My afternoon with Lionel Richie

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As I sit here listening to Lione Richie's "You Are," I'm thinking "what made me download this and all of Nicole Richie's dad's hits from the 80's/early 90s in the first place?" Ah, that fateful day not so long ago in late September when I was hanging out with a friend around Times Square while on vacation and... ahem... we got approached by a BET person who asked us if we'd join the audience of his live BET special.

My friend and I had just gotten rejected by the audience gatekeepers at the Montel Williams show nearby. (Yeah I know. Long story. All I can say is: I was on vacation, people.) So guess what we said?

If you still don't know, here are some visual mementos of what turned out to be a fun afternoon after all with a vaguely sacharin but also very nice man whose appearance hasn't changed an iota since the videos for "All night" or "Hello"...

Connection to Haiti/the Caribbean? Well aside from the fact that both my friend and I are Haitian, well, uh ... oh yeah, a long long time ago many Haitians were convinced that 'Richie' was really 'Riche' (with an accent aigu on the 'e' that I am too sleepy to drum up right now) and that Richie was therefore Haitian. Thankfully the man debunked that rumor for me during the taping when he kept referring to his hometown of Tuskegee, Alabama...


slideshow



lionel richie - BET - haiti - nicole richie

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World Bank Study, Governance, Corruption

Great blog post about the World Bank and governance in Haiti on Haiti Innovation. Commenting about Haiti's poor showing in a World Bank study, Bryan says:

Third, this study is more than a little ironic considering that the World Bank has caused a good deal of suffering in Haiti and some of its past policies encouraged corruption. Haiti and the DR were on the same level 25 years ago. Dominican leaders got rich by encouraging the private sector and skimming off the top. Haitian political leaders became rich by keeping the country poor and skimming money from the international community. The World Bank gave a poorly monitored grant to Haiti to pave all three national highways. Needless to say the money was stolen. But whose fault is that? Should an international organization assume all its clients are going to be honest or does it set systems in place that let them know the difference? Haiti became a kleptocracy because organizations like the World Bank kept giving.

All good and very interesting. I'm left wondering why Dominican leaders 'skimmed off the top' while Haitian ones ate the whole cake ... But do read the whole thing, it is quite interesting and offers a fresh perspective on old issues.

Haiti - world bank

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Hoopla about Dessalines' Death

Well first, on the occasion of the 200 anniversary of the death of a founding father of the Haitian 'nation', lots of commemoration going on of course. But mostly some minor (relatively comical) controversy as Haiti-based blogger Yon Ayisyen explains. Namely, some want the Haitian government to open an investigation into the circumstances of his death??? Others feel we shouldn't celebrate his death. I don't really feel particularly strongly about that last tidbit but I do find interesting that what we celebrate is the ambush that led to his death. Kind of (consciously or unconsciously) symbolic of the gazillion ambushes and plots and coups that have ensued in our ridiculously testosterone-filled history, isn't it?


But to go back to the investigation, is that really a priority at a time when a recent NGO report states that eating and drinking is a luxury for most Haitians??? (I hope my historian friends won't hate me for asking this.)

(Above links were originally in French which is why I'm linking to my translations made for GV on the topic. The translations contain links to the original posts.)


haiti -
dessalines -
caribbean

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