Many have pointed to the debilitating payments that Haiti had to make to France to compensate slave owners at the begining of the country's history as the key reason why it has been mired in poverty ever since - in stark contrast to it's neighbour the Domican Republic. Now there are calls for
France to repay $23 Billion via an
open letter. Of course, the US has had it's own
debate over this sensitive issue for a while now.
posted by helmutdog
on Aug 16, 2010 -
41 comments
Agence France Presse's slap to photographers. The AFP sues a photographer after using his photographs illegally: "On Monday, Agence France Presse filed a complaint in the United States District Court Southern District of New York against Haiti-based photographer Daniel Morel. Agence France Presse claims Morel engaged in an 'antagonistic assertion of rights' after the photographer objected to the use by AFP of images he posted online of the Haitian earthquake of 12 January."
posted by chunking express
on May 3, 2010 -
44 comments
Blood and Milk is the blog of international development worker and writer
Alanna Shaikh, who consults on global health development and writes for publications such as the
UN Dispatch. Her views, based both on her work in the field and her study & understanding of sociology, international relations, and other such subjects, tend to be contrary to most other opinions on international development:
voluntourism isn't helpful,
development work is mired in a culture of nice,
don't bother starting an NGO (or, if you will anyway,
here's how to succeed),
global health doesn't need innovation, and
microfinance is a disappointment. Also, here's
how to tell if your health project is doomed, and
Haiti doesn't need your shoes (some people
vehemently disagree). Educated well-researched iconoclast, or pessimistic Mary Contrary?
posted by divabat
on Feb 4, 2010 -
20 comments
Damon Winter is a photojournalist who has worked for The Dallas Morning News, The Los Angeles Times and
now works for The New York Times. His work on
a more sports-focused beat in Dallas lead to
his update on athletes from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as part of the
2008 Olympics coverage. As a photographer with The New York Times, he won the
2009 Pulitzer Prize for
feature photography, for his
first time out on the road, covering campaigns (narrated slideshow, 3min 19sec). Currently, he is sharing
his photos and
writing from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which are included in NY Times
Lens Blog (prev. Lens Blog features:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5). If that's a bit heavy, check his
photographers journal (narrated slide show, 2min 34sec) and
his article on creating
double-exposure juxtapositions from days or weeks of shooting large-form film.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Jan 20, 2010 -
6 comments
An excellent response to Pat Robertson. "This Vodou priest is not speaking about divine retribution, as has Pat Robertson. God is not punishing us for disobedience. Erol is speaking about a giant natural rebalancing act, a reaction against human dealings with the ecosystem."
posted by fullofragerie
on Jan 15, 2010 -
148 comments
Many poor Haitians, driven over the edge by world rising food prices, are now
eating cakes of mud, salt and shortening in order to survive.
This article in the September issue of National Geographic describes how, thanks to history and other factors such as hurricanes, Haiti has lost its ability to feed itself; more than 90% of the country is deforested. The picture caption in the print version, not seen online, uses the word "clay" instead of "dirt". Bill Quigley wrote about
the U.S. role in Haiti's food riots, which claimed six lives last spring.
posted by Melismata
on Oct 10, 2008 -
33 comments
The Afterlife of American Clothes. "From 2003 to 2007 [filmmakers Hanna Rose Shell and Vanessa Bertozzi] visited rag yards in Miami, dug through archives in London and Washington, D.C., and traveled to Haiti to see the international secondhand markets for themselves. The result is the recent documentary
Secondhand (Pepe), which explores the global trade in used clothing."
posted by Knappster
on Aug 17, 2008 -
12 comments
Latin
America
Turning
Left?
From the top
:
Lula da Silva*,
Lopez Obrador,
Nestor Kirchner,
Hugo Chavez*,
Alvaro Uribe,
Michelle Bachelet*,
Ollanta Humala,
Alfredo Palacio,
Oscar Berger,
Leonel Fernandez,
Oscar Arias,
Tony Saca,
Tabare Vazquez,
Martín Torrijos,
Evo Morales*
Manuel Zelaya,
Nicanor Duarte,
Daniel Ortega,
Rene Preval*.
posted by airguitar
on Apr 13, 2006 -
30 comments
Why are we not talking about Haiti? "No one has asked questions about the wildly partisan officials in U.S. State Department now running U.S. policy in the Caribbean and Latin America. These include such Blast-from-the-Past supporters of Reagan era highjinks in Central America as
Otto Reich,
John Negroponte,
Elliot Abrams, and (before his ignominious departure last summer)
John Poindexter."
posted by j-urb
on Aug 10, 2005 -
13 comments
Kids with Cameras (warning, embedded QT video in link)
With an
Oscar Nominated documentary,
Born into
Brothels, under her belt,
Zana Briski's spinoff project,
Kids with Cameras, teaches children growing up in difficult circumstances the art and skills of photography to empower them to appreciate the beauty and dignity of their own expression.
With projects in
Calcutta,
Haiti,
Jerusalem and
Cairo, they send great photographers to lead workshops, the children are given inexpensive 35mm cameras to capture
whatever they choose and then the children's
pictures are shown (and
sold) around the world through exhibits, books and film.
posted by fenriq
on Feb 27, 2005 -
7 comments
Aristide Says He Was Kidnapped From Democracy Now:
Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. "He did not resign.... He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president. Will this revolution be televised? (Accounts in ogg and mp3)
posted by ao4047
on Mar 1, 2004 -
105 comments
inside Haiti a photo journalist blogs on the conditions in Haiti. No photos yet.
The place is awash with drug money, probably on both sides - Philippe is the former police chief of a town where i've heard reports of people walking down the streets with suitcases full of money, probably not sourced from shaking down shoe cleaners. The chimeres that searched us on the way down from Saint Marc a few days ago were clearly high on some upper, i'd guess coke, amphetamines or both, or maybe crack.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht
on Feb 27, 2004 -
26 comments
"I don't think that there's any question about the fact that the weapons that they have did not come from Haiti," says Kurzban. "They're organized as a military commando strike force that's going from city to city."
Parts of the rebellion's leadership,
such as head of military operations Louis Chamberlain, were leaders in the attempted 1994 Hatian coup that resulted in the use of 20,000 U.S. troops. A coup which, according to the U.N. Human Right Commission, was
supported and aided by the CIA. In other words, this wouldn't be the first time that the U.S. has played on both sides of a Haitian military uprising.
Meanwhile, Bush refuses to protect President Aristide's life - and perhaps the lives of thousands of Hatians - citing
the opposition's refusal of a U.S. peace plan. Silmultaneously, he issued a harsh pronouncement warning refugee Hatians off from American shores.
"It is clear that the right wing in this country does not support that democracy,"
said Jesse Jackson, today. "(Bush) is, in fact, supporting overthrow of this government in this hemisphere."
posted by kaibutsu
on Feb 26, 2004 -
22 comments
Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou. 'Vodou is Haiti's mirror. Its arts and rituals reflect the difficult, brilliant history of seven million people, whose ancestors were brought from Africa to the Caribbean in bondage. In 1791 these Africans began the only successful national slave revolt in history. In 1804 they succeeded in creating the world's first Black republic: the only one in this hemisphere where all the citizens were free. Their success inspired admiration, fear and scorn in the wider world. Cut off from Euro-American support, Haitians managed to created their own dynamic "Creole" society-one rooted in Africa but responsive to all that was encountered in their new island home.' History,
theology and
religious art.Related :-
an essay on the Vodou concept of soul,
Voodoos and Obeahs on sacred-texts ('required reading if you want to understand the background of Haitian and Jamaican Vodun, and the profound influence of imperialism, slavery and racism on its development').
posted by plep
on Jan 2, 2004 -
10 comments
Election fraud in Haiti? I can't believe it! Imagine that...they don't seem to want the US telling them what to do. How novel. Well, I'm sure our compassionate President will respond by feeling their pain, and of course, causing more of it with our laser-guided bombs and the like.
Didn't we put Aristede there in the first place? Man, it ain't like the old days, when the US would stand by its tyrant, now is it? (Sorry, but I must obey my
Uncle Joe, and I always thought of sarcasm as linguistic bran anyway.)
posted by Ezrael
on Jun 19, 2000 -
1 comment
In the late 90's, Sophonie Telcy's mother illegally entered this country from Haiti, looking for a better life for herself and her daughter; last spring she turned the care of the 6-year-old child over to an old friend, returned to Haiti to see a doctor, and died.
Sophonie's father is unknown. She has no legal standing in the US, no residency papers, no health insurance...and, despite a loving family who is willing to care for her,
very little chance to stay here. Congressman Alcee Hastings filed
House Resolution 4179, "for the relief of Sophonie Telcy," but the bill will almost certainly fail. (
read more about it here.)
The bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims. I'm not sure what to do here to help, but I have listed all the members of this subcommittee on
my website if you'd like to write or call.
Any other ideas?
rcb
posted by rebeccablood
on Apr 26, 2000 -
2 comments
