Alo! Welcome to the latest edition of Woy Magazine’s weekly newsletter, providing you with must-know news and commentary on Haiti and our Diaspora.
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The Build Up
All roads lead to February 7th. Many Haitians are still calling for President Jovenel Moïse to step down, as they believe his term as president ends on that date. As you may recall from last week’s newsletter, activists and members of the opposition have been holding protests for several weeks to apply pressure and have their voices heard.
The U.S. Associated Press reports:
Hundreds of people marched through Haiti's capital Wednesday in another protest demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse.
The crowd clashed with police, and one woman was shot in the arm but was expected to recover. Several people also were wounded by rubber bullets.
One day later, some took their protests to the front of the U.S. Embassy in Haiti to call on newly seated U.S. President Joe Biden to suspend the American government’s support of Moïse:
A handful of opposition leaders reached the U.S. Embassy in Tabarre on Wednesday and called on the administration of new U.S. President Joe Biden to improve conditions in Haiti and demand that legislative and presidential elections be held earlier than those scheduled for late 2022:
Later that very same day, news made its way across social media that former Senator Nènel Cassy was arrested for his involvement in the day’s protest. Cassy, according to Miami Herald reporter Jacqueline Charles was part of the cohort of senators dismissed by Moïse, rendering him vulnerable to arrest.
While he was soon released from custody, the damage was, for the most part, done. Former clergymen and activists denounced the arrest, arguing that it was yet another way the Moïse government continues to stifle dissent and centralize power:
And They Won’t Stop
At this point, it appears as if Haiti is averaging at least one kidnapping per day. This week, we learned of several more cases where young women are being held and tortured by bandits for high ransoms. Some of the names of recent and current victims include: Kattia Fanfan Pierre and young student Cadet Cleeftara.
Protests against the mounting insecurity have continued on this week, with a sit-in on Tuesday where security and democracy advocates called out the national police force for waging its own campaign of brutality against citizens:
A Parting Blow
Right before he took off for Mar-a-Lago, former U.S. President Donald Trump dealt a devastating blow for Haitian families and Haitian activists, after his administration targeted three different Haitian individuals, including two children, for deportation and detention.
Paul Pierrilus, who is deemed stateless because of documentation issues, was spared from being deported to Haiti — a country he’s never been to — thanks to the efforts of advocates and freshman Congressman Mondaire Jones. Despite being born to Haitian parents on the island of St. Martin, Pierrilus has no recorded citizenship with any country. However, that did not stop ICE from seizing him and scheduling him for one of the last deportation trips under the Trump Administration. While he has been spared deportation, the Washington Post reports that it is still “unclear what happens next.”
Immediately after this story broke, we learned of a pair brothers who were detained by Customs and Border Control at San Francisco International Airport. The two brothers, 19-years-old and 9-years-old, respectively, were separated with the younger one being sent to an ICE children’s facility in Southern California. According to KQED-San Francisco, the older brother was put on a flight to the Dominican Republic, despite not being a citizen of the country. The boys’ family is now fighting for the release of the 9-year-old from ICE custody.
A Corona Update
Dr. William Pape is one a medical professional giant in Haiti, and has long been considered one of the premier experts on infectious diseases in the country. In the video below, Dr. Pape lays out the current impact the coronavirus has had on the nation. Since the initial outbreak of the virus in the western hemisphere, Dr. Pape has long warned about the devastation the virus can potentially have in Haiti.
Tizonnay
According to the 2000 United Nations “Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences” sexual harassment against women in Haiti “was not publicly spoken about and hardly considered a form of violence against women.”
Roughly, 21 years later the same can, unfortunately, still be said, but groups and media outlets on the ground are working to change the stigma and silence around this form of gender-based violence. This week, our friends over at Ayibopost released a video of women speaking out on their experiences of sexual harassment, explaining how itt affected their work and education. The short documentary also features actor Jimmy Jean-Louis who has worked on the film tackling the issue. Check it out below:
Kreyòl Pale
If you’ve been following our work here at Woy for a while you know that the preservation of the Kreyòl language is a part of our mission and the root of our founding. To that extent, we want to share some resources and upcoming events centered on this work.
First up, hat tip to Woy contributor Djanaïna François for putting us onto an amazing website, La Librairie KEPKAA in Quebec, Canada whose main purpose is to “defend and enhance the Creole language through the arts, public education, sharing and [raising] awareness.” The site sells books published both in Kreyòl and French, and also has a calendar of upcoming cultural events in the country. You can find the site and book store here.
Additionally, two of our favorite Kreyòl language teachers, Wynnie Lamour-Quansah and Darnelle Champagne, will be hosting a Kreyòl spelling bee on the exclusive social media app, Clubhouse tonight at 9PM ET. They have also announced that they will be presenting at the Sisters Only Language Summit on January 30, discussing “Heritage Languages: Are The Worth It?” More info is available below:
Audio Time Capsule
To continue sharing more fun resources, a few days ago we came across an amazing radio app that allows users to pick a decade and country on a map and listen to stream of music from that locale during that era. If you want to find some old Haitian tunes, this app is it (and yes, we have not stopped playing with it since we learned of it lol). Enjoy!
An Authentic Moment
This week, we thought we’d end things on a funny tip. The clip below features a local reporter who clearly has had enough of people disrupting her live reporting. Check it out and have (a much-needed) laugh after a long week. We’ll see you next week!
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