Thursday, June 18, 2015
Dominican Republic's "Ethnic Purging" or the Yellow Negus vs. the Black Negus
The Dominican Republic’s “Ethnic Purging”
June 17, 2015 Writer Edwidge Danticat on Mass Deportation of Haitian FamiliesDemocracy Now
Edwidge Danticat
In 2013, a Dominican constitutional court ruling stripped the citizenship of children born to Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic as far back as 1929, retroactively leaving tens of thousands without citizenship. Today marks the deadline for undocumented workers to register their presence in the Dominican Republic or risk mass deportation. However, only 300 of the 250,000 Dominican Haitians applying for permits have reportedly received them. Many have actively resisted registering as foreigners, saying they are Dominican by birth and deserve full rights. Dominican authorities have apparently organized a fleet of buses and set up processing centers on the border with Haiti, creating widespread fears of mass roundups. The Dominican Republic’s decision to denationalize hundreds of thousands of people has sparked international outcry.
We are joined by the acclaimed Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat.
Transcript
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Dominican Republic is set to begin what some are calling “ethnic purging,” placing the fate of hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent into limbo. Half a million legally stateless people could be sent to Haiti this week, including those who have never stepped foot in Haiti and don’t speak the language. In 2013, a Dominican constitutional court ruling stripped the citizenship of children born to Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic as far back as 1929, retroactively leaving tens of thousands without citizenship. This is Dominican migration minister Ruben Darío Paulino.RUBEN DARÍO PAULINO: [translated] Let’s not comment on any excesses in the reparation plan, but, yes, firmness in upholding the laws, so all the undocumented in this country return to their country of origin.AMY GOODMAN: Today marks the deadline for undocumented workers to register their presence in the Dominican Republic or risk mass deportation. However, only 300 of the 250,000 Dominican Haitians applying for permits have reportedly received them. Many have actively resisted registering as foreigners, saying they’re Dominican by birth and deserve full rights. Dominican authorities have apparently organized a fleet of buses and set up processing centers on the border with Haiti, creating widespread fears of mass roundups. This is Tini Rosier, an undocumented migrant risking deportation.
TINI ROSIER: [translated] If the deadline lapses, what they say is that we will have to go. There will be no fighting it and nothing that can be done. And I will have to go, because my mother and father brought me here when I was nine years old.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ:
The Dominican Republic’s decision to denationalize hundreds of
thousands of people has sparked an international outcry. Haitian
President Michel Martelly has denounced it as “civil genocide.” The
United Nations protested the ruling, and the U.S. State Department
voiced measured disapproval. Meanwhile, Dominican-American writers Junot
Díaz and Julia Alvarez, Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat and
American writer Mark Kurlansky have united to express their shared
condemnation of the decision. They wrote in The New York Times,
quote, “One of the important lessons of the Holocaust is that the first
step to genocide is to strip a people of their right to citizenship.”
AMY GOODMAN:
For more, we are joined by Edwidge Danticat right here in New York, the
acclaimed Haitian-American novelist. Her latest book is Claire of the Sea Light.
Edwidge, welcome to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you back on.
EDWIDGE DANTICAT: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN:
Talk about the significance of what’s happening right now in the
Dominican Republic, the other half of the island, Hispaniola, from where
you were born, in Haiti.
EDWIDGE DANTICAT:
Well, I think this—we’ve often had deportations from the Dominican
Republic to Haiti, but this is the first time that they will be done
with a law behind them that actually, since the law—this constitutional
court decided to strip citizenship from that large number of people, has
really made life much harder for Dominicans of Haitian descent, but
also migrants who are on the island. So, this law not only now gives the
Dominican government the power to deport mass amounts of people, but
also creates an environment, a civil environment, that’s really hard for
people, because, you know, others might feel now that we’ve had an
increase of violence against Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent,
because it seems like a state-sponsored open season on people who are
not only—who are considered Haitians by the way they look, primarily, or
by their Haitian-sounding name.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ:
And most people here in the United States are not aware of this long,
troubled history between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, occupying the
same island. There are ultranationalists and conservatives among the
Dominican Republic who still—who talk about, hearken back to what they
claim was the Haitian occupation of their country, and they see a line
running through historically on this issue. Could you fill us in on some
of that history that’s led to what we are facing today?
EDWIDGE DANTICAT:
Well, Hispaniola is shared by—the island—by Haiti and the Dominican
Republic. And we share a history of colonialism and occupations, and at
some point it was split between the French and the Spanish. And after
the Haitian independence, there was a shift, where Haiti—and there was
a—the whole island was under one rule, post-independence. And then,
Dominican Republic, in 1822, there was a separation. But there are all
these historical scars, where, you know, we, on the Haitian side,
remember the massacre of Haitian cane workers in 1937. And then these
things are brought up. But there’s also, for Americans, a common
occupation of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic at the turn of the
century, and both sides of the island have been marred, really, by the
corporate—this other kind of occupation of the sugar industry that goes
back to the beginning of the 20th century.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ:
And the significance of the Dominican government deciding on 1929 as
the date from which they’re going to start all of the tracing of the
lineage of those Dominican nationals who are now—who have been—I mean,
Haitian nationals who have been Dominican citizens now for generations?
EDWIDGE DANTICAT:
Well, I mean, there are so many things that are—that seem very
arbitrary about this decision, 1929, one can only guess. 1929 was the
beginning of the Depression here, and maybe there was a—the Gulf and
Western and these other companies that were part of the sugar plantation
complex, maybe there was a [inaudible], and then they actually—Haitian
workers were always brought to that side, and suddenly, when the sugar
industry pulls out, they are left hanging. But 1929 seems very bizarre
in terms of deciding that people are in transit since 1929. It boggles
the mind to think that you can be in transit in a country for 86 years. I
mean, there’s that several generations of families that have lived in
the Dominican Republic, that made their lives there, that risk now being
deported.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Edwidge, are people in the Dominican Republic speaking out? I mean, Dominicans?
EDWIDGE DANTICAT:
Oh, there are several organizations in the Dominican Republic that are
speaking out, because this issue is sometimes presented as an
immigration issue. But a large number of people who are affected by this
will be Dominicans of Haitian descent. And so, they’re—but often these
voices are drowned out by the ultranationalist voices who use this issue
to scapegoat the—and use this issue as a way to divide people and to
further their causes.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ:
Well, the great Peruvian novelist, Mario Vargas Llosa, the Nobel
laureate, is considered something of an adopted son in the Dominican
Republic. His novel, The Feast of the Goat, is about the
assassination of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. Vargas Llosa
recently denounced the deportation ruling in the Spanish newspaper El País.
He wrote that the sentence, quote, “is a juridical aberration and seems
to be directly inspired by Hitler’s famous laws of the Thirties handed
down by German Nazi judges to strip German citizenship from Jews who had
for many years—many centuries—been resident in that country and were a
constitutive part of its society.” Dominican nationalists responded to
Vargas Llosa’s comments with outrage. They burned copies of his book,
and more than 60 community organizations signed a formal petition to
request that the government name the author persona non grata in the Dominican Republic. I’m wondering your response to this reaction to Vargas Llosa?
EDWIDGE DANTICAT: Well, many of us have also been named persona non grata.
I think that’s the immediate reaction to speaking out against what’s an
injustice. And I think what’s important to note is that those of us who
are speaking against this law, we don’t have a quarrel with Dominican
people. We’re speaking against an injustice and an unjust law, just as
we would anywhere else in the world. The reality is that a very large
number of people can be affected by this, and this is happening in our
region. And, of course, I have a personal connection to it, but I think
it’s something that should concern everybody who cares about justice and
human rights. And it sets also a very dangerous precedent for—in terms
of moving large numbers of people who happen to be migrant or citizens
elsewhere in the region.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ:
And there’s also actually been—right here in New York state, in the
state Legislature, there’s been a quiet little battle raging because
some Dominican legislators have been trying to get a resolution to
condemn what the Dominican government is doing, while others are trying
to stop that resolution from coming to a vote in the state Legislature.
So this is really forcing a much-needed debate, unfortunately, on this
tragedy, within—among the political circles of the Dominican Republic,
as well.
EDWIDGE DANTICAT:
Well, I think that’s always happened. You’ve always had people who have
been very sympathetic to this cause within the Dominican Republic.
Again, it’s important to stress that we are talking also about
Dominicans of Haitian descent, people whose families will be separated.
And sometimes this issue is always presented, sort of a Haitian
migrants—and there are Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic, but
also this law will affect people, Dominicans of Haitian descent, or—who
can just be picked up because they have a Haitian-sounding name or
because they look Haitian or black. And so, I think it’s important that
this conversation is had. And the Dominican diaspora, along with the
Haitian diaspora, has also been very active and vocal, especially since
the law was passed, and continues to speak out, to bring attention to
this issue.
AMY GOODMAN:
Some have said the ruling is equivalent to if the United States
suddenly announced that everyone of Hispanic descent must be deported.
Do you think that that’s a helpful way to understand what’s happening
here? And also, how will this affect the Dominican Republic elections
that are coming up?
EDWIDGE DANTICAT:
Well, I think it’s—people are so ill-informed about the situation that I
think it’s—it is important for us to reach for the analogies that we
had. It’s as if the United States said, “Yes, everybody who has been
here since 1930, you have to prove you’re a citizen. You have to go back
to the place where you come from to get a birth certificate from
there.”
I think we also have to remember that this is
not the first time that we’ve had these deportations. There were
somewhat large-scale deportations in the 1990s, and they also happened
to coincide with elections in the Dominican Republic. And often as
elections are coming up, you know, and parties who are in power want to
keep their power, you always have in the Dominican Republic this
population that you can easily scapegoat. But this is the time that it’s
gone—this is the first time that it’s gone this far, where, as this
action is happening, it’s also a way of—it seems to be cleaning out some
voter roll—you know, the voter rolls and people who could possibly be
voting. And it’s something that we have seen before, but never on this
large a scale.
AMY GOODMAN:
What are you calling for? I mean, you’ve joined together with other
writers in fiercely condemning what is happening. What do you think
needs to happen now?
EDWIDGE DANTICAT:
I think what needs to happen now is, first of all, awareness. I thank
you for covering it, because the general U.S. media, in general, has
been very silent about it. And so, for people to really inform
themselves about what’s happening, to write to your congresspeople. And
also, we are subsidizing, as Americans, the sugar industry in the
Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic gets the largest ration of
sugar subsidies, and [inaudible] to the U.S. So, you are—we are all
implicated in this. So, make sure that this—that your voice is heard.
Make sure you call your congresspeople, because lives depend on it.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you very much, Edwidge Danticat, for joining us, acclaimed Haitian-American novelist. Her latest book, Claire of the Sea Light.
Pope Francis warns the West on fossil fuels and mindless consumerism
(CNN)Pope
Francis warned Thursday that a broad sweep of human activities -- from a
blind worship of technology to an addiction to fossil fuels and
mindless consumerism -- has brought the planet to the "breaking point."
"Doomsday predictions," the Pope said in a sharply worded manifesto, "can no longer be met with irony or disdain."
Citing
scientific consensus that we are witnessing a "disturbing warming" of
the Earth, Francis embraced the view that humans are largely to blame
for a dramatic change in the climate.
Nothing short of a "bold cultural revolution" can halt humanity's spiral into self-destruction, the Pope warned.
"The
earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense
pile of filth," Francis said. "In many parts of the planet, the elderly
lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish."
The
popular pontiff castigated big businesses, energy companies,
short-sighted politicians, scurrilous scientists, laissez faire
economists, callous Christians and myopic media professionals. Scarcely
any area of society escapes his probing pen.
Though
it ends with a prayer, it is a deeply pessimistic statement, at least
in parts, particularly from a spiritual leader known for his hopeful
messages of mercy and openness. People no longer seem to believe in a
happy future, the Pope lamented.
Francis'
challenging manifesto came Thursday in the form of an encyclical, a
letter traditionally addressed from St. Peter's Square to the more than 1
billion Catholics across the globe. Derived from the Greek word for
"circle," an encyclical is among the church's most authoritative
teaching documents.
But
Francis has set his sights far beyond the circle of his church. With an
eye toward several key climate change summits scheduled for later this
year, the Pope said his letter is addressed to "every person living on
this planet."
"I would like to enter a dialogue with all people about our common home," Francis said.
Critique of modern life
The humble invitation belies the damning analysis of modern life contained in the 184-page encyclical, entitled "Laudato Si."
The archaic Italian phrase, which means "Praised Be To You," appears in
the "Canticle of the Sun," a song penned by St. Francis, the patron
saint of ecology.
Subtitled,
"On Care for Our Common Home," the encyclical was published Thursday in
at least five languages during a news conference at the Vatican. The
document was more than a year in the making, church officials say, and
draws on the work of dozens of scientists, theologians, scholars from
various fields and previous popes.
"We
have a situation here," said Janos Pasztor, the U.N.'s assistant
secretary-general for climate change, "in which science and religion are
totally aligned." Pasztor was part of a team that convened with church
officials at the Vatican this April.
Pope Francis
The
Pope's eagerly awaited encyclical recycles some of the now-familiar
themes of Francis' papacy: an abiding concern for the poor, a scorching
critique of the idolatry of money and a facility for using evocative and
earthy language to describe complex conundrums.
As
the first Pope from the developing world, Francis brings a moral vision
shaped not in the seminaries of Europe but the slums of Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
With language ranging from
the majestic (lyrical poetry in praise of nature) to the mundane (take
the bus!), the Pope put his signature stamp on a controversial topic and
moral clout on the line.
"Laudato si"
is long on laments and short on specific solutions, though the Pope
repeatedly urges deep thinking and dialogue to address the complex
symptoms now plaguing the earth. In broad strokes, Francis calls for a
drastic change in "lifestyle, production and consumption" from
superficial and unsustainable habits to more mature means of caring for
"our common home."
"What kind of world
do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now
growing up?" Francis asks. "The question not only concerns the
environment in isolation; the issue cannot be approached piecemeal."
And
while the Pope calls for practical steps like recycling and improving
public transportation, he said structural injustices require more
political will and sacrifices than most societies seem willing to bear.
In short, our care for the
environment is intimately connected to our care for each other, he
argues, and we are failing miserably at both.
"We
are not faced with two separate crises, one environmental and the other
social," Francis writes, "but rather one complex crisis which is both
social and environmental."
The rich and
powerful shut themselves up within self-enclosed enclaves, Francis
argues, compulsively consuming the latest goods to feed the emptiness
within their hearts, while ignoring the plight of the poor.
The
poor, meanwhile, find themselves on the run from natural disasters and
degraded habitats, shunted to the bottom of the world's pile of problems
with decreasing access to its natural resources.
Francis
saves his most challenging questions for modern consumers, arguing that
humanity has become enamored of another apple -- and this time no Eve
or serpent are around to take the fall. The temptation may have shifted
from a forbidden fruit to cutting edge technology, but the sin remains
the same: hubris.
"We are not God," the Pope warns, "The Earth was here before us and has been given to us."
'Bottom of the pile'
Though
Popes since Paul VI in 1971 have addressed environmental degradation,
"Laudato Si" is the first encyclical to focus primarily on creation
care, the Christian idea that God gave humans the earth to cultivate,
not conquer.
Even months before its
publication, the encyclical drew criticism from conservatives and
climate change skeptics, who urged the Pope not to put his moral weight
behind the controversial issue of global warming.
Many
Catholics and environmentalists, meanwhile, eagerly awaited the
encyclical. The Washington-based Catholic Climate Covenant, for example,
plans to send homily hints to the 17,000 Catholic parishes in the
United States for priests to use during sermons this summer. The group
is also planning media events with bishops in Iowa, California, New
Mexico and elsewhere.
In the weeks
before the encyclical's release, Protestant pastors and at least 300
rabbis in the United States also said they were willing and eager to
embrace Pope's call for environmental justice.
A Brazilian group made even made a tongue-in-cheek trailer
ahead of Francis' encyclical, portraying the pontiff of a spiritual
superhero gearing for battle against the forces of evil -- energy
executives.
In another sign of the anticipation awaiting the encyclical, the news that an Italian magazine had published a leaked draft of the document online on Monday made the front pages of several American newspapers.
From
the first days of his papacy, Francis has preached about the importance
of the environment, not only as a scientific concern but also a moral
one. In his first homily as pontiff, Francis called six times during the
short sermon for humans to protect creation.
The
encyclical published on Thursday goes well beyond any sermons, delving
into fields familiar to any Catholic, such as Scripture and theology,
but also wandering into sociology, politics, urban planning, economics,
globalization, biology and other areas of scientific research.
The pope has said he hopes his encyclical on the environment will reach a wide audience.
Broken
into six chapters, "Laudato Si" begins by cataloguing a host of ills
wracking the planet: dirty air, polluted water, industrial fumes, toxic
waste, rising sea levels and extreme weather.
The problem is "aggravated," the Pope said, "by a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels."
If
present trends continue, Francis argued, the changing climate will have
grave implications for poor communities who lack the resources to adapt
or protect themselves from natural disasters.
Many
will be forced to leave their homes, while the economically and
politically powerful "mask" the problems or respond with indifference,
the Pope said.
The poor may get a
passing mention at global economic conferences, Francis says, but their
problems seem to be merely added to agendas as an afterthought.
"Indeed, when all is said and done," the Pope said of the poor, "they frequently remain on the bottom of the pile."
Black Bird Press News & Review: Race in America--the Grand Denial!
Black Bird Press News & Review: Race in America--the Grand Denial!
Denial
is quite simply the evasion of reality. Denial can be personal or
communal, for sometimes an entire nation can be in denial about its
abominations, for they are too painful to make adjustments in the
collective psyche and the personal reality, for to do so would
incriminate the mythology and ritual of said society, and thus the
normal daily round would be disrupted and dysfunctional, for painful
adjustments would be in order, and as long as we can avoid the painful
the better, after all, the status quo can be maintained....--Marvin X
In the Name of Jesus: White man kills nine Blacks at AME Church, Charleston, South Carolina
This devil prayed for an hour with the victims, then killed them.
Corey Wessenger, standing near the church at the time of the incident, says that there are officers all over the area.
“I just saw a group of about 40 people escorted by cops,” Wessenger told CNN by phone.
USA Today is reporting that police are investigating a shooting that
has led to multiple fatalities in the Charleston, South Carolina area.
According to social media sources, there have been multiple deaths in
the shooting, but this information has yet to be confirmed with law
enforcement.South Carolina Rep. Peter McCoy tweeted that nine people died in the shooting, which occurred at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church is the oldest AME church in the South and is led by South Carolina State Sen. Clementa Pinckney. It is also one of the oldest and largest black congregations in the city of Baltimore.
One of the founders of the church was Denmark Vessey, who was executed for attempting a slave revolt. According to Twitter statements by Charleston Police, the shooting took place at 9 pm EST. The gunman is currently on the loose as well. He is believed to be a white male, about 21 years old, wearing a gray sweatshirt or hoodie with jeans.
---------
BBP Editor: When artistic freedom fighter, author, Marvin X, was on a book tour in South Carolina, his hosts told him to say nothing about white supremacy while visiting Gullahland.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Milford Graves - NY HeArt Ensemble - Vision Festival 18 - Roulette, Broo...
Milford Graves is the Master Drummer of the Black Arts Movement. His drumming was beautiful and so powerful a statement of revolutionary blackness, he was "banned" from playing downtown New York.
M
Marvin X on the Black white woman in the NAACP
I salute the white woman who wanted to be black. I support her more than I do black women who want to be white, who want their man and children to be white, i.e., addicted to white supremacy (see my book How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy).
In my essay In Search of My Soul Sister, I compared Condi Rice and Barabra Boxer and concluded Barbara Boxer was my soul sister simply because she stood on the side of social justice and global peace while Condi is guilty of crimes against humanity.
Blackness is not a color but a state of consciousness. Black skin does not make one Black. When John Brown tried to save us by attacking Harper's Ferry, Frederick Douglas punked out. Who was Black, Frederick or John?
I'm looking for another John Brown white man and/or woman, rather than black face white people.
According to Dr. Nathan Hare, Black face white people suffer addiction to white supremacy type II, whites suffer type I, both must detox and enter a white supremacy recovery program. My book is a manual based on the 12 step model to establish mental health peer groups in our community. Tim Wise is available to assist white people in over coming white privilege and other ravages of addiction to white supremacy, a global virus that is cunning and vile.
During the 60s, we had brothers married to white women but we didn't allow their white women into our parties, revolutionary parties where we cut the music and rapped revolutionary black nationalism.
When the brothers pleaded with us their women were black, we ignored them and denied their partners admission to our parties.
In hindsight, we should have allowed the white women entrance since they did have black consciousness. What is closer to the truth: a white woman faking blackness or a black woman faking whiteness (blond wig, bleaching cream, proclaiming belief in a white god called Jesus, celebrating Easter, Fourth of July, Columbus Day, Xmas and New Year's Day (the most dreaded day in the life of our ancestors, i.e. the day Africans were auctioned as slaves--fuck Gumbo on New Year's!). On New Year's we should honor our resistance warriors, e.g., Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Grabriel Prosser, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, et al.
At the Black House political/cultural center, founded by Eldridge Cleaver, Ed Bullins, Ethna Wyatt (Hurriyah Asar) and myself, San Francisco, 1967, we barred white women as well. Mrs. Amina Baraka loves telling the story of how Ethna/Hurriyah denied entrance to a white woman one night. When the white woman said she was white and Native American, Ethna told her, "The Native American part of you can come in but the white got to go!"
--Marvin X 6/15/15
FYI, Elijah Muhammad taught us the white man is the colored man since Black is not a color but the prime, all colors come from Black, the original. We are not colored people or people of color! We are the aboriginal people of the planet earth. mx
NAACP Supports White Chapter President Passing
For Black
Blacks and liberals accused Dolezal of an
offensive impersonation, part of a long history in which whites appropriated
black heritage when it suited them. Jonathan Capehart wrote in The Washington
Post, "Blackface remains highly
racist, no matter how down with the cause a white person is." Others
noted that for her, unlike black people, casting
off the advantages of whiteness was a choice. "I wonder what race
Rachel would become if she got stopped by the police?" author Terry
McMillan wrote on Twitter.
Click on Video: Disturbing (Middle of the Page)
Email Contact for the National NAACP
http://www.naacp.org/page/s/contact
Book Review: Reginald James takes a peek at Marvin X's (Dr. M) manual for a Pan African Mental Health Peer Group
How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy
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