Follow Us
‘When we say democracy, we have to mean what we say’
November 15, 2010
Nicolas Rossier conducted an exclusive interview with former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in forced exile in Johannesburg. Aristide concludes: “We are poor – worse than poor because we are living in abject poverty and misery. But based on that collective dignity rooted in our forefathers, I do believe we have to continue fighting in a peaceful way for our self-determination, and if we do that, history will pay tribute to our generation.” Rally for democracy in Haiti and Aristide’s return Wednesday, Nov. 17, 5 p.m., Montgomery & Market, San Francisco.
Flooding intensifies cholera outbreak in Haiti
November 8, 2010
The threat of the recent cholera outbreak in Haiti has been intensified by Hurricane Tomas. The already bad sanitary conditions combined with the flooding from the hurricane is expected to cause the infection rate to jump.
Cholera cases emerge in Haiti’s capital
November 1, 2010
Cholera, a “disease of poverty” caused by lack of access to clean water, has spread to Haiti’s capital city of Port au Prince. At a small, desolate camp of ripped tents nearby, a gleaming water tank is propped up on bricks. But it’s empty.
Cholera epidemic: Foul drinking water killing Haitians
October 25, 2010
The cholera epidemic has killed 250 Haitians and over 3,000 more are infected and may die. This cholera is caused by drinking dirty, toxic water. According to Haiti’s health minister, cholera “can kill in three hours because once the diarrhea starts it doesn’t stop.”
Congresswoman Waters and colleagues urge Secretary Clinton to support fair, free, inclusive Haitian elections
October 14, 2010
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a leading proponent for democracy, human rights and economic empowerment in Haiti, and 44 other members of Congress are urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to support free, fair and inclusive elections in Haiti this November.
Waters and her colleagues are concerned that the exclusion of over a dozen political parties – including the country’s largest party, Fanmi Lavalas – from the November ballot is undemocratic and unconstitutional. They also raise concerns about Haitian voters having access to voting cards and polling stations, particularly those voters displaced by the devastating earthquake earlier this year.
Nine months after the quake, a million Haitians slowly dying
October 11, 2010
There is no food. The children are terribly hungry. The food aid program was terminated in April and nothing took its place. The authorities cut off the food so people would leave the camps, but where is there to go? Not a single cent of the U.S. aid pledged for rebuilding has arrived in Haiti. Don’t miss Randall Robinson discussing ‘An Unbroken Agony’ with Pierre Labossiere of the Haiti Action Committee and Walter Turner of KPFA’s Africa Today on Saturday, Oct. 16, 5 p.m., Black Repertory Theater, 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright: ‘Let’s tell the truth about Haiti’
October 9, 2010
“If you want to help Haiti, let’s start by telling the truth, OK? The truth is that on April 7, 2003, President Aristide, a democratically elected president on the side of the poor, called together a Restitution Commission which determined that France owed Haiti $21 billion. And within weeks, France and the United States told Aristide it was time for him to go. Step aside, step down, resign or be killed.”
Congo Genocide: Kagame threatens to withdraw ‘peacekeepers’ over U.N. report
September 9, 2010
An explosive 545-page U.N. report leaked by the French newspaper Le Monde accuses the Rwandan Patriotic Army of Rwandan President and General Paul Kagame of the massacres of Rwandan Hutu refugees and Congolese Hutus in what some are already calling “the Congo Genocide.”
Wanda in Haiti: Pain, protest, planning for the future
September 3, 2010
There was high unemployment for Haitians, those educated with skills and the unskilled as well, prior to the earthquake. For a government official to tell a BAI representative that withholding food was a way to motivate lazy people looking for a handout to get to work is a gross misread of the problem.
Opportunities are washing away in Haiti
August 13, 2010
I just got off the phone with Leslie, a friend and leader in Asanble Vwazen Solino (the Solino Neighborhood Assembly). Knowing the answer, he asked me: “Is it raining over where you are?” “Of course it is. But you know I have a house.” “We are all wet!” he intoned. “We won’t get to sleep tonight.”
Sean Penn and Wyclef Jean: Hollywood, hip hop and Haiti
August 10, 2010
Two things we know for sure: Hollywood and hip hop get media attention. And for Haiti, that translates into big media hype for actor Sean Penn and rapper-turned-presidential candidate, Wyclef Jean. How may we use this media glare to help the 2 million Haitians made homeless by the earthquake?
Wanda’s Picks for August 2010
August 3, 2010
I am excited about going back to Haiti, which I visited at the four-month anniversary of the earthquake. It has been six months now and from what we have heard and seen from trusted media, the situation is not any better and for many people it is worse.
Back to Port au Prince
July 18, 2010
There is a growing discontent amongst the people in Haiti with the political establishment under the direction of President Rene Preval. Many people believe that Preval has mortgaged the nation to powerful multinational corporate interests and subjected the people to military occupation by the U.S. and the U.N. under the guise of providing “security.”
Dignity and rage, dignity and freedom
July 14, 2010
On the 8th of July, 2010, the people of the world took to the streets of Oakland to make our displeasure felt at the non-verdict delivered to the killer cop who assassinated Ancestor-Warrior Spirit Oscar Grant III in cold blood on a BART platform a year and a half ago, 1 January 2009. And it wasn’t “outside agitators” who consistently outflanked and outmanned the so-called finest of several different police departments – most of whom were definitely from outside of Oakland. It was thousands and thousands of us who don’t have shit. It was the lumpen proletariat that George Jackson spoke of.
The Cannes International Film Festival is the place for filmmakers to step up their game
July 4, 2010
“The Cannes International Film Festival provides a larger opportunity for African Americans to bring their stories to the world marketplace expanding beyond the 500 or so theaters. In my experience, contrary to what we are told in the U.S., the world is ready to hear our stories of insiders, outsiders, the oppressed and the powerful.” – John Michael Reefer, film producer and director
‘We want our voices to be heard’: Democracy in Haiti’s earthquake zone
June 4, 2010
“We are living in the mud. We are wet and we are hungry. Those in charge have left us without hope. If they have a plan, we do not know it. We are asking about the future. And we want our voices to be heard.” Each Saturday a thousand or more Haitian earthquake survivors meet in the auditorium of the Aristide Foundation for Democracy to talk about the future of their country.
Haiti: Mobile schools in the earthquake zone
May 21, 2010
When the Aristide Foundation for Democracy launched our mobile school project in late February we wanted to do two things quickly: support children living in refugee camps across Port au Prince and offer immediate employment to young Haitians at a time when the whole economy has collapsed.
Haiti: Hanging with Rea Dol at the site of the future Sopudep School
May 18, 2010
Rea Dol and Dodo were at the airport with a sign with my name when I arrived. We then headed to the building site, where a wall is going up around the perimeter. Rea is the principal of SOPUDEP School in Port au Prince, founded as part of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s National Literacy Project. She’s building a new school to replace the one that was damaged in the earthquake.
Haiti Awareness Day and Celebration Tuesday, May 18
May 17, 2010
On May 18, 1803, 207 years ago, the Congress of Arcahaie adopted the Haitian flag. Gen. Jean-Jacques Dessalines created it by ripping the white from the center of the French flag and uniting the red and the blue. Celebrate Haiti’s Flag Day with exciting Haitian dancers and drummers and Wanda’s account of her journey there.
The plantation called Haiti: Feudal pillage masking as humanitarian aid
May 6, 2010
The champagne bottles were popping at the U.N. for the pledging session’s success – $5 billion, $10 billion pledged for the future. Whose future? What Haitians in Haiti need is a hoe, a tractor, some lifting equipment, so they might not have to use their bare hands to dig out the corpses still under the rubble over three months after the earthquake. Just a hoe, a tractor – we’ll do the work.