#212: Diaspora (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


In May of this year, I was part of a group of women from Miami and New York 
who attended a women's conference in Haiti.  The theme was "Femmes en 
Democracie" and the objective was to encourage women to become more engaged 
in the political process.  The conference was held at Moulins-sur-Mer, and 
the participants were somewhat representatives of all socio-economic 
classes. In attendance were the intellectuals, professionals as well as 
women from grassroots organizations.

What shocked us, condescending and arrogant diapora women, was that the 
conference was conducted in FRENCH.  For those of us living in Miami where 
we NEVER use French in any public forum, this was particularly disturbing.  
While the French speakers were engaged in heated debates, their Creole 
speaking counterparts just watched from the sidelines.

A panel discussion about the nature of our work in the diaspora was the only 
one conducted in Creole. Upon our return to Miami, we were informed that our 
behavior, that is our insistence that workshops be conducted in Creole had 
been classified as typical Diaspora arrogance.
Go figure!




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