\nOn rare occasion, a timid comrade will approach me post set wishing to debate\r\nthe guerilla strategies perfected by L'Overture and Desaillines. However, I\r\ncan't possibly count the incidents of \"Dude, I really feel for your people of\r\nTahiti\" Tahiti, this from a cadre ostensibly involved with progressive\r\nendeavors!<\/p>\r\n\r\n
This phenomenon of intellectual ignorance could partly be blamed on the\r\nindoctrination of educational systems stateside; partly. The ideological\r\ncommissars have done well in reducing Haiti's entire existence to a mere 12\r\nsyllables: The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. If their wiles were\r\nflawless, we would all be imprisoned by the incessant humdrum of consumerism,\r\noblivious to even the most fractional of societal abuses Please! How is that\r\nthis planetary orb has often been wondered by macrocosmic manifestations of\r\nsolidarity and humanitarianism; exhibitions in defiance of the power structure's\r\nmendacity and disdain, preceded by infinite microcosmic, grass-roots trials;\r\nhow? As evidenced by the past and current showings of leftist complacency (for\r\nthe most part) specific to the socio-economic plight of the Haitian Global\r\nVillage, there is a lurking stimulus aside from the aforementioned ones.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Many countries in Latin America have a valid claim to being the beacon for Third\r\nWorld oppression, injustice etc. The progressives have sanctioned a milieu of\r\nstruggles in a majority of the countries in query, and rightly so - But, and a\r\ngargantuan one at that, if there is a single nation in this hemisphere that has\r\nbeheld the back of humanitarians, is Haiti. Trace the history of socio-political\r\nisolation and embargo opposite to the interests of the U$; you will find that\r\nHaiti is the elder of the village. Examine the savagery of dictatorial regimes\r\nsince the Anglo-Saxon rape & pillage of the America's; you will find no parallel\r\nto the Duvalier junta (on a per-capita scale). Analyze the virulence of\r\nimmigration statutes over the last 40 years, across the multi-cultural spectrum;\r\nyou will note that Haitians outnumber every other group as far as indefinite\r\ndetentions and cases of blind repatriation. Consider the bestiary of police \/\r\nstate acts of violence against migrant sectors; you will call Haitians to the\r\nechelon of the unfortunate selection. Recall the infamous 12 syllables of\r\nHaitian definition; the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere; and you will\r\nnote the following:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
The richest 1% of the population controls nearly half of all of Haiti's wealth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Haiti has long ranked as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is\r\nthe fourth poorest country in the world.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Haiti ranks 146 out of 173 on the Human Development Index.*<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Life expectancy is 52 years for women and 48 for men*.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Adult literacy is about 50%.*<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Unemployment is about 70%.*<\/p>\r\n\r\n
85% of Haitians live on less than $1 US per day.*<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Haiti ranks 38 out of 195 for under-five mortality rate.*<\/p>\r\n\r\n
('Investigating the Effects of Withheld Humanitarian Aid,' a report of the Haiti\r\nReborn\/Quixote Center.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Where is the public outcry; where in the hell has it been since 1804? Where are\r\nthe hordes of white ideological college students, breathless and hoarse from a\r\nregiment of protest? Where are the \"Hip-Art\" B-Boys & Girls sporting a red shirt\r\nwith 1804 plastered in blue front and back? Why aren't are the\r\n\"Free-the-Haitian-Refugees-at-Crome-Detention-Center\" banners at every antiwar\r\nrally? Aside from boring the reader, I could go on, endlessly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Understanding our limited knowledge of human nature and assuming that the\r\nAmerican left in this country is embarrassingly Anglo Saxon, let me cast out a\r\nhypothesis: It is exponentially easier to identify with causes whose victims\r\nresemble us in some ethno-cultural sense. Conversely, it is daunting realization\r\nindeed, admitting that those diametrically opposite in ethno-culture are seldom\r\nthe recipients of our compassion. Not being informed about the downward journey\r\nof Haiti and its Global Village post 1804, doesn't make you a Negrophobe (if\r\nthat were the case, African Americans would similarly suffer from this\r\naffliction, defying its very definition therewith). Denying the plausibility\r\nthat we as the \"high & mighty\" activists be impervious to the pressures of the\r\nmachine makes a sad case for the future of all disenfranchised peoples. The\r\nanomaly has been revealed. I still find it difficult to sympathize with the\r\nsocio-economic woes of the Confederate flag-waving Dad's of NASCAR; perhaps its\r\nbecause they are inexplicably different than I?<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Confused and bewildered I remain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
JG is the lead Emcee for the politically leftist Hip-Hop duet, Over The Counter\r\nIntelligence (JG & HavikenHayes), based in Fort Lauderdale Florida. They are\r\nmost recognized through their support of various grassroots organizations\r\nthroughout the country; most notably The Coalition of Immokalee Workers -- The\r\nTaco Bell Boycott. They are of the best known Indie-Hip Hop groups nationwide.\r\nJG has written songs, articles and editorials specific to the oppression of the\r\nHaitian Global Village, most importantly, the virulent immigration statues\r\npertaining to Haitian Refugees. He has recently recorded a solo album entitled\r\n\"Insurgent,\" which will be released this year via record label. JG & Over The\r\nCounter Intelligence will be performing at this year's Taco Bell Boycott, 3-5,\r\nIrvine, CA.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He can be reached by email: jg_1804@hotmail.com<\/p>\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"The Yuppie Silence","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/03\/104349.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}