When Bloggers and Chocolate come together... Nyashazaza from the Global Parish has been friends with fellow haitian blogger Nighshift Chronicles for quite a while. I only met him in person recently and a six degrees can of worms ensued. When I went to Nyashazaza's Wine & Chocolate soiree last Saturday, I met yet another brooklyn blogger, Richard Louissaint the Haitian Eclectic, whose blog I added to my Haitian Diaspora blogroll a couple of months ago.
Haiti, Ghana, Brazil: Football Allegiances by Ferentz Lafargue at Nighshift Chronicles. Somehow, slavery enters a sports debate that should on the surface be about personal and ( national) preferences. Basically at the end of the day, when it comes to soccer, "tout ayisyen se brezilyen" (i.e. "All Haitians are Brazilian" in Creole.)
It was the day before the Puerto Rican day parade a couple weeks ago. 5th avenue was gearing up for the next day's party with its salsa- syncopation, boisterous spirit and flag toting boricuas. Little did we know that a colorful little Harikrishna parade was in the cards for that very day. Thankfully, my camera was in tow.
Haiti is full of everyday heroes who struggle, intellectually and physically, to build a new Haiti. You won’t see them in the mass media. Tourists won’t find them. Development consultants won’t meet many of them. But when you read about unrest and turmoil in Haiti, remember people like Ti Jean who fight for the dignity and stability their country deserves. It will be a struggle, there will be disappointments, but remembering people like Ti Jean inspires all of us, and makes, as Haitians say, the load less heavy.
Very true. I can think of many such heros.
Screening of "Un Certain Bord de Mer," Film on Arabs in Haiti
At its second showing in Haiti this past Wednesday evening about 50 some people showed up to watch the film ‘Un Certain Bord de Mer’ at MWEM, an experimental center for visual communication and the only place to catch a good flick in Port-au-Prince. A film by Haitian director Mario Delatour, ‘Un Certain Bord de Mer’ is unique in its subject, the migration of Arabs, from Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere to Haiti since 1866 and their role since then.
The title of Haiti Innovation's post is "Arab Manje Koulev" ("Arabs eat snakes" in Creole), probably after an early stereotype held by non-Arab Haitians in the early days of the (mostly christian) migrants in the 19th century.
Six Degrees of Brooklyn Caribbean Blogger Separation (or is that Closeness?)
I bumped into fellow Brooklyn-based Haitian blogger Ferentz Lafargue accidentally at a Brooklyn Cafe last Sunday, now look what he started... Faithful to his Yale PhD education, he calls it "Deconstructing the Ubiquitous Image of a Haitian Brooklyn Blogger". Hmm... You should read the whole thing but his conclusion should clue you in on just how many twists, turns, cousins, bloggers, people and "accidents" are involved:
So, I don't know if you call this six degrees of separation, a small world, kiskeyAcity, the global parish, the homelands, or as Yemi has declared: "deconstructing the ubiquitous image of a haitian brooklyn blogger," to me it's just another day on the nightshift.
Sharon is also unhappy about how Rastafarian women are treated by their men. "I don't like the burden put on some Rasta women. They don't want them to look good, to wear certain things and wear makeup."
She is somewhat conservative on the question of polygamy, which is practised by many Rastafarian men. "That has been around for many years. I can't change that. My mother didn't fight with any of the mothers of my father's children. But now that my brothers are having children with different women, some of them are not getting along with each other."
Surprise, surprise...
African-American Blog Picks
Was Malcolm X Gay? asks Temple University Prof. Marc Lamont Hill. The answer, although well thought out and reasoned is just as surprising as the question.
In writing the following article for GV, I raked the internet looking for negative feedback on Digicel's recent launch in Haiti and ... could find hardly any. The only people who are visibly upset are competitors Haitel and Comcel-Voila (who had to decrease their prices) and local regulatory body CONATEL who has tended to side with the latter. There has got to be another side to this story (no one wants to give a non-locally owned giant corporation a free pass), but I haven't come across it yet. I'll let you know when I (and if) do.
Jamaica-based Caribbean telecom giant Digicel has a presence in over a dozencountries in the region. Digicel officially launched operations on the Haitian market in May to much resistance from local private telecoms Haitel and Comcel but bloggers and other web commentators seem to agree that Digicel’s presence on the Haitian market is actually a good thing for local consumers’ pockets, for their safety as well as potential job creation.
Digicel offers have been commercialized since May 3, 2006. Digicel obtained a license to operate a GSM network on the island since June 2005. The operators already in place in Haiti operate on CDMA and TDMA networks (…) The launch in Haiti is an important step in the development of Irish magnate Denis O'Brien's company and represents 130 million dollars in investment.
A Haitian creole-speaking commentator seemed enthusiastic (Kr) about the launch in her comment on Internetrapide.com's blog:
Digicel you are the best. If you want to cover Haiti, just go to all corners that others do not reach. Put antennas in small towns where others do not go; you will see results. All will come to you. When will you activate service? Many are awaiting activation. Thank you. I love you.
Watching Brazil v. Australia at a (partially) Australian-owned establishment (Smooch, Fort Greene, Brooklyn). Question: can you openly root for Brazil when the people who make your favorite cup of coffee are Australian? How about when they make the cup of iced americano you are enjoying *during* the match?
On the upside, 1) Brazil won and 2) Ferentz Lafargue from Nightshift Chronicles showed up during the match and we got to meet. Ferentz is a blogger by night and an English Lit prof at the New School for Social Research by day.
See album of this lovely soccer-filled afternoon at Smooch.
From Haiti, Marcel Salnave of Parlons Peu posts an article written by his father, also Marcel Salnave, in 1946 on the Haitian banking system. Translated excerpt: "Banks have become very demanding and ask for each loan a guaranty that surpasses the amount borrowed. Banks in Haiti ... have completely suppressed our credit. So poverty has taken hold. (...) In the U.S., public opinion is worried by the 3% interest rate and the financial world has had to do its best to bring interest rates down to 2 to 2.5%. Here, it is impossible to borrow money for less than 20% despite the legal rate of 12%. (...) Our credit institutions only rarely give out loans (...). Very few business deals are made thanks to credit institutions. "
Everywhere in the Haitian capital, people are sporting the flags of any of 32 soccer World Cup teams. (...) Sports competitions offer local business big and small a boost. Flags, t-shirts, bracelets, telephone laces and other accessories symbolizing the best known teams can be seen anywhere in the capital. T-shirts for certain popular teams are in high demand and stores are readily stocked with them. (...) Revenues of sellers of electronics such as TVs and radios have increased in the past couple of weeks. (...) Unfortunately Haiti has not been able to replicate the promise of 1974 when she upset Dino Zoff's Italian team. However, all is not lost for the Caribbean nation which will be represented in music by Wycleff Jean. The world reknown Haitian star will sing a duet with Colombian Shakirah on July 9, to close the international championship.
I haven't been as loquacious as usual in the past week and that is because I was off fulfilling a pleasure of a family obligation in the South Beach sun(rise). If you think it was all fun and games, preparing for the above caused me to miss out on this bit of fun in equally dreamy Trinidad, another corner of the West Atlantic Cosmos. Can't have all...
Latest in the Francophone Caribbean Blogosphere, by yours truly on GV. (Haitians invited to represent a little more, here. For a community with so many websites, message boards and listserves, those of us who are mostly francophone have a poor showing on the blogosphere.)
Caribbean Free Radiointerviews participants at this year's Caribbean Studies Association Conference in T&T on the topic "What does the Word Caribbean Mean to You?" Lots of stimulating free flowing thoughts and hundreds of ways to see one region...
Excerpts from Didier's (a haitian student of mathematics who has been living in North Carolina for 6 years) report on his return home after 7 years. On soccer:
It was great to be in a country that cares about football. There have been entire new sport shows dedicated to analysing every team’s composition and strategy. As the kickoff to the first match approaches, debates are getting more and more heated. Most Haitians are “Brazilians” (ie, Brazil fans), but there’s an healthy amount of fans of the usual suspects in South American and European. football
On Internet cafes:
Cybercafes are a booming business here. I counted 2 in my neighborhood and several other ones in the city.
