Haiti : Tragicomedy
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by Joseph Alfred, Educator
What is taking place in Haiti can be seen as a tragicomedy play that is being written and unfolding live on the scene. Usually, the author writes a play and actors do the rehearsal and then inviting you to
see a cool show. But, this is not the case since you are also playing an active role in it. It is very similar to the open Space Forum meeting format. The saddest thing in this tragicomedy that has been
unfolding for the past 200 years is that people have been hurt, life has been destroyed and a historical country on the brink of destruction.
Each day passing, you have one less day to live in this world; whatever you want to do with your remaining days is up to you.
Haiti is facing today a crisis of proportion; if mishandle, it won’t take long to see the first black nation in the Caribbean Sea becoming a no-man land or the next Lebanon in the region. At this present
moment, Haiti is moving at the speed of light toward the inevitable. Does Haiti have a chance to prevent this upcoming Inevitable from taking place ou est-ce que c’est un passage obligé?
There are three things, once gone, never come back: Time, words and opportunity.
Today, you are going blame everyone else for your misery; but, when are you going to take personal responsibility for your action?
Haiti is neither the first nor the last country that will be occupied by a super power. Germany and Japan were occupied after WWII; 20 years later, they became two major economic countries in the world.
Haiti is occupied, instead finding a way to use every single Haitian to assist the country; you kick them out or shut them down.
Many of you are eager to condemn the International Community but who killed Dessalines? Who betrayed Toussaint Louverture? Who betrayed Charlemagne Peralte? Who is betraying or destroying today the
character of serious Haitians living in your own community?
Indeed, you killed that person; it may not be physical but when you undermine someone, when you talk negatively about a successful individual just because of jealousy, you are doing the same thing.
For the past two hundred years we are spinning inside a circle and we are repeating the same mistake over and over. It is about time to stop, analyze the situation and move forward with a new vision.
Whatever we are doing right now is not working. Take a time out, and change the game plan. Some players need to be changed and if you do not enough capable players on the bench; then, it is time to explore
a mid-season trade and recruit some new players ASAP.
Haitian people, you need to go back to the basic.
A few weeks ago, I was reading somewhere that the new Haitian prime minister needs to be this and that with a lot of degrees. (I thought they were talking about the temperature, since it is rising by the minutes and close to reach the boiling point). I do not believe that you need any degree to be a prime minister. You need someone who is well respected among his peers and people are willing to listen to, you need someone who understands how to deal with the international community, and you need someone who can manage his/her cabinet.
In reading all these views, I wonder if these folks would have given Dessalines the opportunity to serve the indigenous army.
This is why May 18 is so important in our history. Many of you are celebrating the Flag but the flag was created after the Union. May 18 is not about the Flag but the Union of the Haitian people behind
Dessalines.
Many of you are concerned about who is he/she, where does he/she come from? Why not focusing only on that person’s skill, ability and capacity?
Our ancestors were wise. There were philosophers in that room; there we academicians in that room, there were folks who studied in France; but why Dessalines who did not know how to write and read was chosen?
This is for you who are from a country where over 60% of the population is still illiterate, this for you who looks only at the degree without focusing at that person skill, ability and capacity to answer that question.
Our ancestors were right: The choice of Dessalines was the right choice and he accomplished his job on time and on schedule. Mission Accomplished. Haiti became the first black independent nation in the
new world and the second in this continent.
All of our glories took place before our independence and since then we have not yet done anything significant as a nation.
Today, we have a choice to make; we can continue doing what we have been doing for the past two hundred years which is very ineffective or we can go back to the basic and reiterate what our ancestors had
done over 200 years ago before the birth of this nation.
May 18 did not occur overnight; there were people who had invested countless hours to find a way to get the rivals to come together. Today, many of you in the Diaspora and Haiti are going to celebrate
May 18 but how many of you are interested in preparing for that occasion. Your country is occupied and the country is facing a crisis of proportion. Do you have a plan or are you just focusing only on
the celebration and see you next year for another major celebration under an occupation. May 18 is the cornerstone of the foundation of Haiti and if you are not willing to work as an emissary to bring
people together, you should think twice. For you Haitians, May 18 today should have a different meaning.
We expect the situation in Haiti to worsen and many may lose hope but the best of Haiti is yet come. We are not in this forever!!! This current on going situation will soon come to a pass.
My fellow Haitian friends, you can spend your time blaming every single country in the world for your present lamentable situation but if you do not get your act together and start working collaborative
with your brothers and your sisters, you will not be able to bring Haiti back to the world of nations. We need to work together and not “onegether”, we need to start linking ourselves.
I strongly believe that you will overcome this crisis and many more to come. Life is not about yesterday but the future.
We have no other choice but to come together and stick together. But, you shall prepare to say Goodbye to many things. Each person you meet in life is an asset or a liability. If that person is an asset, keep
him/her and if that person is a liable or if he/she is becoming a liable one, drop him/her and ask question later. My friends, life is short and very, very and very short; do not waste your time with anyone who cannot contribute to your success. You need to share your vision with people who will help you taking it to another level and not with someone who thinks that it is impossible and crushing your
spirit in that process.
Nelson Mandela had to distance himself from Winnie Mandela. You cannot talk about Unity and stick with divisive individual, you cannot talk about Reconciliation and stick with people who do not believe in it and you cannot talk about Forgiveness if you are not willing to forgive others. You must pay attention to your entourage and surrounding and people in your inner circle. Did Winnie Mandela work hard to help free Nelson Mandela? Yes; but why Mandela had to distance himself from Winnie? You cannot have corrupted people in your inner circle and expect a different outcome. The first thing Mandela did after learning what Winnie had done was to kick her out from his inner circle. In doing so, he sent a clear message to everyone: Clean, you are in; tainted, you are out. When you see someone kick out his own spouse, those of you who are not clean but pretending to be and bluffing will leave quietly before being kicked out. When you have to cover for people close to you, you are not fit to undertake any major reform. Not only you have to choose carefully those in your inner circle but they are looking at your action in
order for them to give you the respect and to follow your lead.
A good understanding of the May 18, a good understanding of the choice of our ancestors in selecting a leader can help us tremendously in designing a new Haiti. 6 months after the Union we defeated the French army which had the most powerful army back then.
Together we are powerful and invincible.
Joseph Alfred, Educator
Douglasville, GA
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