- Says AlterPresse (Fr): " Haitian and foreign artists [including Togolese Kossi Assou] promise to work towards a culture of peace through a program, Sculptures for Peace put together jointly by Africamerica Foundation and the section on Disarmament, Demobilization and Social Reinsertion of the UN Mission in Haiti. The project, hosted by the foundation's 4th Annual forum of contemporary arts (June 15-30), seeks to involve artists as peace agents in the ongoing disarmament effort." Cross-posted at GV.
- Interesting, well intentioned, but maybe a bit late?
- Touching account of the life of Ti-Jean, a Haitian NGO worker over at the Haiti Innovation Blog. My favorite excerpt:
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.
- Again from Haiti Innovation Blog:
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.
- From Jamaica, Francis Wade is keeping a close look on the growing phenomenon. Apparently, some Jamaicans are seeking a constitutional amendment on the issue. Sound familiar?
Screening of "Un Certain Bord de Mer," Film on Arabs in Haiti
haiti - caribbean - jamaica - arab haitians - homophobia
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6 comments:
Nice to meet your blog.
Hi Vita,
Thanks for your note.
Email me and hopefully we can chat some more. My email address is in the section with my profile.
Hi Leon,
Nice to meet you too. I will put you in my anglophone caribbean blogroll.
Really interesting potpourri of posts.
Pirates is only a movie. It is not for real.
Regards.
hi renegade. glad you're back.
Alice,
I just watched a copy of Un Certain Bord de Mr and I enjoyed it much.
Mario Delatour did a great job because the topic he chose is one people do not talk about much in current-day Haiti. Sure, one may hear comments, stereotypes,etc. but how many have tried to fully understand where the neighbour of Arab descent comes from.
I hope we see more docs. about Haitians, from peasants growing rice in Artibonite to Haitian nuns or religious schools in Haiti. It is ironic that is it when our country as we know it is dying or has died that such types of docs. are being made.
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