Haiti, Wyclef Jean & The Scavengers

Lesson from History

In a way I wish we could see that we are no longer in a position to wish for the possibilities of goodness. We are at a crossroad. Haiti no longer has options for choosing to love and care for its people and the country. Haitians can no longer hope that our leaders will find the common decency to govern for the well-being of the country.

I remember a time when I left this beautiful island, when it was not the best, but there was a sense of caring kindness amidst the terrible history of the island. Haitians are the most gentle and loving people. There was a time when we lived side by side. The streets were clean and the people loved their land. What is amazing is that the same Haitians are still there. The people who have survived this terrible quake are the most humble people that you will ever meet.

Haitians love, in some sense, beyond comprehension. If there were a group who could walk with angels, then Haitians would be it. Haitians are affectionate and docile people, living with a constant hope for a better tomorrow. We only know peace, we only know love, and yet, in a way, our humanity has been abused by the worst of our nature residing forever more in our leaders. So I write and I cry; my people will always suffer. In my life, we may never see Wyclef Jean as our president, or the likes of him.

You see, I have learned this is an ugly world. The people with good hearts and the ones with unconditional love, at the same time suffer miserably. Where is our Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. President Bill Clinton or where is our President Barack Obama? Why must our people suffer? What if we could dream and Wyclef Jean could be president, and he could sing songs, and Haitians could once again laugh and dance? What if we could be in the news daily and our beautiful island could be released from the seemingly curse of permanent suffering.

Our history has been written in the blood and sweat of the gentle people, the hardworking farmers seeking a life, and the gentle merchants in the streets balancing a sack of goods on their heads and walking miles and miles looking for life. The people suffer and God looks down upon us and one day a hurricane or an earthquake will wipe out nearly half of the population in our constant state of misery. What have we done in this terrible history, where an inkling of goodness still often exists? Have our people stuck our thumb at God or is it the state of the little people with a good heart to continue suffering while living in what could be a paradise of deep riches and beauty?

Please explain why we cannot have a leader who loves the country and every Haitian as one. Why can't we have a sense of brotherhood and love each other? What is in our history that shows that we have committed a mortal sin? Please tell me why the streets must remain so dirty and why the well-to-do Haitian walks by without noticing the poor merchant who is trying to survive. Why can't anyone assemble us into a group to clean the streets, create good schools and care for our people? Please erase the terrible history from my mind, and tell me that the possibility for goodness still exists.

One of the greatest tragedies in our country is the lack of trust stored deep within our psyche. We are such beautiful people, yet we see each other through a stained glass covered with abuse and mistreatment. Being raised under the Duvalier regime for at least three decades has taught us in so many ways not to trust one another. During the dictatorship of Duvalier, we were raised to keep our mouth shut and never to express ourselves overtly to strangers, or even to people we knew. The stigma was that you never knew who was going to turn you in. We were raised with fear as a systematic way for the government to stay in power forever.

In those days, the saying was that Duvalier was elected president “for life.” With on-going fear, “social gathering” became almost impossible, not to mention any revolt against the government. Our generation was raised in complete fear. We were raised to always be careful about what we said. We could never say anything negative about the government because you never knew who was working undercover. We did not trust one another. Our parents kept reminding us to keep our views to ourselves or we might disappear forever.

During the last few years of the Duvalier dictatorship regime, I was still in high school. You could not even joke about the government, or a paramilitary group like the “Tonton Macoute,” because there was a fear that a classmate could report you to his parents or to someone who was working for the government. Even when we were on the phone, our communication was very brief because we never knew who was tapping the line. Moreover, there was music that we could not play or even sing along with on the street like that of “Manno Charlemagne, Les Frere Parents, etc.” If any of these bands were playing a concert, you went at your own risk because armed bandits would terrorize everyone who attended the concert. Some of the bands were in exile for a very long time. If you disagreed or spoke up against the Duvalier regime, the government could throw you in jail, torture or kill you, or send you into exile. Once you were incarcerated, your family would never be able to find you.

When I was in high school, I remember there was a play that was very popular, but also very undercover. It was the story of a single mother who raised her only son Jackie. Jackie was a very brilliant boy and he studied very hard. He would often study with his friends at a public place for group study. They were studying trigonometry. While they were studying and discussing sinus and cosinus functions, a "Tonton Macoute" was passing by. He overheard the boys talking about the evil within the government structure and communism as an option. The "Tonton Macoute," who may not have had an elementary education, had no clue what the boys were studying. He could only hear their comments about the government at times being corrupt and the talk of communism. Jackie was thrown in jail for studying communism. He was tortured and was never heard from again.

At that time, Duvalier was extremely against communism for many reasons. Duvalier had to go after the communist ideology head-on because that was the only way he was able to borrow funds from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He had to prove that he was against communism 100 percent.

Despite all of this turmoil, we still had friends. We respected the curfew and kept to our own business. We could only discuss school and personal stuff. We did get together sometimes for group study. We had some people that we could trust, like some of our instructors when we knew where they stood politically. We used to make fun of some of the people in the government without mentioning names or we would joke in parables.