Haiti: Reflections of a Poet
Warrior
Cruising into History, Sailing Over Seas Toward Me & We
by Jolivette Anderson 'The Poet Warrior' 8/23/04
The Prelude (Friday the 13th of August 2004)
Everything that could go wrong, tried to go wrong, tried to
stop this
soul from traveling toward it's freedom. Wrapped in this female shell,
unafraid of whatever was to come, wanting, needing to connect with
Blackness, I ventured alone (but not alone) on a sojourn with the Haiti
Support Project, the brainchild of Ron and Mary Daniels. The simple
objective, unify African and Haitian Americans to support the people of
the
need to move forward for the love and dignity of Black people globally.
Just getting to
in the mail to make final payment until a few days before the ship was to
sail. Once I paid, hurricane Bonnie began to form followed by hurricane
Charley, both threatening
lifetime if I could just get on the ship because too much was happening to
try to stop me, but I and nearly 500 others were determined to Cruise into
History.
"Very superstitious... when you believe in things you
don't understand,
you suffer," says Stevie Wonder. I almost
did not fly to
Friday the 13th, but I wanted to get to
sailed so I would not be rushed. I needed time to meet and bond with
others
going on the cruise. This Friday the 13th taboo intrigued me. I did not
search it's origins prior to leaving, but in my mind I thought, 'Hmm, this
was probably a real good day for Black folks and white folks turned it into
something dreadful, something to be feared'. When I finally did a search
on
the origins, this is part of what I found:
"To the
ancient Egyptians, life was a quest for spiritual
ascension which unfolded in stages -12 in this life and a 13th beyond,
thought to be the eternal afterlife. The number 13 therefore symbolized
death - not in terms of dust and decay, but as a glorious and desirable
transformation. Though Egyptian civilization perished, the death-symbolism
they conferred on the number 13 survived, only to be corrupted by later
cultures who associated it with a fear
of death instead of a reverence
for the afterlife."
How apropo. I mean, afterall, each experience we have is like being born
again if we are conscious that life is to be lived. In the living of life
comes lessons that take us up, up and away to
reconnect us to the One. I did
not fear death from Bonnie or Charley or from the White Supremacy mentality
that I was indoctrinated into since birth. From Angel's Food Cake being
white to White Jesus in the painting of the last supper that hung in the
home of every black person I knew, I refused to believe the lies told to me.
By the way, it was Jesus and 12 disciples (13) folks in that
picture.
Some say Mary is in there too but as usual woman is invisible--more on that
later, back to the cruise.
Even at the airport, I began to meet people coming in
early. I noticed
that I was young compared to most of my fellow travelers, having just turned
36 the day before. There were college students and high school students
aboard, and I was glad to be in the middle, learning from everyone. Once
we
arrived at the hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, I began to greet my elders as it
became very obvious to me that there are so many Black couples that travel
together, that love each other, that tough it out, that work together.
Why
did I think differently? Why did I feel that there was an absence of love
and family in the Black community? I come from that kind of love so it
should not have been such a shock, a delightful shock but a shock just the
same.
I began to notice the looks and stares of people, Black and
White, when
they saw a group of Black people dining together. It is the same response
I
give when I see us together. It is that 'Hmm, what is going on over
there,
who are those people' kind of curiosity. Some positive, some negative but
power in numbers or rather Black Power in numbers is a definite attention
getter. When it is a group of white people, I am conditioned to think
that
everything is okay and in order but a group of Black people is suspicious.
Since I love Black people so much I am pleasantly suspicious when I see us
in groups all over the planet. Now that we got the group, can we get some
UNITY. On this trip, we were destined to unify.
It felt good to 'not' have anyone know me or recognize me,
so I thought.
While passing out my business card a brother I can describe only as a
quiet, peaceful warrior looked at the card and said, "You're on the Global
African Presence (GAP) listserve,
I recognize your name." Immediately, a
bond was made. It is good to put a face to the hundreds of emails I had
received. Throughout the rest of the journey, I learned much from him.
There was an event set up for us to visit Little
Haiti. We experienced
delicious Hatian Food and saw performances by artist
in the Haitian
community in
brother dancing to the drumming and songs sung in French/Kreyole
made for a
beautiful transition from the sterile world of work, work, work
for white
folks. I was being born into the world of the Black Diaspora. I had been
there before, but my mission was singular, individual and alone. This was
my birth into a collective, a group with a focus on assisting
Haitians in their continued quest for self-determination. I set sail over
seas in search of a better me, what I found was a better WE, and I found US
in
I am intellect and intuition, a thinking human being. I know
a life of
yesterday, I live a life today and I forsee the
possibility of a life
tomorrow based on my understanding of life yesterday. This is the 360
degree line from my geometry class. The symbol brought to life by the way
humans think, believe, behave and act toward each other. It is God and my
Grandmama on the front porch shelling peas
acknowledging their need for each
other. In the spirit world, we here on earth are but symbols and God needs
us to prove that S/He 'is', and we need God for the
same reason. 75% of the
Earth is made up of water from the ocean and the sea, and 60% of water makes
up you and me. We set sail, cruised into history moved from the inside to
the outside-shared who we are with others of African descent. We made a
commitment to support
in the
see.
ALL ABOARD... More 'Reflections of a 'Poet Warrior'
Coming Soon
DAY ONE: AUGUST 14, 2004
. The first 12 hours on board.
DAY TWO: AUGUST 15, 2004
. The
DAY THREE: AUGUST 16, 2004
. Youth Organizing: On acting white, "I speak like I took an English
class."
. Learning from Papa and Mama Madhubuti's : 'Yellow
Black', Black Schools &
Together in love and in struggle
. Jonathan Demme's 'The Agronomist'
DAY FOUR: AUGUST 17, 2004
. Dr. Barbara Wheeler's African Heritage Tour of
. Fidel, the Movie
DAY FIVE: AUGUST 18, 2004
.
. Intergenerational Dialogue
DAY SIX: AUGUST 19, 2004
. Lost at Labadee
. The people of Milot
. Libation at Sea
DAY SEVEN: AUGUST 20, 2004
. Business in
. Women's Forum
. State of the Black World Forum
. The Rapper's Delight (Breakdancing under the
Moon)
TOPICS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.