8159: Re: Notes from the Last Testament - Antoine comments (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Guy Antoine <GuyAntoine@windowsonhaiti.com>

<< I know this is all somewhat old news by now, but does anybody know anything 
about this writer? I keep coming back to this article...>>

Actually, the story behind the story is just as interesting to me as the story itself.  
"Notes from the Last Testament" by Michael Diebert, was first published by Windows 
on Haiti, in its editorial section: http:windowsonhaiti.com/editorial.html (easy to locate, 
it's the most recent editorial, and therefore at the top of the page).  I wish it were so by 
design, but the truth is that the author turned to me after a number of the major press 
media refused to print his story unless he significantly changed the story (and I am NOT
talking about style, here).  When I first read the story, I was struck with the fact that I 
was reading about the Chavannes-Aristide ideological and political split from the vantage 
point of someone who cared to give a voice to both sides of the dispute and respect the 
reader's intelligence and ability to make his own mind about the facts.  It was NOT a 
decidedly "pro" or "anti" Aristide or F. Lavalas or MPP rant piece disguising itself
as some form of objective analysis or reporting, while trying to force a predetermined 
conclusion down our throats at the same time.  I truly prefer this kind of coverage, where 
the writer presents a balanced view of the situation, does not hide any fact, gives both 
sides of a dispute a chance to present their viewpoints, and does not fuzz the boundaries 
between observation/reporting and determined activism on behalf of one side. The major 
press media on the East Coast and the West Coast apparently do not see it that way, but
since Michael Diebert is a member of this list, it would be more proper that I let him tell 
his own story, if he chooses to.

So, I have to thank the same media for defaulting on that story, because it did not fit
their propagandistic mindset.  It was somewhat opportune for Windows on Haiti to
first publish this story, which presents the fracture between Fanmi Lavalas and MPP
in much clearer terms than I had seen it done before.  Once again, the article can be
read either at http://windowsonhaiti.com/editorial.html or http://windowsonhaiti.com/w01051.shtml .
It was subsequently presented to the Corbett list, but it is archived on my site to be
read anytime in the future.

I just want to add to Charles Arthur's comments about Prosper Avril and the outrage
about his arrest: Yeah, man!  And remember, we were supposed to feel sorry about
Jean-Claude's state of impoverishment too.  Poor guy supposedly could not pay his 
rent.  Justice should be applied equally to ALL.  But isn't it funny that voices always
grow louder when it comes to the rich and politically powerful getting a taste of their 
own medicine, that they so unreservedly administered on others.  Is Justice never 
having to say you're sorry?  Never having to experience the conditions of your victims?
What a romantic world we live in!  For the opressors, apparently so, but never for
the oppressed.

Guy S. Antoine
Windows on Haiti
http://windowsonhaiti.com