[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
#3722: Laleau replies to Jude on Haitian creativity
From:NLaleau@aol.com
Dear Jude,
-I was glad you corrected your wording on Haitian creativity. When I read it
in your post it bothered me, because I've never been in a culture that had
more creativity than Haiti... I was there during the embargo and also met a
mechanic who was doing the propane conversions... I've seen more
"combinaisons" in Haiti than I could imagine! It's a wonderful thing, and I'm
convinced it's also a sign of intelligence, and an ability to see beyond many
limitations of social convention. Unfortunately, there's the rub: social
convention in Haiti seems to imply (perhaps correctly) that there is no
future and that poor Haitians' only option is to "make do" with limited
resources, or leave the country... it makes me angry just to think about the
horrendous stifling of human spirit that is involved in that.
I think the limited vision is mostly on the part of the elites, though...
they are the ones with the option of creating a different socioeconomic
reality, but they sit in their walled estates and mansions in the midst of
the disaster that the rest of the country has become, and blame it all on the
"lazy and uneducated" people that they are feeding upon. I do know this from
first hand... as you do. That's the horror of it all... It's not surprising
the the poorer Haitians don't know how to get themselves out of this mess
except by leaving the country, or by imitating their "betters" if they get a
chance... most of them haven't seen any other models... and when they have
gotten close to creating one, either personally or socially (1991), it's
usually been brutally wrested away from them.
Sincerely,
Nancy Laleau