Description: The 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti’s capital on January 12, 2010, will be remembered as one of the world’s deadliest disasters. The earthquake was a tragedy that gripped the nation—and the world. But as a disaster it also magnified the social ills that have beset this island nation that sits squarely in the United States’ diplomatic and geopolitical shadow. The quake exposed centuries of underdevelopment, misguided economic policies, and foreign aid interventions that have contributed to rampant inequality and social exclusion in Haiti.

Join contributors and editors of the newly released ‘Tectonic Shifts’ (Kumarian Press) for an evening of discussion featuring a diverse, on-the-ground set of perspectives about Haiti’s cataclysmic earthquake and the aftermath that left more than 1.5 million people homeless. Following the themes set forth in the book, we will discuss Haiti’s heightened vulnerability as a result of centuries of foreign policy and (most recently) neoliberal economic policies, foreign impositions, and political changes that occurred during the relief and reconstruction periods. Analysis of these realities offers tools for engaged, principled reflection and action. We will highlight the many struggles that the Haitian people face today, providing lessons not only for those impacted and involved in relief, but for people engaged in struggles for justice and transformation in other parts of the world.

Manolia Charlotin is the editor and business manager of the Boston Haitian Reporter and cofounder of Haiti 2015, a grassroots campaign to advance access to opportunities in Haiti and connect community based organizations all across the country.

Lisa Davis is human rights advocacy director for MADRE and a clinical professor of law for the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic at CUNY School of Law.

Melinda Miles is the director of Let Haiti Live, an advocacy and solidarity project at TransAfrica Forum that brings together alternative media, community mobilization, coordination of international advocacy, and grassroots-based efforts for reforestation and family-level food security.

Etant Dupain is the coordinator of Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye, a Creole-language journal in the Haitian popular sector aiming to democratize information in Haiti and help spread information where it
has never reached.

Mark Schuller is assistant professor of African American Studies and Anthropology, York College, CUNY. He is the author of forthcoming Killing with Kindness: Haiti, International Aid, and NGOs (2012).

Pablo Morales is an editor at NACLA Report on the Americas and a board member of the Brecht Forum.

Gina Athena Ulysse is associate professor of anthropology, African-American studies, and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies at Wesleyan University. She is the author of Downtown Ladies: Informal Commercial Importers, A Haitian Anthropologist and Self-Making in Jamaica (2008).

For more information, see http://brechtforum.org/civicrm/event/info?id=12132&reset=1

Health officials at Michigan State University say they’re hoping to improve AIDS prevention efforts on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, home of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The university says its Institute of International Health aims to reduce new infections on the island, which has about 75 percent of AIDS cases in the Caribbean. Institute director Reza Nassiri says local officials in the Dominican Republic and Haiti “have struggled to respond to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS based upon the resources available to them.” Nassiri says Michigan State’s approach involves providing training and mentoring for nurses, social workers and other local health professionals.

He says his institute will present the plan at the Global Risk Forum’s One Health Summit 2012 in Davos, Switzerland, on February 19-22. The summit provides a forum for cross-disciplinary approaches to human health, highlighting the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health with food safety and security.

“Our need assessment survey indicates screening for sexually transmitted diseases is a vital HIV prevention tool in at-risk communities, especially among the youth,” said Nassiri, noting the primary route of HIV transmission is sexual encounters. “Our approach also will develop a telemedicine connection with selected partners to strengthen HIV prevention.” The barriers to sustainable HIV programs are numerous, including lack of resources and trained personnel, cultural hurdles, the absence of a sustainable HIV prevention policy and inadequate funding. But the need is too great to not act, he said: “Treatment alone will not reverse the epidemics of HIV in the endemic regions of the world.”

Nassiri worked on the presentation with colleagues from MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctors United for Haiti in both American and Haiti, and the Boca Chica HIV Clinic and the Guanine Center in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

For original article, see http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2012/01/anti-aids-program-hispaniola-launched-msu/2124591

For more information, see program details at http://bit.ly/xTCLqF

Photo from http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/poverty/2012/1/21/42403/MSU-seeks-to-revamp-HIV-prevention-programs-in-Caribbean

The symposium and concert are part of a dense Reggae Month calendar outlined by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) at the Bob Marley Museum, 56 Hope Road, St Andrew, on Tuesday evening. JaRIA vice-chairman Charles Campbell also announced that the organisation’s annual Wednesday concerts, which will run on five nights throughout February, have been moved from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts to Emancipation Park, New Kingston.

Though that would seem to indicate an expansion in the scope of the concerts, there was a persistent thread of concern for Jamaica’s hold on its popular music throughout the event. Host Ibo Cooper, JaRIA’s chairman, pointed out that, as a nation, Austria has done a superb job in preserving and disseminating information about the music and life of composer Beethoven and “today the world is taught about Beethoven”. “Our children should not know more about Beethoven than Bob and Peter and Bunny and Dennis,” Cooper said.

IRIE FM’s Brian Schmidt got down to the legislative nuts and bolts of ensuring a space for Jamaican popular music in the society, saying that, this year, he would like to see zoning laws passed. “We can’t have an industry that is not at home at home. That makes no sense,” Schmidt said, laying down a challenge to Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna and state minister in that ministry, Damion Crawford, who were both present.

[. . .] JaRIA board member Rupert Hoilett outlined a slate of events, the official calendar having an event every day, staged by JaRIA or a regular event which has been endorsed by the organisation for Reggae Month.

For full article, see http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120126/ent/ent2.html

The procedure was the first of its kind in The Bahamas and doctors reported that it had only a 30 to 40 percent chance of being a success. Dr. Ekedede credited his team of qualified and experienced doctors for the successful outcome of the operation, saying that, “It was beautiful work” and that “all doctors did a great job.” He added, “You should see that baby, you are never going to believe it. She is wonderful, absolutely gorgeous.”

In 2009, Dr. Ekedede also performed the first-ever lobotomy [or was it a lobectomy? see below] in The Bahamas, saving the life of 12 year old Kenneth Farrington.

After a particularly difficult operation in Turks and Caicos, the Turks and Caicos Sun, wrote: “Aside from being the first man to carry out neurological surgery in TCI, Dr Ekedede has a number of other Caribbean firsts to his name. These include carrying out the first ever lobectomy, first multiple brain aneurysm, and first to implant bone flap from craniotomy within the abdomen to preserve it for later re-implantation. He also invented the use of Foley catheter as unishunt in babies with hydrocephalus in Third World countries.”

For full article, see http://www.thenassauguardian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22526:historic-conjoined-twins-surgery-a-success&catid=3:news&Itemid=27

See 2009 article at http://bahamaspress.com/2009/12/14/first-ever-lobotomy-performed-in-the-bahamas-considered-a-success/ and another article on another recent success at http://www.suntci.com/index.php?p=story&id=1153

The singer, famous for her revealing and risqué style choices said: “I’ve always had a great love of fashion. It’s a constant source of inspiration in my life, and is a big reason why I’ve grown into the person and artist I am today.” She added that is “very fortunate” to have collaborated with renowned designers and stylists through her career so far, and explained how she is “excited to follow the journey of our aspiring contestants and see how their individuality influences their efforts during the course of the show.”

Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts – who has asserted herself as a front row favourite thanks to her fashion-forward style and own range of make-up – has been handpicked to front the series. “I was so flattered when Rihanna asked me to work with her on this show,” said Roberts. “I’m so excited for us to get started on finding a new up and coming British designer who just needs a chance, a little bit of help in getting their skills noticed.

Promising designers will be challenged over the course of 10 weeks to create outfits for musicians and celebrities. Sky Living: “The chance to dress one of the world’s most famous women for an event that will attract worldwide coverage is the perfect springboard for the aspiring designer’s future fashion career.”

For original report (and photo), see http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG9041556/Rihanna-to-front-new-fashion-TV-show.html

For the original report go to http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/01/cuba_has_the_worst_press_freed.php

This article about death and Haitian Vodou by Carine Fabius appeared in The Huffington Post. Follow the link below for the original report.

What if Death had style? What if Death wore black sunglasses, liked to dance, smoke cigars and drink rum? What if he loved to indulge in bawdy sexual references (yes, in this case, Death is a he); and what if his presence made people want to party ’til the sun rose up in the sky? I reckon you’d invite him into your life too.

Non-Haitians and some Haitians hear the word Vodou — or voodoo, in Hollywood parlance — and shiver with fear and worry and pity and condescension. Ignorance can really make a person feel bad. So, let me do a quick rundown on Vodou, this way everyone can hurry up and get back to feeling good.
Like Judaism, Vodou is a religion and a way of life. As with Catholicism Vodouisants (or practitioners) believe in an all-powerful force called God; but standing in for the Catholic saints are the lwas, God’s helpers on the physical plane. In the same way that Hinduism is predicated on a number of gods and goddesses, all with specific personalities and powers, the lwas of Vodou are also imbued with wonderful and terrible powers to put order or mayhem in human beings’ affairs, depending on their behavior. However, there are two very important distinctions that set Vodou apart from other religions:

1. Whereas adherents of most religions seek communion or a merging with God either before or after they leave their bodies, Vodouisants seek to have their bodies possessed by the gods, thereby becoming gods themselves, if only for a while. Very powerful, confidence-building stuff, wouldn’t you say?

2. The gods of Vodou come from Africa. Need I say more? Okay, what I mean is that these spirits are made of raw, intense, salty stuff. Their essence is hardcore; they are theatrical and lively, they respond to drums, and in exchange for their services, they expect to be served. In fact, there’s a saying in Haiti about the lwas: you don’t have to believe in them, as long as you serve them!

So, about the Spirit of Death. He has a name — Baron Samedi (Samedi means Saturday in French) — and he somehow manages to take the somber business of death and turn it into something vital. See, he’s not just the Spirit of Death; he’s also the Spirit of Sex because part of his job is to oversee the cycle of regeneration: helping the departed into afterlife while assisting those spirits entering new bodies on the earth plane. And while the Baron can be a seriously foreboding character, he also has a crazy sense of humor. Practitioners love the hell out of him. Is it any wonder that two years after the formidable earthquake, which claimed over 200,000 lives (there is still dispute about the actual number), Haitian people are looking to the promise of a better tomorrow as laid out by their new president, a beloved musician whose former onstage antics ran toward the eccentric habits of the god who owns Saturday night? I was in Haiti over the Christmas holidays, and I’m here to report that there is hope in the air.

For the record, I don’t practice Vodou or any other religion, but there’s something about that Baron that appeals to me, so much so that he stars in my new novel, Saturday Comes, A Novel of Love and Vodou, which he co-narrates. And it isn’t just me and all those Vodouisants, either. The UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History is getting ready to wow Los Angeles with a Baron-centric exhibition in September, 2012 titled In Extremis: Death and Life in 21st Century Haitian Art.

Back in 1995, The Fowler Museum hosted the groundbreaking traveling exhibition, The Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, which brilliantly elevated the thinking and dialogue around this misunderstood religion (no, believers don’t stick pins in dolls). In Extremis will “explore the interface between the catastrophes of the past decade in Haiti, and the corresponding emergence of dramatically new forms of art in sculpture, fabrics, paintings and altar installations.” Keep a lookout for it. Who knows? Maybe the Baron will drop in to entertain us while we live. And since this is Los Angeles we’re talking about, I won’t be surprised if he gets offered his own TV series. He’s that good.

For the original report go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carine-fabius/haiti-voodoo_b_1229128.html

There’s a reason why January is National Soup month – we can all use a steamy bowl to ward off the chill and the sniffles. And there certainly is no shortage of soups to keep variety in your winter diet, as Lari Robling reports for Newsworks. 

Everybody knows about the old standards – tomato and chicken noodle.  But not as many people are familiar with pepper pot, a spicy soup that’s been identified with Philadelphia since the colonial era.

Cheese steaks, hoagies and pretzels have long been on the list of Philly’s signature foods. And before they came on the scene, way back in revolutionary times, there was Philadelphia Pepperpot soup.

Pepper Pot Smokin’ HOT

That was the cry of nineteenth century street vendors selling this African/Caribbean soup in Philadelphia that likely came to the city with enslaved people who were brought to the city. The soup was common, sold up and down Market Street at stalls. A famous painting in Philadelphia Museum of Art depicts a black woman selling steaming ladles full of soup.

Flavored with plenty of black pepper, tripe and dumplings it was cheap and hearty.  The ingredients were readily available.   It’s rumored to have sustained Washington’s troops on that fateful winter at Valley Forge.

Pepper pot, smokin hot, became the slogan for Campbell’s Philadelphia Pepperpot condensed Soup. John Faulkner, director of brand communications at Campbell Soup Company said the product had a long company history and was made by the company for 110 years. “Originally the soup sold for 12 cents a can, we advertised 21 soups for 12 cents for many, many years”.

The soup got its name from a generous amount of whole black pepper, but Faulkner said many ingredients combined to give it a rich taste including “a blend of marjoram, thyme sweet pimentos, diced potatoes, delicious honeycomb tripe, and a generous supply of macaroni dumplings and these were all combined with the special touch of Philadelphia’s Pepperpot cook.”

As regional tastes changed, so did the popularity of pepperpot soup.  In 2010, Cambell’s discontinued the flavor although canned versions of the soup are still manufactured and sold in Canada.

While the convenience of Pepperpot soup in a can may be gone, interest in this historic dish remains alive.  At a recent Festival of Forgotten Foods held at Reading Terminal Markets, newcomers lined up to give it a try.

Taste tester Brian Sullivan gave it a thumbs up. “It looks very nice. It’s got a nice looking broth to it, big carrots big chunks of meat, very rich.

When he was informed that the meat was tripe – the stomach lining of a cow – he was surprised but remained diplomatic in his review.  “I haven’t had a lot of tripe in my life”, said Sullivan.

Jack McDavid of the Down Home Diner, and purveyor of pepper pot soup, says unless you are an old-timer, tripe doesn’t automatically conjure up deliciousness.  “After you get over the initial shock people who try it like it, they say it’s tender, it’s got a wonderful flavor and texture.  Sometimes the first time you see something you say ohh no but once you try it you like it.”

Which was exactly Sullivan’s response, once he got over his surprise, “No it’s delicious and the tripe is tender”.

While the heyday of Pepperpot Soup may be gone, you can find it on the menu at Philadelphia’s City Tavern and MdCavd at Down Home Diner will sometimes cook up a batch for special occasions.

And in the art world it still a superstar. Six years ago an Andy Wharhol painting of a Campbell’s pepperpot soup can sold for almost 12 million dollars.

If you’d like to give the soup a try, the recipe below is adapted from Joe DiGironimo, CFE, FMP
JNA Institute of Culinary Arts, (with permission).

Philadelphia Pepperpot Soup
3/4 cup onion, medium dice
1/2 cup celery, medium dice
1/3 cup carrots, medium dice
1 T butter or olive oil
8 cups beef broth
1/2 pound honeycomb tripe — small dice
2 ounces veal shank meat — small dice
1 medium potato — medium dice
1 small green bell pepper — medium dice
1 sachet d’epices (parsley, thyme, bay leaf peppercorns)
1 pound spaetzles or 1/2 pound macaroni prepared according to directions

Caramelize the mirepoix  (diced onion, celery and carrots) in the butter or oil. Add the beef broth, tripe and veal.

Simmer for 1 hour.

Add potatoes, green pepper, and sachet. Simmer until the vegetables are tender and the soup is adequately flavored. Degrease if necessary. Remove and discard the sachet.

Prepare spaetzle, push into the simmering soup. Simmer until it floats to the top, about 3 to 5 minutes or add cooked macaroni.

For the original report go to http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/art-entertainment-sports/item/33166-celebrate-soup-month-with-phillys-historic-pepper-pot-soup

Yesterday (January 26) marks the 199th anniversary of the birth of the country’s Founding Father, Juan Pablo Duarte, who conceived and impelled the cause of Dominican Republic, with his preachings on freedom and created two organizations which served as the ideological and conspirative platforms of independence.

Duarte’s secret society La Trinitaria, which he co-founded with Ramón Matías Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, led the ouster of the Haitian occupation in February 27, 1844.

Starting 8am the ceremonies to honor the patriarch included a parade and hoisting of the flag in San Francisco de Macorís, Duarte province. There at 10:30am, president Leonel Fernández presided over the day’s central activities.

The day also marked the start of the Month of the Nation, to commemorate several patriotic holidays including Mella’s birth on February 25, Flag Day on the 19th and Independence Day, on February 27.

For the original report go to http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2012/1/26/42450/Dominicans-mark-the-birth-of-Founding-Father-Juan-Pablo-Duarte

Fernando Leonhardt looks at Jamaica with unusual tourist eyes in this article from HJNews.com.

In the first days of January I had the good fortune to make an incredible journey to Jamaica to enjoy its beaches and landscape. It is a natural paradise. But I am the type of person who likes to not only know the tourist side of an area, but to get to the reality of a place and its people, beyond the tourism scene.

I like to know the customs of the people of each place I visit, not just the fantasy of it being “all inclusive.” That is why I left the hotel to get involved more in the reality of the country. As the days passed on the island, I noticed the poverty, underdevelopment and injustice that sometimes we inhabitants of developed countries do not perceive.

The majority of the population is black, descendants of slaves brought from Africa by colonial countries. I was surprised by the joy and optimism of the Jamaican people, despite having nothing.

Their primary sources of income are few. With a lot of luck, some get jobs at hotels catering to tourists, but this work only pays a miserable $200 a month. Artisans make beautiful things and sell them to tourists who walk the beaches, while others make wages in the sugar cane harvest. Finally, there are many whose income depends on selling marijuana, mainly to tourists.

What is striking is that all these people sing and dance to reggae music, idolizing the legendary Bob Marley.

Jamaicans live in heartbreaking poverty, without education, without industries. Colonists exploited the island for centuries before Jamaica gained independence in 1962 and became a nation in the British Commonwealth. But England’s role here is nearly non-existent. The queen visits once a year. You can see her mansion surrounded by ramshackle houses made ​​of wood, some on the verge of collapse. There are golf courses in Jamaica, but, curiously, none of the players are inhabitants of the island, but visiting foreigners instead.

It also struck me that even though Jamaica’s population is almost entirely black, I saw many election campaign billboards with only white faces on them! A tiny minority of whites govern the black majority.

Many readers might think from the comfort of your homes that the Jamaican people are lazy and do not like work, but the reality is that they have nothing to do. They remain slaves of a few foreign companies that pay poverty wages. Schools in Jamaica are almost invisible, education is a luxury, and many of the island’s inhabitants must travel many miles to find a hospital.

Marijuana sells like hot cakes. Although illegal, it is widely available and a big draw to tourists who flock to Jamaica to try “new sensations.” I disagree with the use of marijuana, but I realize that because of it, a few more Jamaicans are able to feed and clothe their children, so do not judge.

As I walked and watched the people of the island with its thick inner rain forest, clear rivers, sugar cane plantations, beaches invaded by foreigners who do not leave the perimeters of the hotels, to my mind came the name of my Argentine compatriot Che Guevara. Surely you know or have heard of him. The truth is, I never knew if Guevara’s revolutionary cause was right or wrong, but I understand now his anger at seeing the injustices of people exploited by greed and selfishness.

I think it’s very easy to criticize people and their behaviors, to assume they do not like work or do not respect the laws, as we sit in our comfortable chairs or spend too many hours talking at church about how to make this a better world. But we have to put ourselves in their place and leave our pride aside if we want to truly understand their situation.

I ended my trip to Jamaica with both joy and sadness — joy to have experienced the beautiful scenery, but sadness at the reality of these people, used and forgotten.

For the original report go to http://news.hjnews.com/opinion/article_811b8d08-4843-11e1-a11d-001871e3ce6c.html