The Haiti Brand

By Jean H Charles:


In my mythical Haiti, I have often compared Haiti to Tahiti. For myself, there are only two paradises on earth, Tahiti in the Pacific and Haiti in the Atlantic. They are both French and original, magical and mysterious.

From time immemorial, Haiti has fascinated its visitors. Christopher Columbus was the first fanatic enthusiast of the island. ‘This is fabulous’ was his cry of excitement when he set foot on the bay of St Nicholas.

The culture, the physical setting, the people all combined to make the country the best place for him and his crew to establish the first European settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

For the next three hundred years, this mystical Haiti was this exciting woman that most European countries were fighting to seduce. Spain yielded to the French buccaneers, who established their outpost on the island of Tortugas. From there the French jumped to the mainland, and the rest is history.

The French invasion, mixed with the Africans brought as slaves from Dahomey and Angola, created an empire so powerful and so successful that the British for three centuries tried to lure the country into their arms.

Fortunes to make, exciting women to enjoy, neither black nor white, but with the malice and the charm of both, were the lot of men with bravura and daring who could settle onto that magical island!

Haiti was also the dreamland for young American men at the birth of their Republic. Rich and bronzed like a Creole was the ultimate goal of the gentlemen from Baltimore, Maryland, to Newport, Rhode Island.

When Toussaint Louverture took command of the island in 1800, he maintained or re-created a mythical Haiti that was set to become the talk of the world in gentleness and hospitality for all, white or black. John Adams was of the party, he was plotting to help Toussaint crown himself King of Haiti. Napoleon Bonaparte put an end to that utopia.

The Haiti that emerged from the Revolution of 1804 did not succeed in building a nation hospitable to all. There was first Dessalines, the Avenger of the Black Race, commandeering in Haiti the murder of all white people with the exception of the priests and the doctors, for inflicting three centuries of cruelty on African descendants.

There was later Alexander Petion, recreating a de facto apartheid Haiti, still in force today. The kingdom of Henry Christophe that relied on the British to create an ethos of self-dependence in Haiti did not last long.

The earthquake of January 12, 2010, put Haiti back on the world stage. No amount of money could buy such a range of advertising for a country. Children and adults all over the world are counting pennies and dimes to send to Haiti, which suffered one of the worst catastrophes in modern times.

The brand Haiti has had exposure all over the world. CNN has shown the squalor of Haiti, but there is also the splendor as soon as you set foot into the country.

The earthquake occurred in the midst of a splendid afternoon, as the sun set itself to go to sleep over the mountain surrounding the city of Port au Prince. The energy and the creativity of the people that has known no other savior but their own to survive every day has been set in motion.

Haiti, through its paintings and its art destroyed in the Cathedral St Trinity or the art gallery, will revive on the art market in St Martin and in Curacao. The paintings will bounce back into Haiti as its Diaspora is ready and willing to rebuild and continue the brand. It is present in the food well-spiced with Indian, African and French ingredients.

As I was passing through the Dominican Republic, stopping at the well known Bani cafeteria and eating the bland goat meat, I told the owner, he should get himself a Haitian cook to suit the setting to the meal and bring diners from Santiago who will not mind the long travel to enjoy good food.

The brand Haiti is also present in the music, muted now to bury the dead, but ready to revive since the joie de vivre is also the essence of being Haitian. It is this nostalgic spell that holds the visitors unto the land and attracts the Diaspora as a siren into this enchantress, magical and mysterious Haiti.

The brand Haiti, like a good coffee, will last in spite of itself. It is unique, it is different, and it is tasty. Years ago, meeting some French tourists on the Dominican side at the Club Med in La Romana, they told me they would prefer to be in Haiti with its gorgeous mountains, its culture, and its hospitality, if “only, you Haitian people could stay put for a while.”

Will Haiti stay put after the earthquake to enjoy its brand name? The reconstruction of Haiti planned in New York, Santo Domingo, Cayenne or Montreal will need the Haitian ingredient. My slogan for the Haitian electorate is: Pose, stay put!

Someone concerned enough to believe in the brand name will bring Haiti back into the Renaissance enjoyed under the short reign of Toussaint Louverture!

February 20, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Haiti, the last battle!

By Jean H Charles:


This past Wednesday on November 18, Haiti celebrated the 206th anniversary of the victory of its troops: 7,000 men in rags and ill nourished, who crushed the 40,000 well trained soldiers sent by Napoleon from France to re-establish slavery in that rebel island that dared to declare itself the land of the free!

We were in 1800; John Adams, who entertained a cozy relationship with Toussaint Louverture, the mighty leader of the whole island of Hispaniola, was crushed in his attempt to win a second mandate as president of the United States. Thomas Jefferson did win the election, and entered instead into a secret pact with Napoleon to allow the French troops to cross the Atlantic and reach Haiti.

The Haitians, who have tasted the sweet smell of liberty, did not conceive the idea of coming back into slavery. Under the leadership of Toussaint, first, Dessalines and Henry Christophe later, they submitted the French troops to defeat after defeat until the last battle that took place near Cape Haitian, at Vertieres on November 18, 1803. There, one of the generals, Capois La Mort, distinguished himself with bravado and gallantry that the French General Rochambeau ordered the battle to stop to pay homage to Capois. His horse and his hat were hit with a bullet; he regained his composure to call his troops to move with the slogan: En Avant! En avant! Move forward, Move forward!

It was the end of the French fantasia to bring Haiti and the Haitians back into slavery. It was also the beginning of the end of the wide world order of black subjugation. This epic story did not have a long life in Haiti. Dessalines was assassinated two years later by his own comrades in arms. His successor, Henry Christophe, lasted fifteen years, but ruled only the northern part of the island. His rival Alexander Petion and his successor Jean Pierre Boyer delivered on a platter what the French could not get on the battle field. Boyer accepted to pay to the French government the equivalent of 2 billion dollars to compensate the settlers for their loss. Petion and Boyer imprinted the Haitian ethos with the culture of exclusion, which is the imprimatur of Haitian society today. The 565 rural counties of Haiti have not received individually or collectively one million dollars for the past two hundred years in structural infrastructure!

Desolated and left to fend for them, the rural world of Haiti is leaving en masse, building a shanty town at the rate of one a month in the capital and in the main cities. They are also trying to reach the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, as well as the Bahamas through clandestine departures. In spite of the international help and concern, Haiti is sinking deeper into extreme poverty. Port au Prince, the capital city has electricity only from 9pm to 6 am. There is no potable water, no night life, no major industry and no tourism.

Yet the forces in power are mounting an armada (with some foreign assistance) to perpetuate themselves into power. Haiti at this juncture must play the same battle that it engaged on November 18, 1803, not with cannon but with its bulletin of vote. In November 2010, the people of Haiti will have a clear choice of remaining in the status quo of misery, arrogance and neglect from its own government or choose a new leader with the vision and the bravura to break down the culture of exclusion against the majority of the population.

It will need, using the words of Professor Kenneth Clark, talking about the black man in American politics, to utilize the election process to change society from an unjust one to a just one. It will also need to transform rhetoric into reality. So far the concept of one man one vote has been prostituted and did not help Haiti. I am observing the Haitian government using the resources of the state and those of the international organizations to organize a so called unity coalition!

The Haitian people have a way of defying the odds. As in 1803; in November 2010, they will survive this attempt to keep them in a de facto bondage. May the spirit of the gallant founding fathers guide them!

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International