23032: January First 2005 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Senou <senou@yahoo.com>

January first 2005

A Unique Way to start the New Year and to celebrate
the Independence of the first black republic is to
organize a gigantesque community wide event among
Haitians and Haitian friends in the metro. Sorry the
Bicentennial is over, the future generations need to
put themselves together to celebrate the tercentennial
of Haiti. The same speech of Dr. Rosalvo Bobo could
have been used words by words to depict the 200 years
of Haiti. It is my entire wishes that the new Haitian
generations who will be there during the tercentennial
of Haiti negate that speech but in order for them to
be able to celebrate with firework show, we need to
start working together now.  Most of us said in the
past, no more 1915; well, it was repeated in 1994 and
10 years later in 2004.  After years of
procrastinating, after years of complaining, after
years of blaming others for our miseries, after years
of doing things regionally and on individual basis; we
have to realize by now that it has not worked and it
is not going to work; therefore, we need to make an
effort to change and work together in a collaborative
approach.

The new generation has to listen to the old generation
and investigates past mistakes. But, we must determine
to move forward together and no matter what it takes.
We cannot move Haiti forward and we cannot move our
community to a new direction where it can sustain
itself economically and financially if we remain
divided. We have to do it together and we do not have
to go far. Our ancestors left us the most powerful
form of partnership: The Union of Arcahais on Mai 18,
1803 and today you must make an effort to reiterate
historical union.

Today we have the luxury to say that the difference
between us is too big; therefore, there is no room for
compromise and there is no need to even sit together.
The 200 years of doing things individually had brought
Haiti and every single Haitian community to their
knees. And we are the only nation that has not
capitalized in our 200 years of independence and this
is something that we should start thinking about.

Les sequelles des 300 ans de l’escalvage restent
toujour chez nous. How to control a slave and make
sure that he/she remains loyal to the master even
after independence? Killing a slave: will reduce the
workforce and it is counterproductive. We have to find
a technique to divide them in making them hating each
other. They will come to us for everything and they
will have a total mistrust toward each other for years
to come. Each time the sons and daughters of these
former slaves try to do something positive, we shall
send someone to raise a bunch of logical questions and
create doubt on his/her abilities and undermine
him/her in that process.

President Dumarsais Estimé back then wanted to create
a common market in the Caribbean and a Union among the
Caribbean countries like the European Union.  People
who don’t have a vision and long-term goal or
objectives rejected that idea. Today, we have seen a
European Union and the Euro, a common currency. This
golden idea of Dumarsais Estimé is making Europe the
most stable continent in this planet. (I do not say
that the European copied it from us but Dumarsais
Estimé had that plan back then)

Today we see a renew friendship between France and the
United States and we played a tangible role in it and
we are not going to be benefited from it. The American
President called Jacques Chirac to thank him for this
cooperation. Regardless of your party affiliation, we
all must agree that something had to be done to remedy
the Haitian unmanageable situation.

In order for any of you to become a free individual,
you have to know where you are from and who you are.
You are from Africa and you are the sons and daughters
of kings and Queens. You came to America in chains and
most of you died during the long voyage. It was not an
accident that Haiti became the first free black
republic in the new world, we come from tribes that
never subdued to anyone and despite of the 300 years
of slavery, we rose again and fought for our freedom
and we are going to rise again, make no mistake about
it. We need to learn about our tradition and culture
and it was not for any reason that our ancestors wrote
in our Flag: L’Union fait la Force. Go back to Africa
and visit some places, you will see family and
community lifestyle and how they work and help each
other. L’Union fait la Force, we still have it among
us, how can our people survive the worst poverty of
humankind and still strong. We help each other my
friends.

Today, we need to focus on the big picture and every
single Haitian believes that we can reverse the course
but we don’t know how.  My friends, we need to go one
step at the time and proceed slowly. For those of us
who have been living outside of Haiti for over 20
years and see how things are done, we tend to be a
little impatient and want to rush things in. But Haiti
does not have any structure in place to absorb
everything at once. Also, we have the tendency to mix
ability, capacity, and skill and will (determination)
together and they are not the same. And we need to
understand the Haitian concept of knowledge, which is
only the ability to speak the French Language.

Again a committee to organize the Bicentennial of
Haiti is in place, I thought it was the committee for
the tercentennial of Haiti when I see only Historians
in that committee (may be we are already in 2104) but
these folks forget that Haiti has more than 60% of
illiterate; how can you justify only historians to be
the members of that committee? Why excluding 99.999%
of the people. The United States celebrated its
bicentennial in 1976, why not establishing a similar
committee. This is my suggestion: One historian and
that set, one catholic, one protestant, one Adventist,
one voodooist, one doctor, one lawyer, one professor,
one nurse, one nun, one worker, one employer, one
person who does not know how to read and to write (if
he/she can understand what we are doing, then a
majority of these folks may be able to understand it
as well), one electrician, one agronomist, one
university student, one high school student, and a
person to represent the peasants and finally one
artist. You have to take a cross sector of the
population and everyone shall feel represented. By the
way who is going to represent Dessalines in the
Bicentennial Committee? Oops! This dude did not know
how to write and how to read and he was the one who
gave you the freedom.


Wherever you are, please do not forget to celebrate
the 201 years of Haiti, we must move forward. The Past
is the past. Those who want to remain in the past let
them be and you cannot do anything about it, over here
we will proceed.

Joseph Alfred, Educator
Founder/CEO
Of Haitian Community Relations, Inc
Email: hcrinfor@hcronline.org
URL: http://www.hcronline.org




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