Resistance and Equilibrium in Haiti--Feb 2019

 

Port-au-Prince–February 7, 2019 (Photo by Karen Bultje)

During the last several days there have been enormous demonstrations in city streets all over Haiti. For a multitude of reasons, the government opposition wants the current Haitian president to step down. Even today, Sunday, churches in Port-au-Prince were told not to hold services so they, the churches, would show solidarity with the protestors. This is really serious because telling Haitians not to worship is like telling others not to breathe.

The opposition in Haiti are sick and tired. Haitian’s everywhere cry, “Nou bouke!” and then make the “slicing-finger-across-the-neck” motion to indicate they are suffocating during their daily struggles. They are tired of living like animals and then drowning at sea during their courageous attempts to flee their island prison.

And not too far away, Haiti’s Venezuelan friends are suffering and resisting, too. But Venezuelan suffering seems no different to me than a normal day for Haitians during the last fifty years. Venezuelans have now entered “the Haitian world”–and they want out of it.

The opposition in the streets of Port are considered “savages” when they dump open coffins with cadavers in the street. (Are Venezuelans considered the same when they protest?) Haitian men in the streets are not savages…they are long-suffering human beings “fighting” for their survival in the only way they know.

If I were one of the millions of “the Haitian poor”, I would be protesting also. I would be in the crowd for sure. And I would encourage ALL Haitians to join in to oppose and resist in NON-violent ways.

Anna Julia Cooper was an author, activist and public intellectual, and a prominent voice in the struggle for black liberation in the United States. In her 1892 book, “A Voice from the South,” she ruminates on what’s necessary for “proper equilibrium” in society:

“Progressive peace in a nation is the result of conflict; and conflict, such as is healthy, stimulating, and progressive, is produced through the coexistence of radically opposing or racially different elements.

“Antagonism, indignation, anger — these qualities don’t diminish democracy or impede progress. Each is an inescapable part of political life in a diverse, pluralistic society. And each is necessary for challenging our profound inequalities of power, wealth and opportunity.”

Cooper believed that all societies need conflict and non-violent resistance in order to achieve equilibrium.

Haiti needs to achieve equilibrium in a peaceful manner. Let it begin.

 

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org