On Haiti's day of ancestral remembrance, one of my siblings shared this letter with us. It is a monumental letter; it has not been often that Africa has collectively spoken to and about Haiti. It's a sad and beautiful love letter, and speaks some really deep truths. They are right; Haiti is dying right now and it is past time that the international community take responsibility for what hundreds of years of international interference has wrought. I hope this is the impetus for action because the reality of Haiti right now is worse than can accurately be described.
Below is an English translation of the above linked article.
EMBARGO: January 1 , 2023
And especially my body as well as my soul,
be careful not to cross your arms
in the sterile attitude of the spectator,
because life is not a spectacle,
because a sea of pains is not a proscenium,
because a a screaming man is not a dancing bear.
Aimé Césaire, Excerpt from Notebook of a Return to the Native Land (1939).
Captured in the valleys once trodden by Afarensis, or from Zanzibar, Madagascar, Gorée, El Mina, Bimbia, Benguela, Luanda, Cabinda, savannahs and forests, Ségou, Benin, Sokoto, the banks of the Congo or Oubangui, or along other great rivers, Ogooué, Casamance, Niger, Sanaga, having left the cosmogony that still binds them today to the mother of all continents, enslaved Africans arrived centuries ago in the Americas . In the worst forced migration of all time, the transatlantic slave trade took some of these men, women and children to Kiskeya, also known as Hispaniola, the island now shared by Haiti and the Republic Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Sea.
A land immersed in African traditions, Haiti, the "Pearl of the Antilles" or "Mountain Country" in the Taino language, is the nation where black slaves have shown the greatest resilience.
On August 14, 1791 in the forest of Bois Caïman, the voodoo priest Dutty Boukman organized a ceremony with the support of the priestess Cécile Fatiman, a "mambo" who performed sacrifices. On that memorable stormy night, the enslaved participants solemnly swore that servitude would be doomed, taking an oath to fight or die. They will later obey the orders of Toussaint Louverture in the revolt orchestrated by the remarkable leader. His epic – rare, if not unique – victory over one of the worst crimes ever committed against humanity continues to be recounted by many. Toussaint, a Caribbean island strategist and visionary, defeated the stubborn Napoleon, an island native from Corsica. This historic victory has been sung by great poets like Aimé Césaire.
On January 1, 2023, the first black republic celebrates the 219th anniversary of its glorious independence. However, the Pearl of the Antilles is dying.
Haiti was forced to pay a ransom to France as compensation to French slave owners for lost property, or else slavery would be reimposed and Haiti invaded. In May 2022, The New York Times published a well-researched series of articles titled “The Ransom: Haiti Lost Billions” [ The Ransom: Haiti Lost Billions], which recounts this perfidy. Port-au-Prince has so far paid up to $115 billion to France, a staggering sum for Haiti, a ransom that has left the poor country heavily indebted. Poor governance, corruption and invasions add to an already unbearable burden for the Haitian people. In addition, the American military occupation, from 1915 to 1934, had a large New York bank as its main financial backer. Ultimately, all of these factors could only result in a failed state fueled for many decades by the adrenaline of violence and the jolts of anarchy and chaos. The ravages of earthquakes, massive deforestation and the exile of its citizens have worsened the plight of Haiti.
Tormented and neglected, installed in instability, Haiti seems close to shipwreck. The security situation is dire. Famine affects nearly five million people. Shortly after the 2010 earthquake, a cholera epidemic imported by UN peacekeepers broke out in Haiti after no case had been detected there for more than a century. In the face of these accusations, the then United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, had the courage and integrity to issue a formal apology. Today, the resurgence of cholera is causing more deaths. On December 21, 2022, addressing the Security Council, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said that “Haiti finds itself in a deepening crisis of a magnitude and unprecedented complexity."
One of the biggest challenges is that much of Port-au-Prince – a capital of nearly 3 million people – is in the hands of gangs. Their names are taken from urban tragedies – 400 Mawazos , Chen mechan , Fire-eaters… . The list of gang leaders includes Barbecue, Gaspiyai… . Their only motivation seems to be financial and criminal. The gangs have taken the country hostage: they kill; they rape; they are flying. Sexual violence is the breeding ground for a future in which society may lack cohesion.
The police are either overwhelmed or complicit. The Haitian army, that not-so-distant Macoute memory, was dismantled by the international community in the 1990s. Demobilized soldiers were never properly reintegrated into society. The judicial system is moribund. To date, the international community has been able to fund less than 20% of Haiti's current humanitarian needs, while elsewhere in the world billions of dollars are generously flowing in to alleviate other humanitarian crises.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere is caught in a recurring nightmare, as if the country relives the adventures told in " The Comedians ", a masterpiece published by Graham Greene in 1966. The novel, located under the reign of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his Tontons Macoutes, explores the political repression and terrorism that are rampant in Haiti, and particularly in Port-au-Prince.
However, Haiti should not be viewed solely as a tragic and brutal story. The country of Makandal, Toussaint and Dessalines is endowed with magnificent creativity and sustained by remarkable hope. Haiti has always been culturally brilliant and intellectually stimulating.
The iconic Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince once attracted bands such as the Rolling Stones. Afterwards, hellish processions of the Ra-Ra by the "root music" group RAM invaded the hotel. Haiti is also the country of the talented musician Wycleff Jean; the Tabou Combo group; or even the unforgettable Jean Gesner Henry, alias Coupé Cloué or “the African”, the king of kompa mamba, a catchy musical style widespread throughout the world. Writers, playwrights, filmmakers, poets, artists, educators, musicians and artisans abound. The stunning beauty of the countryside is praised in the books of Haitian neurologist, novelist and poet Jean Métellus (1937 – 2014), such as in Jacmel at Dusk. Christophe, tragic king, is immortalized in a masterpiece by Aimé Césaire, the literary giant of neighboring Martinique. For more than a century, Haiti has also given birth to magnificent authors and poets: Joseph Anténor Firmin, Louis Joseph Janvier, Justin Lhérisson, Jean-Price Mars, Félix Morisseau-Leroy, Charles Moravia, Frankétienne, Anthony Phelps, Dany Laferrière , Louis-Philippe Dalembert, Edwige Danticat, René Depestre… and many others.
The biggest tragedies, like the 2010 earthquake, certainly killed and maimed many people, destroying infrastructure. But these dramas have not shaken the soul of this astonishing and endearing country. Like the intrepid Haitian woman, Haiti remains surprisingly upright, and its culture vibrant.
The international community, sub-regional and regional organizations, academics, media, communicators, the private sector, the Haitian comprador bourgeoisie: all have a responsibility towards Haiti. It's not an easy conversation. Migration issues are a hot topic in most Western countries. In September 2021, images of American guards on horseback armed with whips pushing back Haitian migrants at the border with Mexico caused a stir around the world. But these whiplashes from the time of the slave trade cannot rewrite the heroic history that Haitians wrote with their blood, sweat, tears and courage. Haiti is the only slave-led military uprising that was able to overthrow a slave-holding colonial power.
The international community was called upon to step in and fight the gangs. Just as the corrugated iron walls of Haiti's slums will not stop stray bullets, our physical estrangement from Haiti will not prevent tragedy from piercing our souls and our comfort zones. In light of past failures, one can honestly wonder if foreign military intervention in Haiti would provide a lasting solution. Either way, inertia is not an option. Any intervention must revisit history and learn from it, prioritize security, actively promote and support justice while helping to build trust and good governance. The situation must be addressed as a whole, without delay.
What the international community will or will not do is of crucial importance. Nevertheless, we support Haitian citizens who want an end to anarchy and violence, who want justice. To measure the strength and value of a family, one must observe the solidarity with which it protects the most vulnerable of its members. The first black republic, perhaps the most fragile of the family of Nations, lacks food, drinking water, fuel, peace, justice.
We issue this urgent call: let us act now, with a new and genuine benevolence, whatever the risks, and without individual geopolitical intentions. Haitian populations are in danger. History will not be kind to those who remain inactive or who choose to look elsewhere.
It would be non-assistance to a people in danger.
It is difficult to envisage the resolution of this Gordian knot without outside intervention. The Haitian people will only be able to vote and freely choose their leaders if there is security.
A member of the family of nations is held hostage by the contours of historic injustices, recurring bad governance and the brutality of armed gangs: the whole family must step in to free this member from the hostage takers as well as the contingencies of previous failures. Haitians would fly with with their wings towards the heights of human development, we sincerely hope so.
Sitting idly by is not an option.
So let's gather our forces for success in Haiti, and as Césaire predicted, there will be room for everyone at the rendezvous of victory .
Otherwise, we will all be guilty of not having helped this heroic people in danger.
Let us respond to the poetic exhortation of Jean Métellus. From his exile a few decades ago, his poem was a beautiful cry, “ Au pipirite chantant ”. His lament has not aged a bit. This is the plea of
“Haitian peasant who with singing pipirite,
despises memory and makes plans
He revokes the past braided by plagues and smoke
And from daybreak he tells his glory on the fresh galleries
We stand with the Haitians. Let's act now. For Haiti, for humanity.
Adama Dieng , the initiator of this forum, is a former United Nations Under-Secretary-General. He served in the UN as a former Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide and Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He is also a former board member of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
Macky Sall , President of Senegal, President of the African Union.
José Ramos-Horta , President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste; co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.
Moussa Faki Mahamat , Chairperson of the African Union Commission; Former Prime Minister of Chad.
Alpha Oumar Konaré , former President of Mali; former Chairperson of the African Union Commission; former President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan , former President of Nigeria; Mediator of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Catherine Samba-Panza, former Head of State, Central African Republic.
The Right Honorable Michaëlle Jean , former Governor General of Canada; former UNESCO special envoy to support reconstruction efforts in Haiti; former Chancellor of the University of Ottawa; former Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka , former Vice-President of South Africa; former Executive Director of UN Women; Former Co-Chair of the United Nations Descendant Senior Officials Group (UNSAG).
Epsy Alejandra Campbell Barr , former Vice President of Costa Rica; President of the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent.
Graça Machel , President of the Board of the Graça Machel Foundation ( Graça Machel Trust ).
Miguel Ángel Moratinos , former High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations; former Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE; former Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
Sir Dennis Byron , former President of the Caribbean Court of Justice; former President of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute ; former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); Chairman of the United Nations Internal Justice Council.
Serge Letchimy, President of the Executive Council of Martinique and former member of the French National Assembly.
Mujahid Alam (Retired General), Principal of Lawrence College , Ghora Gali, Murree, Pakistan.
Sonia Maria Barbosa Dias , Education Specialist, São Paulo, Brazil.
Mbaranga Gasarabwe , former Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA); former United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mali; former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security.
Souleymane Bachir Diagne , Philosopher; Director of the Institute of African Studies and Professor of French and Philosophy at Columbia University.
Andrew Thompson , Professor of World Imperial History at Oxford University and Full Professor at Nuffield College , Oxford.
Othman Mohamed , former Chief Justice of Tanzania and Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into the death of Dag Hammarskjöld.
Amadou Lamine Sall , Winner of the 2018 edition of the Tchicaya U Tam'si Prize for African Poetry; Winner in 1991 of the Prize for the influence of French language and literature, awarded by the French Academy.
Sheila Walker, Ph.D. , Author; Cultural anthropologist and documentary filmmaker; Executive Director of Afrodiaspora, Inc.
Jean-Victor Nkolo , former spokesperson for three Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly; Worked in ten UN peacekeeping operations, including in Haiti.
Euzhan Palcy , Director, screenwriter and film producer (Martinique, France).
Bacre Waly Ndiaye , Lawyer at the Bar of Senegal; Former member of the Truth and Justice Commission in Haiti.
Willem Alves Dias , Film Editor, Brazil.
René Lake, Journalist and Expert in international development.
Doudou Diène, Senegalese lawyer; former UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Ben Kioko , Judge, former Vice-President of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights.
Aver-Dieng Ndaté , Lawyer at the Geneva Bar, Vice-President of the African Peace Conference.
Akere Tabeng Muna , Lawyer and International Legal Consultant on Governance and Anti-Corruption; former President of the Pan-African Lawyers Union; former President of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union (ECOSOCC); former Chair of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder-Kone , aka CCH Pounder , Actress and philanthropist; Art collector; HIV/AIDS activist; co-founder of the Boribana museum in Dakar.
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