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6535: Driver/Morse/Malary (fwd)
From: OLOFFSONRAM@aol.com
At the time of the Harlan County incident there was a lot of talk about
reconciliation. I believe, if my memory serves me right, that Malary was
appointed Justice Minister by an exiled Aristide. When the Harlan County
was
sent back, the assasination of Malary was an exclamation point that ended
reconciliation. To prove that reconciliation didn't exist, I believe,
Antoine Izmery attended a church service at Sacre Coeur Church in honor of
the Saint Jean Boscoe Massacre,at which point he was also killed.
Richard Morse
p.s. I was reading some posts in which people were debating whether I was
Haitian or not. I don't think I've ever told anyone I was Haitian, ever.
My
statement usually goes "My mom's Haitian".
My mom often tells me I have as many rights as anyone else in Haiti. Now
there's a statement for you, "rights in Haiti"!. I didn't grow up in a
lakou,
I grew up in New England boarding schools. I can't change that. I can't
change my color. I can't change my Haitian mom marrying an American
professor
from Greenwich Connecticut. The paradox is: the people who best understand
the music I do are the unalphabet poor and the class moyen of Haiti.
The statements I make on this list are personal observations. I'm not
trying
to "represent" anyone. I used to have extensive discussions with a friend
of
mine named Luca (an Italian) who was to head up the USAID Democracy fund
for
the elections we had in Haiti this year. He was shot in the head a few
days
before the funds were released. An uncompromising young man. We're living
on
borrowed time. Make the best of it.
The night before Izmery was killed, he was here at the Oloffson having
drinks
with a Canadian TV crew. I remember them having a playful argument over
who
was going to pay for the drinks. The next morning I heard the shots that
killed him. Izmery was a no compromise revolutionary and yet when I was
working at the El Rancho Casino I saw him lose eighty thousand dollars in
one
hour. When he was done he nodded to the owner and walked away. I see
revolutionary "bands of the people" that used to perform for FRAPH now
representing Lavalas. In Haiti these kinds of bands are called palace
bands.
They sing the national anthem for whoever's in the palace.
I came to Haiti for the drums. Not the black people, not the white people,
not the light people, not the boujwa, not the poor, not the peasants, not
the
lavalas or the macoutes or the putchists or the Oloffson or anything else. I
came for the rhythms so I can make music. The most powerful discovery I
have
made since arriving here in Haiti are the "chante lwa" and all that comes
with them. Most of this other stuff is just baggage. A couple thousand
posts
back I made reference to the "Bush Cartel". Is anyone laughing now?