To Heal Haiti, Look to History, Not Nature
By Mark Danner HAITI is everybody’s cherished tragedy. Long before the great earthquake struck the country like a vengeful god, the outside world, and Americans especially, described, defined, marked Haiti most of all by its suffering. Epithets of misery clatter after its name like a ball and chain: Poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. One of the poorest on earth. For decades Haiti’s formidable immiseration has made it among outsiders an object of fascination, wonder and awe. Sometimes the pity that is attached to the land — and we see this increasingly in the news coverage this past week — attains a tone almost sacred, as if Haiti has taken its place as a kind of sacrificial victim among nations, nailed in its bloody suffering to the cross of unending destitution. And yet there is nothing mystical in Haiti’s pain, no inescapable curse that haunts the land. From independence and before, Haiti’s harms have been caused by men, not demons... Read complete article.
This article was originally published in the Huffington Post. "Why the US Owes Haiti Billions – The Briefest History" By Bill Quigley Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State, stated his foreign policy view as the "Pottery Barn rule": if you break it, you own it.
The US has worked to break Haiti for over 200 years. We owe Haiti. Not charity. We owe Haiti as a matter of justice. Reparations. And not the $100 million promised by President Obama either -- that is Powerball money. The US owes Haiti Billions -- with a big B.
The US has worked for centuries to break Haiti. The US has used Haiti like a plantation. The US helped bleed the country economically since it freed itself, repeatedly invaded the country militarily, supported dictators who abused the people, used the country as a dumping ground for our own economic advantage, ruined their roads and agriculture, and toppled popularly elected officials. The US has even used Haiti like the old plantation owner and slipped over there repeatedly for sexual recreation... Read complete articleHaitiHistoryArticleQuigleyEarthquakePanettaOptical Realities
The following is a reflection written by Daniel Tillias, Project Director of Pax Christi, Haiti. (Photo: Daniel and Vladamire with children at St. Claire's Parish) The earthquake in Haiti can be a sign for peace in the world. The effort to bring relief to the Haitian people is without precedent. Haiti once again is the center of the world's attention - people from all over, from all religions, all colors and all races are down in Haiti. Many organizations are trying their best to bring assistance to the needed population suffering from the disaster, but it does not seem that it can be enough to help this nation which is recovering from so many lost. The official number of people who died is close to 200,000; more than 200,000 are injured and the financial loss is evaluate at several billion. Contrary to previous tragedies like the hurricanes Jeanne and Ike, this past quake has hit all sectors of the country. Everyone had a reason to shed tears in memory of a close family member, relative or friend. Read complete article
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Bill Quigley reporting from Haiti (January 25 - 30, 2010). The photo accompanying this article was taken at St. Clare’s Parish in 2004. "Hell and Hope" by Bill Quigley Smoke and flames rose from the sidewalk. A white man took pictures. Slowing down, my breath left me. The fire was a corpse. Leg bones sticking out of the flames. Port Au prince police headquarters is gone, already bulldozed. A nearby college is pancaked. Government buildings are destroyed. Stores fallen down. Tens of thousands of buildings destroyed. Hundreds of thousands homeless...
...After days in Port au Prince I have seen only one fight - two teens fighting on a street corner over a young woman. No riots. No machetes. Hope is found in the people of Haiti. Read complete articleHaitiHistoryArticleQuigleyEarthquakePanettaOptical Realities
Bill Quigley reporting from Haiti (January 25 - 30, 2010). The photo accompanying this article was taken at St. Clare’s Parish in 2004. "On the ground in Port au Prince" by Bill Quigley Hundreds of thousands of people are living and sleeping on the ground in Port au Prince. Many have no homes, their homes destroyed by the earthquake. I am sleeping on the ground as well - surrounded by nurses, doctors and humanitarian workers who sleep on the ground every night. The buildings that are not on the ground have big cracks in them and fallen sections so no one should be sleeping inside. There are sheet cities everywhere. Not tent cities. Sheet cities. Old people and babies... ...The scenes of destruction boggle the mind. The scenes of homeless families, overwhelmingly little children, crush the heart. But hope remains. Haitians say and pray that God must have a plan... Read complete article
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Philadelphia Lawyer Thomas Griffen, 46, a staff member of Lamp for Haiti. David Swanson / Staff Photographer ) 01-24-2010 HAITI24 Earthquake in Haiti. Reporter is Michael Matza. Old City Lawyer Rushes to Haiti Clinic He Cofounded. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Thomas Griffin was at his law office in Old City Philadelphia when the earthquake struck Haiti. He thought immediately of friends. There was Jesula Mazilas, whose family of 12 lives in three concrete rooms in Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince's largest slum. And Mimi Dominique, the Haitian-born, Brooklyn-raised, no-nonsense manager of Lamp for Haiti, the medical clinic Griffin cofounded there in 2007. And many more he had met over the years. He vowed to get himself to Haiti, "even if I have to walk," to rebuild and maintain the clinic. Continue reading full article.
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Johanna Berrigan reporting from Haiti (January 29, 2010). Photo (2004): Johanna and human rights advocate Vladamir spend time with the children at St. Clare's Church, Delmas, Port-au-Prince. 1/29/10 Dear friends,
Another day is winding down. Before I go out to the tent, I decided to send at least a little something like I said I would. Each day has been this incredible combination of bearing witness to overwhelming destruction, suffering and death. At the same time we are with people who exhibit such courage, hope and faith... Read complete posting
