Preserving Haitian History and Culture

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, scholars are beginning efforts to preserve Haiti's magnificent history and culture for the future. One idea being circulated among the Association of Black Anthropologists is for those with access to primary source Haitian material to coordinate with the Haitian embassy in Washington DC to collect and store those materials until the appropriate Haitian museum is prepared to accept them. More information will be provided as it becomes available; your feedback is welcome.

In the meantime, the Wall Street Journal recently reported on the unearthing of Alan Lomax's archive of Haitian research (conducted in collaboration with Zora Neale Hurston).

Remembering Rex Nettleford

Professor Ralston Milton Nettleford, better known as Rex Nettleford, one of Jamaica’s most famous scholars and cultural icons, passed a week ago on Feb. 2, 2010, in Washington, D.C. He collapsed in his hotel room a few days before, while visiting the U.S. to raise funds for the University of the West Indies, where he acted as Vice-Chancellor Emeritus. During his 76 years with us, Professor Nettleford lived a full life as a Jamaican intellectual, social critic, and choreographer. It is difficult to list this Rhodes Scholar’s numerous achievements, however some include his authoring of books such as the seminal study on the Rastafari movement in 1961 (which he co-authored with M.G. Smith and Roy Augier), “Manley and the New Jamaica” with Norman Manley in 1971, his collection of essays titled “Mirror Mirror,” and his book “Caribbean Cultural Identity: The Case of Jamaica.” Nettleford was an artistic director of the University Singers at the UWI Mona campus for over twenty years, founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica in 1963, and acted as a chairman on the Council of the Institute of Jamaica. To get more information on Professor Nettleford’s many achievements see:

http://www.caricom.org/jsp/projects/personalities/rex_nettleford.jsp?menu=projects
www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Sanders-Feb-7
www.jis.gov.jm/special_sections/This Is Jamaica/nettleford.html

Through his work as a mentor, teacher, university administrator, artist, and cultural ambassador, Professor Nettleford touched the lives of many, including members of the Caribbean Studies Association across generations, geographic areas, and disciplines. CSA member Honor Ford-Smith shares her experiences with Nettleford and the impact he had on her life in her tribute titled, “In Memoriam: Rex Nettleford 1933-2010,” which you can read on the CSA website at www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org.

We open up the comments section as a space for CSA members to share their experiences with Professor Nettleford, and to talk about the profound impact his academic and artistic pursuits had on their research in the Caribbean and their lives.

Contributed by Bianca C. Williams

The United States Makes a 'Military Base' Out of Haiti: El Sol de Mexico, Mexico

The United States Makes a 'Military Base' Out of Haiti: El Sol de Mexico, Mexico

Indigenous People Being Pushed Out of the Amazon?

With governmental negotiations underway for a multi-billion hydro-electric dam, are indigenous peoples being pushed out of the Amazon? Some sources say yes!

Brazil grants environmental licence for Belo Monte dam
By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo



Brazil's government has granted an environmental licence for the construction of a controversial hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest.

Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam will cause devastation in a large area of the rainforest and threaten the survival of indigenous groups.

However, the government says whoever is awarded the project will have to pay $800m to protect the environment.

The initial approval was a key step before investors could submit bids.

For full article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8492577.stm)

CFP Extended to Fri. 2/5 for CSA Conference in Barbados

PLEASE NOTE THAT CSA HAS EXTENDED THE DEADLINE FOR ITS CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE MAY 24-28 CONFERENCE IN ST. PETERS, BARBADOS. THE NEW AND FINAL DEADLINE IS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5TH, 2010. PLEASE NOTE THAT IN ORDER TO COMPLETE SCHEDULING IN A TIMELY MANNER, TO RESPOND TO EVERYONE SO THAT THEY CAN PLAN ACCORDINGLY, AND OUT OF RESPECT FOR ALL THOSE WHO GOT THEIR ABSTRACTS AND PANELS IN ON TIME (THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!), FEBRUARY 5TH WILL BE A FIRM DEADLINE AND WE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING ABSTRACTS AFTER THIS TIME.

Please also be assured that we are discussing ways of ensuring that the devastating earthquake and its aftermath in Haiti are front and centre questions at CSA in May, and very much look forward to you joining us and participating actively in the conversation.


WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN BARBADOS IN MAY.

If you have any questions please direct them to the CSA Conference Address:

Alissa Trotz at datrotz@gmail.com



D. Alissa Trotz
CSA Program Chair 2010.

Cuba Haitian Neighbor

The are many parallels between Haiti and Cuba -- from their game changing revolutions to their expulsion from the global community for their audacity to hope. As expected, Cuba is involved in Haiti's recovery efforts.

Cuba Reacts to Haiti Earthquake


Fidel Castro on Haiti Two Weeks After

Granma/Spanish (official newspaper of Cuban gov't)
Granma/English (The international edition of the official newspaper of the Cuban government. Though the international edition is not identical to the local, hard-copy edition, the online source provides insight into locally filtered news reporting. )

Conversations about Haiti and the Region

While many rightfully continue to seek out ways to offer assistance to the thousands in Haiti struggling through nightmarish conditions, there are others like Pat Robertson who have already begun finger-pointing after the tragic earthquake. Another emerging issue in the aftermath of the disaster in Haiti is what will become of those seeking livable conditions elswhere. It is necessary that we, as scholars of the Caribbean, begin a dialogue about Haiti and its neighbors, as frightening proposals are beginning to emerge. The article below offers a number of suggestions of 'what to do' with displaced Haitian nationals who have survived the earthquake, including sending these survivors to Guantanamo Bay. In support of his position, the author writes, "Gitmo may be a grim place, but nothing is as grim as Haiti itself." In the face of 'proposals' like these, those of us who live, work and feel accountable to those in the Caribbean must also begin to speak.
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Spreading the Inevitable Flood of Haitian Refugees Around the Region
BY DAVID NORTH — JANUARY 20, 2010

It is highly likely that there will be a flood of Haitian refugees in the next few months, no matter how heroic the Administration's efforts are to meet the short- and long-term needs of the people in Haiti.
It is time to make some hard-nosed suggestions about the distribution of those refugees.
I heard on the news last night a reporter say that Haiti is "on America's doorstep." Compared to Afghanistan, well, yes, but a look at the map would be helpful.

Haiti, at best, is at the outer fringe of Mainland America's front lawn. The places where the doorstep image fits are: Dominican Republic (on the other side of the island), Cuba, and the Bahamas; also nearby are two American territories that, to be blunt about it, have never lifted a finger to help America to resettle refugees, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Then there are the British, the ex-British, the Dutch, and particularly the French islands in the Carribbean, most much closer to Haiti than Florida.
None of these places are as rich as the U.S. or Western Europe, but all are far more prosperous than Haiti, and all should pitch in and help the probable flow of refugees. The individuals will find a better life in those places than in the other likely locations – the slums of Brooklyn and Miami.
If they wind up in Guadeloupe or Martinique they will even have experience with the local language. (Some Haitians speak French, most speak a French-based creole.)
One of the characteristics of the U.S. refugee program is that there is no central control of where, within the U.S., the refugees settle. The initial distribution is in the hands of junior officers of the private resettlement agencies who meet weekly in New York City; after that a refugee, though initially settled in South Dakota, may move to California – it is rarely the other way around.
What results is called in the trade "secondary migration," as refugees – pretty rootless after their initial arrival – move around the nation to find relatives, or in by-gone days, more friendly welfare systems.
The result is that huge numbers of refugees live in ethnic clusters – think of Orange County, California, and the Vietnamese, or the Twin Cities and the Hmong – which is comfortable for them in the short term, but slows their long-term adjustment to life in America.
My suggestion is that the US prevail upon jurisdictions in Haiti's neighborhood to accept a finite number of refugees – a small fraction, in each case, of what the U.S. will accept. This will not be easy. Islanders can be just as biased as Mainlanders, if not more so. That most of the island governments are run by Blacks is not necessarily helpful vis-a-vis the resettlement of Black refugees.
But the U.S. can use diplomatic leverage on the Dominicans, the British, the French, the Dutch, and the ex-British colonies to help some of the Haitians. How Cuba will react will be interesting.
The U.S. would extend its current per capita refugee resettlement and placement grant of $900 each, now used only on the Mainland of the U.S., to all cooperating island governments. The refugees would be given travel documents that allowed them legally enter only the place of resettlement or Haiti. Refugee resettlement organizations will object to both provisions, of course, they will want to keep R&P grants within the States, and will object to the limited mobility of the new refugees.
Would-be refugees would be offered a choice; either you and your family go to, Jamaica, say, or you can stay in Haiti. Few would choose the latter.
As to the cooperation of the U.S. island governments, the levers are easily pushed and pulled. Both island jurisdictions are heavily dependent on flows of funds from Washington, most of which are not automatic, and can be sped or delayed by agency action. (The Departments of Agriculture, Education and Transportation provide moneys, as does the Federal Communications Commission, among others.) The Governors could be told, quietly, that all of these flows will be stalled until the islands work out their refugee resettlement programs.
Whereas the U.S. can not block a refugee in South Dakota from moving to California, regulating air traffic out of Puerto Rico, and particularly the Virgin Islands, is much more manageable. Besides, there is the precedent of issuing Guam-only visas to potential tourists to that island. (Part of this plan would involve issuing VI- or PR-only visas to Haitians resettled in those locations.)
In addition the U.S. would see to it that some small classes of refugees – such as those picked up seeking illegal entrance to the U.S. – would be sent to Guantanamo. The Navy Base there also could use its hospital to treat some of those injured in the earthquake. Not all Gitmo is a prison, and its extensive grounds have been used to house Haitian refugees in the past.
Gitmo may be a grim place, but nothing is as grim as Haiti itself. I know, I once spent a year in Port-au-Prince, or so it seemed in those four days; I am sure that, even without an earthquake, it is the most depressing place on earth.


David North served as both a consultant to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, in the Department of Health and Human Services, and as an official of the Office of Insular Affairs, in the Department of the Interior.