Haiti: Reflections of a Poet
Warrior pt. 2 of 'Crusing into History'
The Birth of Unity
by Jolivette Anderson 'The Poet Warrior' 8/28/04
What has to happen for Unity to be born among black people?
What
thoughts must father have? What must he think about and feel for
mother?
What feelings must mother have? What must she think about father? What is
she willing to sacrifice to bring Unity into the world?
Perhaps Ezili Dantor
knew the answer, when she received the black pig as
an offering in response to the 'ofo ase' (word power) of Priest Boukman
spoken to educe the warrior spirit in the enslaved persons of
Perhaps Priest Boukman knew the answer, when on
August 14, 1791 at the Bois
Caiman Vodou Ceremony he said,
"The white men's god orders crimes
Our God wants good deeds...
Throw away the images of the white men's god,
Listen to the Call for
Is it a coincidence that we set sail on this historic pilgrimage on the eve
of the Bois Caiman, the VoDou Ceremony that was the
spiritual beginning of
the Hatian Revolution? The Revolution began seven
days after the ceremony
and ended 12 years later?
It has been 200 years since the end of the Haitian
Revolution and
today has experienced it's 34th coup d'etat. What do we make of this as
Black people in the
in severe, detrimental pain. It is our responsiblility
to hold this country
and it's government responsible for its crimes against
us as desencdents of
enslved persons in the
ourselves, blinding us from seeing that beauty in others. This inability
to
see ourselves as human and divine blocks our progress, stagnates us. Lack of
an understanding of the 'science or organization' and the purpose of
'community organizing' makes us easily defeatable
because we move as
individuals and not as a group. We have not learned the system so that we
can change the system. We must use what Mother Ezili
used. We must use what
Priest Boukman used. We must use it on anything or
anyone that oppresses us,
that attempts to stop us from being free.
Day One: The First 12 Hours - August 14, 2004
We boarded the ship, recieved our
program schedule for the activities we
were to have, but even before we departed, word had begun to circulate that
the celebrities scheduled to cruise with us were not coming. All would be
revealed at the 6:00pm orientation in the conference center.
We were told that because of the current situation in
ousting of Jean Bertrand Aristide and the
Glover, Sonia Sanchez and others decided they would not cruise with us.
There would be a special welcoming ceremony in the
would speak directly with us regarding his position. We were also told
that
because of the 'appearence' that we would be
supporting the current Haitian
administration because of police escorts to the Citadel and other tourists
sites, we would be confining our activities to the
Royal Caribbean private
My disappointment at hearing this news had nothing to do
with the
absence of my elders, Danny Glover and Sonia Sanchez specifically. My
greatest disappointment was not being able to deposit the dirt I had carried
in my luggage in plastic ziploc bags at the
Citadel. My sister, Jerene,
took time to drive from
get dirt from the graves of my father, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts and
uncles. She sent it to me in the mail telling the postal worker "my
sister
is a VooDoo woman." While
Baba Boxley down in
from the Slave Market at the Forks in the Road. I wanted to
exchange energy
with these places and people. Instead, I settled for the
largest cemetary on the planet. The politics of
the way of my honoring my father and my people. I took offense to this.
Day Two: All things Apolitical August 15, 2004 -
Let's not be misled by the topic
'all things apolitical'. All things
are very political if we put politics at the forefront, but this cruise was
educational and cultural until it was made political. It was made
political
by the
supporters of Haitian Democracy and Human Rights and so forth and so on.
The 'trickle down', I believe, happened for the following reasons:
1. We, as Black people, have the power to change the image of
help her people to improve their quality of life by investing in
future.
2. We, Black people, made a committment to
Crusing into History Project and that committment is rooted in our 'telling
somebody' about our experience and encouraging people to visit
their money with the Hatian people.
3. We, Black people, have the skills, expertise, resources and money to help
4. We, as Black people, once we come back home to our African
Spirituality
be it Ifa, VoDou, Voo Doo, HooDoo,
Coptic Christianity, Ausar/Auset ,
Buddhism, etc. and begin to practice the rituals of our people with the
intent on being free wherever we are on the planet-we will be self
determining. We will not accept being controlled by other people's plan for
us, we will have our own.
We must uproot the images of 'the white man as god' from our minds and
hearts so we can be free.
At the Hilton Hotel in
Haiti's Democracy in the Spirit of the Revolution'. Much of what he said
in
his speech to us can be found in his Letter to the Participants:
"Just a couple of days ago I was made aware of the increasingly oppressive
nature of some of the things now taking place inside
Amnesty International, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and other human
rights organizations, in addition to the hundred of Haitians killed during
and after the removal of constitutionally elected president, Jean Bertrand
Aristide, scores of others have been unjustly and illegally incarcerated,
including the legitimate prime minister of
political activist Anette Auguste.
In fact, as recently as last week we've
learned that another minister of the Aristide government who had helped to
make this pilgrimage possible was told that a warrant was issued for his
arrest.
It is impossible for us to be neutral in view of the coup that took place in
February 2004 against the duly elected government of
our feelings about the strengths and weaknesses of President Aristide, the
fact remains that he was duly elected.
It is clear that the interim defacto government,
lacking true international
credibility, is yet deeply searching for international support. We, people
of conscience and supporters of democracy, cannot serve as a pillar, nor
should our actions indicate that we are in any way supporting this group of
usurpers.
Because of these concerns I am unable in good conscience to join you on the
ship, out of concern that my participation could be interpreted as support
for the current illegitimate regime. Again, it's with a deep sense of
sadness that I'm unable to accompany you on what was meant to be a historic
journey in support and celebration of an earth-shattering historical
event.
Although I am not physically with you on the ship today I will be joining
you all along the way and more importantly, throughout this historically
momentous pilgrimage in spirit." Actor/Activist Danny Glover is
Chairman of
TransAfrica Forum
I really don't know what I felt after hearing Baba Danny speak. In
retrospect, I am angry but managing my anger. I truly understand that
is a Black Country and that is why it gets bad media from white
the same time, we, Black people, can change this negativity. This cruise, in
the spirit of Bois Caiman, has started that process for me and hopefully for
others. Some seed has been planted and will be brought forth soon.
The rest of the activities for the day included a one-woman play by Malika
Sanders., The State of Black Education Fifty Years After
Brown vs. Board of
Education, an interfaith religious/spiritual service based on the theme of
Religion, Spirituality and Liberation. Unfortunately, I laid
down in my
cabin for what I thought would be a 15 minute nap. It turned into a four
hour rest. I missed Malika and the Town Hall Meeting
Discussion. I caught
the last 30 minutes of the interfaith service where I heard a very
progressive, well read preacher discuss the connections between VoDou and
Christianity. Some folks didn't like that sermon. I understood it
perfectly! As usual, I chose to dance the night away as a stress reliever,
we have to stay balanced. Haitian Music by DJ Tory and live music with
Boulo and Azor, visit
http://www.BouloValcourt.com to hear the beauty of his
work. Things were looking to be pretty healthy for me personally so all I
needed to do was share this with others on the ship and once I got back to
the
More Reflections coming soon.