Twou manti pa fon
August 31, 2024 - September 12, 2024
Welcome to the latest edition of Woy Magazine’s biweekly newsletter, providing you with must-know news and commentary on Haiti and our Diaspora.
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Twou manti pa fon
A lie's hole is never deep
(Haitian proverb)
CHAY LA | Main Story
Nowhere to turn
It is the same story that has been repeating for generations. Haitians, displaced by violence and exploitation, flee to countries for a better life only to be met with anti-Haitianism. In recent newsletters, we have highlighted the treatment Haitians are receiving in neighboring Caribbean islands as they attempt to move through the region and are being met with arbitrary travel restrictions and requirements only meant to discriminate against Haitians specifically. It is a story that will continue to repeat itself so long as Haiti is held hostage by violent regimes and their backers in the West. Whether it is sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic or stadiums that need to be built in Brazil, Haitians are lured over by these countries in need of cheap labor and treated like animals once there.
Haitians in the US made headlines this week as Republicans circulated false claims of Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. Over the past few years, as many as 15,000 Haitians have moved to Springfield, drawn by manufacturing jobs. Since the humanitarian parole program started in early 2023, 154,000 Haitians have been approved, giving them a legal path to move to the United States. By offering this pathway to moving to the US, Biden hoped to drive down the number of people trying to enter and seek asylum via the country’s southern border.
Over the past several years, the number of asylum seekers making their way through Latin America by way of the Darien Gap and over the border in Mexico has increased, with a record of 52,000 asylum seekers in 2021. In September 2021, hundreds of Haitian migrants under a bridge in Del Rio were attacked by border agents. The images were striking.
Racist fearmongering by politicians during election season is cynical when we know Haitians are forced to leave home in part because of disastrous US foreign policy of intervention in Haiti. Haitian American activists and leaders have responded by denouncing false claims that do not have consequences. Such rhetoric is dangerous and has a real impact on the lives of people. Over the past week, Springfield schools have remained closed because of bomb threats.
This is not the first time Haitians have found themselves as a hot topic during an election cycle. During his campaign in 2020, Biden paid a visit to the Haitian community to ensure his “commitment to Haitian Americans.” Haitians represent a not insignificant voting block, particularly in places like Florida where 300,00 Haitian Americans are eligible to vote. Trump’s latest attacks on Haitians have sparked conversations among Haitian Americans on their power as a voting block and the importance of organizing. Such reflections on how Haitians have and can contribute to American political life, particularly beyond electoral politics, are timely and important.
#WoyRewind (2021) «««««
However, as my politic continues to develop, and as I focus on getting a clearer vision on all that’s happening, I would be seriously remiss to not ask the dyaspora to join me in unpacking our histories of revolution and political struggle both at home and abroad, and learn how we can build on them. To see ourselves less as individuals who are hellbent on jumping through the hoops of white supremacy bred capitalism to prove our worth, with dreams of building and enjoying lavish homes back in Haiti in violently neglected towns. To see ourselves as a collective, united by our history, united by our fights for liberation wherever we may land, to know that we are all interconnected, whether it is the mother fighting for a phone call in a detention center in Texas or the machann struggling to put food on the table in Leogane. This, after all, may be the truest way to honor the legacies of those whose names we continue to take in vain in empty acts of national and ethnic pride. Because we, after all, deserve to be more than just a group of people who “ironically” deliver a White House win to an aging white supremacist. (Source: Woy Magazine)
POLITIK/POLEMIK
Kenyan Mission
Speaking of disastrous interventionist foreign policy, in recent news, the foreign troops led by Kenya in Haiti have been joined by an additional 22 Jamaican and two Belizean soldiers and police officers. Due to the dearth of resources and the poor results on the ground, the US is now seeking to transform the mission into a full-blown U.N. intervention less than three months after the arrival of the Kenyan forces.
The proposed draft resolution calls for the United Nations to initiate the proceedings for U.N. peacekeeping forces to take over the mission, which was partly devised in its current iteration precisely to avoid yet another failed U.N. intervention.
According to Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, this resolution would address the lack of funding crippling the Kenyan-led mission at the moment, which currently depends on voluntary contributions.
There are also reports of growing tensions between the Kenyan and Haitian police officers due to the language barrier, frustrations because of the disparities between the Kenyan police and Haitian police, and mistrust. All this came to a head this past week when after the death of one Haitian police officer, the SWAT unit staged a protest and demanded to speak only to the prime minister to make their demands for better working conditions clear.
KILTIRÈL
Labor Day Caribbean Parade
This year’s Labor Day Caribbean parade in New York was dominated by Haitian music and revelers. Repping their Haitian flags, Haitians flooded Eastern Parkway to dance and celebrate a piece of Haiti away from home. Below are photos from the festivities captured by photographer Gabrielle Pascal.
