TONTONGI BLOGS

2013-01-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

Here's the poem promised in the previous blog. Happy New Year 2013!

The Automaton at Sandy Hook

(in memory of the 20 children and 6 teachers killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on 12/14/2012)

He has our natural features

and hails from the same species

he has our smile and creeds

and pathology of the soul

and the greed for vanity’s sake.

He’s different the experts say

but not that much from the Enabler,

he is illogical says the Dialectician

and insane concludes the Psychiatrist

but not that much from the Mother Cell

the nourishing source

the germinating seed

the empty space here and there

even within the friendly enclosure

the furtive look of the neighbor

the effort to avoid all contact.

the empty square

seriality at the neighborhood level

like I saw it in the South End.

He is the apple fallen near the tree

the product of the chemical mix;

he is NRA, the Congress and Wall Street’s

combined voracity just like larrons en foire

to create Macabral and Maldyòk.

He is you and I assembled

in automation made fate

and faith in the Market’s goodness

in the gun’s good feeling

and its mythologized lore

the Second Amendment made fetish

of a nation guided by high valued imperatives

of the Military Industrial Technological Complex

and desensitized by mediated hypes

by the Nintendo’s procurement of pleasure to kill

the thrill of the murderous instinct

the lost spirits already perturbed

would find solace in madness

a shorter distance to salvation.

No! He is not the Other, the killer,

he is not even a stranger

he is part of a whole

prototype of a rational scenario

perhaps your existential denial.

The little fan of the New York Yankees

who refused to leave home and yet

still getting the excitement rolling

in the schoolyard and beyond;

the little beautiful darling, smart light

and pride of her parents

they had not had the time

nor to have or to inspire hatred;

they didn’t ask to come among us

still they took pleasure and reveled

in the happening of the moment

in the miracle of growing and learning.

“We cannot go back to the school,”

they said, “we don’t have a teacher anymore.”

Other teachers are trapped before death

and yet still trying to save their pupils’ lives;

parents who will never see them

their memories haunted by every instant

that preceded the fateful morning.

The most evil emblem after all

despite images of gunman toting gun

is the quiet of corporate input analysis,

the invisibility of arms-profiting dividends

the big guy that pockets the plus-value

from killings and mayhems

from families in pain;

the honorable entrepreneur hero

who produces a high-tech producing factory

that produces the AR-15 style rifle

and the elegant, sky-lurking drones

that kill miles away in the comfort

of the peaceful father in a US suburb

in the invisibility of the distance.

They hire MIT geniuses for maximum effect

those kill as magicians do

to erase all links to physicality

as if God himself had conducted the action,

metacosmic fluidity guided by laser,

and yet the blood spilled is real,

real red blood of the villagers;

they kill, the drones, with an impunity

more impenetrable than the Newtown killings

those have never paid for their deeds

because no deed was ever committed

in the absence of accountability.

Killing is never justified

although it always has a context

even a nourishing matrix

and a bad attitude

and a huge arsenal of means.

Even Halliburton which sells arms

and oil and illusions and cynicism

in the same package is innocent in this scheme:

the soul of the country wants it, they say,

the Founding Fathers wanted it, they say,

major national interests want it, they say,

it’s the continuation of the fairy tale.

They kill for the Empire

as for the nation-state

for the honor of the family

for the decimals on the bank account;

they kill because they have the means,

beautiful garments for social engineering.

Before all the tears will have dried off

and the spotlight changes focus

and the next mayhem occurs

and the memories of the twenty-six

evaporate in the air and Walmart registers

its nice cut in weapon sale

and the maniac gets to be happy

with his beautiful dispenser of horrors

and the mayor gets to show magnanimity

confronting a danger minutes after the fact

and the Guns Producer Industrial Complex

shows robust elevated patterns

and the Psychologist shows, immovable,

confirmed tendency to deviance,

hate of the mother and her doubles

and the children, product of her matrix:

casualties of madness

also of living cost challenges

innocence perished in Hell,

that’s what these children are

in the objective meanness of Globality.

They are not rare artistic marvels

for the sake of beauty, the weapons,

they are instrument to an aim

regardless of the original intent;

their function is to kill

and ease up the labor of God

manifested in sport killing

in political killing

in Mafia killing

in killing for the pleasure of the libido

testosterone in chute libre.

I invite you, my friend,

to stroll along the river way

on a full moon any night

when a warm, caressing wind penetrates

the instant, oh eternal instant!

I invite you to join in and rejoice

of the splendor of the space, its smell,

I invite you to let loose

of all the links of horrors

and the false stress

and the appetite for hideous thrills.

Before Newtown there was Oklahoma City

there were Ken State, Waco and Colorado

there were Wounded Knee and the Negrier

there were My Lai, Abu Ghraib and Fallujah

there were Hiroshima and Nagasaki

there were LaSalin and Site Solèy

all memories of past thrills.

(The children would not have died in vain

if we approach thoroughly the calamity

and its many facets; often the absurd is the problem

that has eluded conscience’s penetrating gaze.)

These little cadavers conjure you to close down

both the engines and the sustaining source of Hell;

they conjure you to sanity’s road in the face

of madness and cold-blooded interests;

they conjure you to utopia

they conjure you to elevation of the senses.

-Tontongi, Boston, January 1st, 2013

(Read other works by the author in the politico-literary review Tanbou)

Poetics From the Sandy Hook Killings

2012-12-18T08:08:00.001-08:00

When I heard the news of the massacre in the Sandy Hook Elementary School, on Friday December 14, 2012, I taught of the attempted killing of August 10, 1999, in the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, California, where 6 toddlers were shot and injured by Buford Furrow Jr., a neo-Nazi carrying a 9-millimeter semiautomatic gun. I wrote a poem and an introductory note at the time to commemorate the memory of this hideous crime.

The ghastly massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut, has inspired me its own poetic impulse which I transpose into a new poem that I am still composing at the moment (4 days after the tragedy). While awaiting its release, I’d like to share with my readers both the introductory note and the poem, written in the late summer of 1999.

An Advice-Poem From a Poet to a Pedokiller

(dedicated to the children who were shot at and wounded by a racist gunman at the Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills on August 10, 1999, and to all the other victims of that madness)

- by Tontongi

In the midst of total nothingness, absurdity and despair, I want to continue to believe in something, to still have hope in tomorrow, hope that our children will have the option to make of this world of ours a better place. It is with this desire to be part of the solution to madness that I wrote the following poem.

The poem is dedicated to the children you have hurt, killed or intended to kill, but it is most of all addressed to you, you the beautiful children you once were, but who at one point decided to hate people instead of hating the human-made adverse conditions and structures that alienate your lives.

The path you are leading us on is a dangerous path, for if we continue to demean not only other peoples’ lives but also our own and that of our children, we will surely condemn ourselves to extinction as a species. Perhaps this is what you want all along, but think twice, does it really make any sense to you? You may be crazy, but you are not a fool.

To all those of you who want to kill just for the hatred of the Other, I would like to ask this: How would you feel if your prophecies and goals were really fulfilled? Would you really like a world of “only you,” only one color shade, one physical feature, one representation of God, one single song, one literature, one single expression of love? Do you really want a world of one truth, one book, one horizon? A world where you have the moon and not the sun, the plains and not the mountains, the lands and not the oceans, the rocks and not the plants, hate and not love, death and not life? Do you really wish for a world of sweet and honey without the spices, the aroma of hotness, the libidinal high of salt? Perhaps; but you surely will be bored to death.

While I may empathize with your anger and unhappiness, the darkness that festers your despair, there is absolutely no reason to hate or harm people you have just bumped onto, much less little children who are relying upon you for guidance and support. If you, personally, really think harming them will further your cause, you are just a lost, demented soul who needs help right now. Open your heart to the person dearest to you or the moral figure you happen to respect. Please, do it now; do not wait! I want to reach you in your inner soul, your humanity, for in spite of all you’re still a human being entangled in circumstances you may not have brought on yourself but on the demarcation of which you still have some control. Remember what the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said: One can always do something about what society or circumstances have done to one.

If talking to someone doesn’t work, and you still feel the impulse to harm, do this one more thing: Go to the nearest ocean beach, bring enough food and drink for only one night; lay half-nude on the sands and watch the days and nights go by; let yourself enjoy the diabolical wonders of the sun, the calm of the moon, the changing shade of the weather and the vast freshness of the water waves; take the time to reflect on your dreams as a growing child, the pain you have endured; think of all small good deeds you have done and the grateful smile you saw in their recipients’ faces; think of the people you have hurt and of how deep in yourself you wish things were different; revive the people you have loved and the unforgettable joy they have brought in your life; think most of all of how a simple decision of yours would save many lives, avoid unnecessary pain, thereby, perhaps, contribute to the evolving fulfillment of a promising life. Continue and repeat this process of self-inquiry until you feel ready to go back to a human village — any human village — and help toward the betterment of living. Otherwise, stay on the ocean beach until you are ready or until Mother Nature recycles your body in the soil of her infinite re-nourishment of life. Perhaps going away into the nothingness of matter was your true mission in life.

Please, do not harm the children

Little gentle hands
as if playing ring-around
joined in unison together
entrusting to the adults’ guidance
their lives and fears and dreams.

They were born just yesterday
a time when joy was for them possible
they came with their vulnerability
armed if only with their hope
to receive our blissful offering.

Burn as long as you wish
the mountain will not go away
destroy all that is still living
our memory will resurface one day
and life will still be our lot.

Please, do not harm the children
you can for your tormented soul
sow new seeds to grow a new garden
tell your grandchildren a new story
share the pride that makes you cry.

If you feel you must kill — kill instead
the nightmares that engulf our world
exterminate the pain that blinds your horizon
the darkness that festers your despair
the miseries brought by human avarice.

Please, do not harm the children
those angelic lilacs of infinite wonders
breath the same air you inhale and pollute
reclaiming your wisdom and boredom
inheriting the deepness of your roots.

Please, do not harm the children
remember the cute child you once were
the marvels you wanted to conquer
the smiles you fostered on many sorrow faces
remember tomorrow is a new beginning.

(August 1999)

-Tontongi

2012-06-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

The Siege and the Killings in Homs, Houla, Hama (Syria)

(this poem is dedicated to the unrelenting resistance of the Syrian people against State oppression despite murderous carnage)

-by Tontongi

A Macabre indecency

a systematic barrage of fire

symmetric even in horror

cast a specter of death

all over the city,

maiming and killing

from the sure distance of power

power of the artillery

power of the State control

power of State immunity.

Removing the world’s agenda venom

against everything Syrian-like,

this Boston Globe’s article speaks volumes:

“During a terrifying two minutes ...

At least 22 bodies, including that of 6-year old

Mohammad Yahia Al-Wees were recovered...

And amid the rubble on the stairway of the

ground floor, 10 yards from the door and possibly

safety, lay the bodies of two foreign journalists,

Marie Colvin, and Remi Achilk...”

A macabre indecency,

but an irony of fate and history

that the Romans’ wretched,

the terrorist of time past,

special guest villain in Others-haters’ show

and in the warmongers’ holy book

that includes offspring of Saladin and of Genghis Khan,

offspring of Toussaint and the shoeless fighters

is now killing his own

in cold bloody indifference...

Conscience doesn’t discriminate

even when petrified by terror and madness,

even when horrified by fear of the unknown,

fear of the uncertainties of finitude;

fear of the cafard, the blues,

the blue blues of Macabral;

fear of saying the impolitely

correct thing that disturbs the gentry

instead of seeking clarity.

Still conscience doesn’t let fear

silence her for ever.

What’s wrong with calling for freedom

says this father whose two sons were slaughtered

early in the morning without much warning:

Freedom for the people! Freedom of conscience!

he says even though for his sons it was too late.

Conscience must not discriminate

regardless the manner the killing was performed

be it done by drones on your family villages away

or on your neighbor next door in large urban centers

like in Homs and Houla in the heart of Syria

where kids were massacred like toads

just the same the indignation should be.

Killing must not be an option

especially for a powerful State;

it should be in jure or de facto

the never acceptable mischief...

On a certain Wednesday of hell

More than 40 women and children were among

78 killed in Mazraat al-Qubeir, near Hama,

killed by remote barrage of the artillery;

those killings from the sure distance of power

power of the blunt interests of the State’s minions

power of immunity of the Syrian army

— must now cease and desist.

The people of Homs and Houla and Hama must live free!

Tontongi, June 2012

2012-01-21T15:14:00.000-08:00

Occupy Wall Street: They Cannot Destroy The Idea Nor The Ideal

-by Tontongi

Jean-Paul Sartre said he held Gustave Flaubert responsible for the repression of the Paris Commune in 1871 because he didn’t lift a finger to defend it. The same would be said of many intellos of the US intellectual Establishment, both inside and outside Academia, if they continue to be mute in the face of the mounting police repression of a peaceful protest that seeks socioeconomic equality and a better quality of life for the people.

Indeed, to judge from the brutal repression of the Occupy Wall Street movement unleashed by many US municipalities, one can deduce that the powers that be take very seriously the potential threat that it represents to the continuation of the status quo— that is the continuation of inequality, of exploitation of others’ work, of racial discrimination, of domination of Wall Street’s greed and ethos. While it has not totally articulated its liberational ideas, to judge from the likes of Michael Moore, Cornel West, and Naom Chomsky who have embraced it, the OWS demands imply also the end of reification of life, of alienation of labor, and of materialization of work’s gratification and finality.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is the single, latest good thing that happens to this country, the United States, a country that has spent the last 30 years in the embrace of cynicism and soulless robotification of the mind. The writer Naomi Klein, in a recent essay in the journal The Nation, has called the OWS movement “the best thing in the world right now,” observing that “today everyone can see that the system is deeply unjust and careening out of control. Unfettered greed has trashed the global economy. And it is trashing the natural world as well.”

It has been painful to see a dynamic country such as the United States operate on itself the putrefying process of sterilization and idioticization. To watch the debates among the Republican presidential candidates, one comes out frustrated that such a great country would have so many illuminated morons — or calculating cynics playing illuminated morons — aspiring to lead it. Many commentators think this epistemological trend started since Ronald Reagan. Or, is it the necessary sign of decline of all imperial and imperialist powers as many others conjecture?

Historical antecedence

The Occupy Wall Street movement — along with the Arab Spring despite the interference of the imperialist powers in the latter — is the embodiment of human vitality and consciousness; it is a welcoming evolution in a country accustomed to the glorification of capitalism’s wisdom and success, and to self-interested myopia that created a functioning malaise, sometimes political dead-end and existential confusion, some inspired idiots even calling it the “end of history.”

The main threat posed by the OWS movement, and the Altermondialist movement in general — that is the collective engagement for alternative, revolutionary change — is their radical repudiation of capitalism’s dogma of transcendental necessity, making the financial speculators of Wall Street and the complicity of class privilege and government corruption and intellectual cowardice, the main culprit — the 1 percent of the population — responsible for the politico-economic crisis, thus the calamity of the 99 percent others.

The OWS movement has certainly not invented protest against malfeasance — that has existed throughout history. Nor has it pioneered the struggle against the New World Order. The distinction of main inspirer of the Occupy Wall Street movement can be fairly attributed to the international anti-globalization, alternative movement that took shape in Western Europe in the 1990’s and culminated in the United States in the valorous demonstrations in Seattle, Washington, in November 1999. But not everyone agrees with that antecedence, including the Reverend Jesse Jackson who, in a January 13, 2012, essay in Huffington Post to commemorate Martin Luther King Day, has linked the OWS movement to the civil rights movement of the 1960’s: “Dr. King understood that the civil rights movement, having ended segregation and gained the right to vote, had to challenge poverty and economic inequality. In his final days, he was building a poor people's campaign, planning to bring people to the nation's capital across lines of race, religion and region to create a Resurrection City and demand economic justice. He was the true precursor of Occupy Wall Street.”

However, given the potential radicality of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the all-encompassing, liberation objectives of the Altermondialist, anti-globalization movement, which, Foucaultian, rejects all relations of power and oppression, the most plausible ancestry of the Occupy Wall Street could be traced to the Haitian Revolution, started in August 1791. This revolution has not only rejected oppression and defeated the military forces sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to restore slavery, it also, more defiantly, affirmed the notion of the universality of the human being, therefore the inherent inalienability of his/her rights.

Anti-slavery and Haitian revolutionaries such as Dutty Boukman, Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines etc., made it impossible for the colonialist powers (and their imitators, as was the United States at the time, especially in the question of slavery) to legitimize their rule while they engaged in anti-human-universality policies, like keeping human beings in bondage.

Suffice to say that the Occupy Wall Street movement is inspired and nourished by multiple sources and energies.

A new model of social contract : Attention to others’ voices and concerns

The greatest contribution of the OWS movement is its breaking of the torpor, fatalism and defeatism that permeated the US-American people’s reaction to the economic crisis and to the government’s timid, if not complicit response. Apart from being an idea to revamp the ossified discourse of normalization that accepts as divine dogma the objective conditions of oppression and inequality, the OWS movement is also an ideal that puts in evidence, through its participatory democratic practices and attention to others’ voices and concerns, the exemplar of a humanistically oriented society that considers the Other as not only an equal but also as a companion in life, an alter ego with whom one faces the tumults and uncertainties of both the instant and the future.

The ideas that inspire the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the ideals they emanate should be supported by all concerned citizens and residents. That’s bad enough to lick the hand of the oppressor, it’s doubly condemnable to help nullify or destroy the means by which you can attain your liberation. The OWS movement represents those means. At least potentially.

In summoning the people to the public space to denounce the injustice that is being done to them and in their names, the OWS movement has shifted the responsibility from private shame for supposed personal failure, as the capitalist’s infallible axiom implies, to public criminality that calls for redress. The pain and the hardship that have fallen on the people are no longer seen as fortuitous or accidental occurrence, but rather as ineluctable consequence of a systemic, sociopolitical order where economic interests of a small minority take precedence over human needs and perils.

Therefore, the solution to the current socioeconomic calamity must involve a reevaluation together of the economic rapport of production and exchange, of the financial transaction and wealth distribution — essentially the old problematic Marx has so well analyzed —, and the foundation of a new model of social contract and living together.

Another aspect of the OWS movement that is encouraging — beside its carnival of colors, lyrical songs and poetic emotions that it comes to symbolize — is the important proportion of young people that composes its leadership. Naturally, young is not necessarily good, and any progressive movement needs the wisdom of old militants to help anchor the adverse instances and channel past lessons; but the grand plurality of young people in the OWS movement is a good thing, if only for investing so overwhelmingly in the everyday functioning of the movement, and for helping articulate the ontological meaning of its being and finality, that is both its essence and raison d’être.

The cumulative effect of the multitude

Reality is already too stark and painful for us to want to sweeten it with bullshit reductionism that only perpetuates the status quo, but I cannot gloss over the historical importance of the Occupy Wall Street movement, especially in light of the so-called Arab Spring and other protest movements that topple governments around the world.

Just like Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt have demonstrated in their recent book, Commonwealth, how the cumulative effect of the multitude, that is the ultimate power of the assembling plurality of people, can help establish revolutionary change and democratic practices and policies, the OWS movement has shown its potential in building up a mass movement capable of channeling people’s suffering and anger and hope towards a different and better life (especially when they’re willing to occupy the public sphere and space with all their bio-political energy).

That was the idea behind the beginning of the first Paris Commune on July 14^th, 1789, when the multitude marched on the Bastille Prison and “occupied” it; they more precisely stormed the state prison, killed the warden, freed the prisoners, and demolished it for good effect. Three years later, they occupied the whole city, and ultimately the entire country.

The multitude’s bio-political power was also operative in the establishment of the government of the Soviets in Russia in 1917, where class privileges and power of the 1 percent trumped the rights and the well-being of 99 percent of the population; it was equally in full blown fashion during the March on Washington in 1963, when Martin Luther King and hundreds of thousands others challenged the nation to end its Jim Crow, Apartheid system and respect the civil rights of all citizens or else.

The power of the multitude was furthermore in evidence when the Haitian people, after days of mass protest in January-February 1986, deposed the 29-year old long dictatorship of the cruelly powerful Duvaliers, defying all expectations.

The OWS occupiers are heroes

I always ask myself, in the face of so much injustice and horrible conditions of living in the world, how is it we don’t have a revolution everyday. Interestingly, the deployment of the power of the multitude in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, in the spring of 2011 followed the same script as that of the Philippines and Haiti in 1986, where both countries were transitioning to democracy after decades of autocratic rules whose end was brought about by mass oppositional protest.

There’s no reason for this scenario not to repeat more often. Louis Farrakhan assembled about one million men in Washington DC on October 16, 1995. This was a powerful manifestation of political reach and influence. Unfortunately, instead of asking the multitude to demand specific redresses and power-sharing, or to storm the White House as his enemies insinuated he might do (and some more radical supporters had hoped for), Farrakhan asked them, the assembled black men, to “atone” for their supposed sins. But the powers that be didn’t underestimate the trouble-making potential of the Million-Man March. That’s why they made certain that its reach and objective didn’t reach beyond the acceptable limits (lines of the Establishment’s attack dogs denounced the Million-Man-March as being anti-women, anti-Semitic and racially inspired, and Farrakhan failed to sufficiently counteract these false allegations of his critics with an inclusive, revolutionary discourse not racially tainted).

In brief, the idea and reality of the multitude — or the commons — are well alive as attested by the so-called Arab Spring and the worldwide resonance of the Occupy Wall Street initiative. All it would take for the OWS movement to turn to an Arab Spring-type upheaval is for the multitude to join it and make it clear that they intend to stay there as long as it takes, and die for it if necessary.

The OWS occupiers are heroes and leaders who set examples for creative, revolutionary actions that are necessary to break the politico-existential apathy. To be fair, not everyone can afford the sacrifice they consented to endure, many for legitimate familial and social obligations. The rude fact, however, is that change can come only if the multitude joins the protest and demands qualitative socio-political change.

The Occupy Wall Street movement doesn’t have to confine its ambition to narrow political goals within the two-party system. Indeed, unlike this system, it has a great potential capability to help change the way we’ve been, meaning change the current status quo of inequality, oppression, exclusion, and alienation.

Naturally, the road to political conscientization and revolutionary action is paved with obstacles and self-doubt, especially in the context of the atomization of the individual and the multiple ambient, everyday life’s difficulties that discourage action, and unrelenting State and media propaganda that disqualify critical thinking. Still, it’s been a great pleasure to see that the human spirit and political conscience are alive and well.

-Tontongi, Boston, January 2012

Tontongi is the Editor of the trilingual, politico-literary journal Tanbou. He is the author of the most recent book Poetica Agwe and co-author of the newly released Anthology of Liberation Poetry.

BILINGUAL POST: The Vodou Gods’ Joy* (fragments)

2011-09-25T23:38:00.000-07:00

Between the age of three to six I lived right within the walls of a vodou perestil. The houngan of the perestil was my uncle, Kamelo, who took the helm from his mother, the powerful mambo of the oumfò, who was my mother’s paternal aunt. (…) This was a real enchanted world, with its mixture of magic, transcendance and mundane reality. It was also pure theater from the standpoint of the young child that I was. (…) My family left me on my own to comprehend the complexities of the vodou world, its rituals, its modalities, its finality and meaning.

The poem The Vodou Gods’ Joy/Rejwisans Lwa Vodou Yo, is part of my reminiscences from that period, part inventions, part reproduced dreams…Here are some fragments:

I. Reminiscences and Vision

Erzulie the coquette, charming soul,
shining beauty with a terrible spell
is the goddess of love, smiling power.
Dragon saint of all sexual prowess
defender of women’s mysterious glory
guardian and mother of the land
she covets tenderness, celestial fulfillment
in a life of tears and betrayed desires.
She is my mother and lover and wonder
the sun from the darkened horizon
the light through the tunnel of pain
she is Erzulie my sweet compañera
the transcendental link between horror
and Bad-life perturbed in non-sense;
—Erzulie the coquette, charming soul
has filtered the air with powerful magic.
Ogoun-Feray the cosmic warrior
thrives on conflicts that disturb his rest
—like a Nero with destructive follies
he sets afire the village to only play the fool
or just to convey the message of valor,
power of the loas to recoup and regroup
the last lost song from the lost spirits.
…………………………………………………….
Meanwhile Gede-Nibo would join
with all his perverted and noble majesty
along with Legba, Agasou and Shango
to explode vibration—storm open
the inner mystery of the compact universe,
reveal the orgasmic Nirvàna of Agasou’s aims
or just dance and dance and sing and laugh
to celebrate the spirit of life in bare mortality.
…………………………………………………………….
Ti-Jean Dantò conquered Long Island
from my sister’s animated basement
in a suburb numbed in self-serving distress;
he manifested himself insolent as always
by defying the law of human gravity
—just like any drunkard loa happy in ectasy.
He made my sister drink rum through her ears
until she became a born-again Christian
who rebelled and demanded a sanctified exit
to rejoin the safe gods servitors of Jesus
—she wanted just a simple peace of mind.
On any rainy day on the Caribbean shore
or near River Sous-Pyant of repulsive smell
Simbi planted a flag and solicited people
to come along and live a life of adventure
free soul and free will of maroons in search
of authenticity in a world full of joy—
they would never be seen again on Earth.
In their supreme madness the gods of Yoruba
had called on Providence and gave her
a last chance for a redeemed kingdom.
…………………………………………………………
the death celebrations while dreadful in style
were not always dark and somber and sad
even in the midst of half-alive beings
agonizing in dead-end purgatory—
all was not lost in mortal and total emptiness.
Uncle Kamelo’s death was a resurrection
accomplished in weeks of secret masses
to re-link his soul with his gwobonnanj.
Ason in left hand and lasso in right hand
the houngan exhorted the hounsi to action
all were invited to play the huge drum
placed on the top of my uncle’s bare chest
Tom!Tom! Uncle remained alive among us
long after the decrepitude of his death.
…………………………………………………………..
During the season of yam and the bright sun
Kouzen mounted his hounsi around the vèvè,
amidst casseroles of yam, dried fish and incense
—he brought nourishment to a village united
in the grace of living the splendor of the land.
After decades of being dead in absence
Zombi was resurrected in total forgetfulness,
the salt was diluted in reality’s nightmare.
………………………………………………………………….
My country is a vast land of hope and despair
immersed in the infinity of survival instincts;
I refuse to adore the gods of the West
who claim humanity for their own deliverance.
My country is the land of Cedye and Maryam,
land of the cries and pain and joy of a people
trapped in a pursuit with mystic remembrance.
…………………………………………………………….
Baka was the clown of the shrine
unpredictable sorcerer with a vengeance
and with a disarmingly cute baby smile
he made his victims pass a terrible time
in tragicomic plays of amazing fear
just to give to himself a good laugh.
On a full-moon night all over the firmament
within the no man’s land of social misery
Erzulie-Red-Eyes was dreaming in silence
her eyes fixated on the goal of freedom.
…………………………………………………………
Our loas rejoiced and let go all the pain
from the last frontier of cursed hope
Ayiti had become their temple of refuge
as they vowed their wonga would heal all
the millenia of dead souls and lost beings
—vast horizon renewed of vital energy!
And Zaka re-emerged innocent and happy
from the maldyòk of the new plantations
Devil’s deeds assembled all over his Ginen
and the peasants came en masse to witness
the marriage of Petro and Rada and Samba
in a constellation of light and beauty all over
the cosmic Pantheon of the Yoruba gods
joining hands with their long exiled kin.
Those were the soul and nanm and joy
of a land of torment craving liberation.

II. Trance of the Sun

The trance ascension was created
in anvalou rhythm and a bash of deodorant,
voice, sweat and the howl of the loas
moved by the pulsing tom-tom of Asòtò.
Ayibobo! Ayibobo! Shan Ago! Shan Ago!
Hail to the Spirits! Peace to the land!
yelled back the hounsi with white robes
and white veils—gaze vested in infinitude.
Then in a brisk move with exalted élan
absolute incarnation of immateriality,
in a cadence and mixture of water from tears
water from blood and flood and hangover vomit
and rum aroma sprayed through the mouth,
her saliva sending fire all around the poto-mitan
Mistrès the Mambo in holy majesty
executed point by point the service.
Sister Altagras was already made the horse
when she spiraled around and jumped legs spaced
all along the vèvè with gesticulating fervor.
She grabbed the jar of the hot chili pikliz
and mixed it with the rum and cried: Ayibobo!
and massaged the potion on her vaginal arteries
and they became red—red skin and red cloth,
red pepper and red blood, Ayibobo! Ayibobo!
the loa had come in vital amazement.
………………………………………………………………….
The magic had materialized and become
an unexpected recurrence of poetry everyday;
people laughed and danced and rejoiced
the candor of the divine moment—
the loas had come and gone for good
toward the immensity of life’s finality
calling for their ancestors’ redemption.
………………………………………………………….
Lenglensou! Oh he came with nothing
“Do not on my spirits call for redemption
if your soul is not impure of human sins;
do not blaspheme Sister Rada’s elation
by humanizing her loas in pretty pettiness.”
Within the impossibility of peoples’ dreams
and drama and trauma of all deceased souls,
I reunited a single moment of revelation
with a walk all through the mountain’s soil.
And I ran playfully along the sea-side curb
just for the pleasure and leisure of Dantò
—the Yoruba gods are full of joy.

(1997)
Glossary of Vodou Words and Expressions

• Agasou: From the African prince, Agasu, supposed ancestor of all Dahomeans; loa or spirit with no definite attribute; has a reputa-tion for meanness.
• Agoe or Agwe: Loa or spirit (or “mystery”) of the sea, travel, ex-ile.
• Aidawèdo or Aida Wèdo: Loa considered as the wife of Dam-balah; expression used by the believers to show admiration for the grace of this loa; also an invocation to Dambalah to bring grace in the face of life’s calamities.
• Anvalo/Yanvalou: A Vodou rhythm.
• Ason: Ceremonial rattle made from dried calabash or gourd used in most of the rituals.
• Asòtò: The largest of the three drums in a Vodou ceremony; be-lieved to have special power.
• Ayibobo: Hail to the spirit; expression of welcome to the loa.
• Baka: a minor evil spirit of the pantheon; has a reputation for scaring people just to give himself a good time.
• Baron Samdi: Spirit keeper of the cemeteries. He is usually rep-resented by the first person buried in a cemetery; a strong associate of Gede.
• Bòkò: A sorcerer or a devilish houngan.
• Dambalah or Danmbala: Dahomean deity of the sky or the rainbow, usually represented by a snake. Considered as the husband of Aidawèdo.
• Dosou: The sibling who comes right after twin siblings; he/she is believed to have exceptional power that, at critical times, can neu-tralize the overwhelming power of the twins.
• Erzulie or Èzili Dantò: Rada goddess of love, charm, wisdom.
• Èzili-Je-Wouj or Erzulie-Red-Eyes: Petro goddess of defi-ance, love, female genius.
• Gede Nibo: Familiar name of Gede, the Vodou god of the de-ceased, but also of the libido, known for his foul language and sex-ual openness.
• Gwobonnanj: The corporal, material part of a person in opposi-tion to his/her immaterial part, the tibonnanj; the zombie is the person who has retained his/her corporal part but who has lost his/her spirit, his/her soul, his/her consciousness.
• Kouzen Zaka or Cousin: Deity or spirit of the peasantry and agricultural fertility. His power is usually invoked to counter a drought or, more often, to celebrate the generosity of Mother Na-ture. Kouzen has a reputation of exhilarating quiet power and wis-dom although of a crude nature.
• Laso or frètkach: Lash made of woven agave or woven leather used in the ritual of certain Vodou ceremonies.
• Lwa or loa: Spirit or “mystery” in the Vodou religion; he/she is considered as the messenger or the intermediate between God and humans. *
• Legba: God who holds the key to the sanctuary of all the other loa; by extension, to all travels, opportunities or existential quests for happiness.
• Lenglensou: Spirit from the Petro rite; has a reputation of being cruel, vengeful, diabolical.
• Loa or Lwa: Vodou god or goddess.
• Maldyòk: Curse of bad luck (evil eye).
• Manbo or Mambo: High Priestess Vodou, with power equal to that of the houngan.
• Marasa: Twin siblings; renowned for having exceptional spiritual power.
• Master Midnight or Mèt Minwi: Dreadful spirit who usually starts his nightly walk at midnight. You’ll be dead or irrevocably cursed if you cross his path. He is sometimes identified with Baron Samdi, although Master Midnight is of a more dreadful nature.
• Nanm or Ti-bonnanj: Creole for soul but with a more complex connotation which means together soul, consciousness, spirit, clair-voyance, awareness and cognitive faculty. Often referred as the “es-sence” of an individual; the zonbi is the one who has lost that es-sence.
• Ogatwa: A small Vodou shrine, usually in the form of a small cabinet the believer keeps at home.
• Ogoun Balagi: Other configuration of Ogoun; he’s sometimes referred as the brother of Ogoun Feray.
• Ogoun Feray: Dahomean god of iron and fire; he’s usually seen with a machete or a sword. He’s also a metaphor for the peasant’s revolutionary spirit.
• Ounfò: Peristil or temple of the Vodou.
• Oungan or Houngan: High priest of Vodou, with power com-parable to that of the manbo.
• Ounsi or Hounsi: Initiated, important practicing member of Vodou in whose body the loa manifests him/herself.
• Papa Doc: Nickname of Haitian dictator François Duvalier; re-lating to his medical profession before becoming president of Haiti (1957–1971).
• Pè Savann: a lay person, half Catholic priest, half hounsi who usually officiates the last rite to the dead at the cemetery during fu-nerals.
• Petro: Vodou rite from northern Congo, designated after a houn-gan named Don Pedro, from the south of Haiti; it is known as the “hot” side of Vodou, associated with fire and healing power capable of defeating adversarial forces.
• Poto-mitan: The center post in a peristil (Vodou temple); it has special significance as the rallying point of the loa.
• Rada: Vodou rite from the Dahomean village Arada, known as the “soft,” “cool” side of Vodou.
• Rivyè Sous Pyant: A Haitian river whose name means “smelling river;” it is famous for its healing power which attracts thousands of Vodouists every year. The nasty smell of the river reinforces its magic power; luck is expected to come after one bathes in the river.
• Samba: A Vodou rhythm, possibly related to the word for poet-musician from the inhabitants of Pre-Colombian Haiti.
• Sèvitè: Believer, adherent practicing the Vodou.
• Shango or Chango: Loa of thunder from the petro rite; re-puted for violence.
• Ti-Jean Dantò /Ti-Jean Petro: loa usually associated with good luck; has a reputation of fairness but also of firmness. Repre-sented (as most of the loa) in both rada and petro rites.
• Vèvè: Ritual graphics or drawings to express welcoming disposi-tion to the loa; there’re usually placed on the floor of the oumfò, preferably around the potomitan.
• Wanga or Ouanga: A fetish or magical mixture made specifi-cally by a bòkò to punish a targeted person or to attract good luck.
• Zombi, Zombie or Zonbi: Person presumably killed by a Vodou spell. The “dead” will be resurrected in a half dead-half alive state of semi-consciousness which makes him/her malleable by the “bòkò” (a Vodou sorcerer) who had induced the “death.” However, if the zonbi tastes salt, he/she will regain normal consciousness and, often, fight back.
* The majority of the loa’s names are masculine, but more often the loa doesn’t show any particular sexual identity. Many of the loa with feminine characteristics such as Èzili and Aidawèdo have a comparable power to loa with masculine characteristics such as Danmbala and Ogoun.
* This poem was first published as a bilingual (English–Haitian) collection in 1997. It was republished in 2011 in my book Poetica Agwe.

VÈSYON HAITIAN CREOLE
Rejwisans lwa vodou yo* (fragman)
Entwodiksyon
Lè m te ant laj twa ak si zan, mwen te viv nan yon perestil vodou. Oungan perestil la te monnonk Kamelo, pitit madan Ogis, manbo mètrès oumfò a, ki li te matant bò papa manman mwen. (…) Lavi nan perestil la te kouwè dewoulman yon rèv nan yon dekò ki melanje maji, ekzaltasyon ak reyalite maldyòk. Fanmi mwen te kite m poukont mwen pou m chache konprann sans fondamantal tout sa ki t’ap pase nan perestil la (siyifikasyon, rezon ki deyè e finalite seremoni yo).
Powèm nan Rejwisans Lwa Vodou yo / The Vodou Gods’ Joy, se souvenans sou peryòd sa a nan vi mwen, souvenans ki melanje kèk kote envansyon atistik ak repwodiksyon rèv mwen…Men kèk fragman ladan yo :

I. Sonjri Vizyon
Cham koketri manmzèl Èzili
mawonnen tout mwèl bonnanj nou ;
bèl fanm deyès k’ap fè lanmou fleri,
li se tou Sent Mari ak Amazòn bèl sen
k’ap selebre mistè pouvwa fanm Ginen.
Li gade e pwoteje lakou a
li ban nou tandrès nan lavi kèmare
li fè n kado lesyèl nan lapenn.
Èzili se fanm mwen
Èzili se nanm mwen
Èzili se manman m
li louvwi e kouvwi solèy pou blayi frechè
sou tout kretyenvivan ki bezwen ladousè.
Èzili se limyè ki kontinye klere anba tè
li se bèl ti cheri an mwen
li melanje lagras ak maji zansèt yo
pou depoudre poud malediksyon,
O Èzili, fanm kokèt cham zespri libere !
wonga ou pirifye oksijèn souf lavi !
Ogoun-Feray se yon sòlda mawon
yo voye pou defann jistis inivèsèl ;
rasin li tranpe nan tout kontmaltaye
ki kreye tansyon sou latè kou lesyèl
pou l blayi dife kouwè Neron nan Ròm.
Ogoun mande pou lwa yo pran pouvwa
e pou yo pa chante chan bliye nanm pèdi.
………………………………………………….
Papa Gede-Nibo te mèt tout koze nan lakou
ki konn tout sa ki pral oubyen ki ka rive ;
li jwenn avèk Legba, Agasou e Shango
pou louvwi baryè pou mòtèl san lafwa.
Lespri li te terib si w pa ka kontante l
si w pa ba l mayi ak diri ak bweson
l ap fè tonè gwonde nan vant solèy klere ;
si w pa selebre grandyozite glwa li
si w pa satisfè chimè mistè Gede
le san ap vin koule sou latè malakwa.
Ti-Jean te rwa Long Iyland nan Nouyòk
anba besment lakay sè m manbo dirijan ;
Ti-Jean konn fè sè m bwè ronm nan zòrèy
jiskaske li vin di Abraham di sètase !
Manmzèl fè l pwotestan pou sèvi lòt Bondye ;
li pa t fasil pou li pou l te viv nan lakwa,
nan redevans anvè lespri lwa temerè.
Ou pat ka wè Simbi san ou pa disparèt
devan similak sen l louvri pou l tante w ;
bèl mouda l dirije w vè paradi nan dlo
pou fè w viv mèvèyman lanmou etènèl :
Yo pap janm tande pale de ou ankò
paske nanm ou vin delalay nan absans,
Simbi dezoryante w kou yon vivi nan dlo
detounen w kou oun bakoulou yo pran.
Menm seremoni pou akonpaye mò yo
malgre tristès vwal nwa alantou lakwa
malgre tètchaje nan lakou pigatwa
te selebrasyon pou salye cham lavi.
Yo te resisite monnonk Kamelo
anvan menm lanmò te reklame l
lamès nwa te dire sèt semèn
pou rekole gwobonnanj andetrès
avèk tibonnanj li ki te deja nan wout ;
ason nan men goch e laso nan men dwat
ougan an kòmande tout hounsi kanzo yo
pou plase asòto sou lestomak monnonk
pou tout moun vin bat yon rit petro-nibo
Tam ! Tam ! Tam ! monnonk te ret anvi
menm apre dèzane dekrepitid lanmò.
……………………………………………………
Nan sezon yanm sezon solèy leve
nan anbyans kasròl pwason seche
melanje ak odè lafimen ansans
vèvè alawonn zantray potomitan
Kouzen monte hounsi l kou yon bòzò
e di tout moun gen dwa pou yo manje
dwa pou yo dòmi e reve
dwa yo pou selebre bèlte grandè Ginen.
Jete dlo ! Jete dlo ! lespri yo konvoke
pou ranvwaye movezè ka mèt li—
yon ti van te soufle pou beni gwosès,
beni mèvèyman manmzèl lavi ;
gwosès pou delivrans solèy nan nofraj
pou viktwa sou kochma lapenn lamizè ;
verite kont malpouwont malmaske.
Zonbi te retounen je-klere
apre syèk pèdisyon nan lakou Ozanfè
sirèt li te souse nan govi Agasou
te pwazon chita tann kou pwa tann
ki te fè li kaba anvan menm l te jonnen.
Aidawèdo ! Aidawèdo ! Oye Dambalah !
zonbi te rele pou l reprann konsyans.
……………………………………………………..
Peyi m se latè mouye ki jèmen lespwa
menm nan kalamite nan Zafra ;
nou refize adore sen ki pat sot nan govi
sen ki pa konn chay bourik nan ravin.
Peyi m se peyi Cedye ak Maryela-San-Fil
moun nan tristès k’ap viv nan lajwa
moun san jodi k’ap viv pou demen
elevasyon pou bay kreyasyon yon rezon.
…………………………………………………………
Lè Baka ap fè w ri
se lè pou w sou gad ou
dan l griyen kou timoun inosan
l’ap vin fè mwèl sot nan nanm ou
cheve w drese san w tresayi ak perèz
pou l sèlman rele : Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! Ah !
Nan yon lalin briye nan syèl nwa
……………………………………
ki kouvri lanfè mizè malè
Èzili-Je-Wouj t’ap reve an silans
sou batay pou livre pou delivre lavi.
Vijilans entelijans se zye kalvè pèp
Je-Wouj te zye limyè nou
nourisman lafwa nou
zam aspirasyon nou
sajès destriksyon ouragan !
……………………………………………..
Lwa nou yo konbat lapenn
pou sove inosans nan chagren ;
Ayiti te refij yo
perestil enspirasyon yo ;
yo kwè nan lagras wonga byenfektè
ki kapab geri nanm pèdi nan nofraj ;
yo kwè nan lavi libere—enèji degaje
pou kreye yon lòt etènite.
Zaka te retounen inosan kè kontan
apre yo te lage l nan prizon plantasyon ;
mechan yo te pèdi konba a
peyizan te regwoupe an mas
pou selebre maryaj petro-rada-samba
nan konstelasyon bèlte toupatou ;
lwa yo reprann kontwòl tout linivè
yo jwenn pitit esklav sou latè degrade
pou fòme yon gepye lespri revòlte.
Sa a se listwa nanm lajwa pèp mwen
k’ap goumen pou libere latè.
II. Solèy ki pran lwa
Sekous ak sekous sou yon rit anvalou
tout bagay transfòme kou yon monte-osyèl
nan santè pafen, swe kò ak rèl aplodisman
plis asòtò k’ap bat Tam ! Tam ! Tam ! Tam !
Ayibobo ! Ayibobo ! Shan ago ! Shan ago !
hounsi yo reprann nan linison
vwal ak ròb blanch yo al voltije nan van
zye yo vire kou nwaj k’ap janbe lespas.
Sibitman tout moun vin sispandi anlè
san kò san pwa san gwo bonnanj, Ayibobo !
tanbou a limenm ak kontinye ap bat
nan yon imateryalite benyen nan dlo zye
dlo san ak vomi bwesonyè malmakak
plis gagari poufe kleren blanch
chwal lwa maspinen sou zòt san respè ;
saliv li kalonnen dife toutalantou vèvè
sou tout potomitan manm vanyan ;
lwa a entèvni avèk tout majeste l
ansanm ak manbo a ki transfòme an gid
pou mennen sèvis la jiskobou ;
lwa a pandansetan te deja moute
chwal sò Altagras k’ap lanse pa ki long
li ponpe—l li lanse l isit, li lanse l la
epi li chita janm li louvri bò vèvè a,
li vire anwon souplalsòl oumfò a
epi l leve e grape yon gwo boutèy piman
melanje l avè ronm e rele, Ayibobo !
li vide l nan pla men l yon mannyè deside
e li badijonnen nan tout tipati li. Ayibobo !
Ayibobo ! Ayibobo ! li rele nan oun ton fò ;
sa Bondye ba li a te vin wouj dife
wouj piman pike, wouj san, Ayibobo !
lwa a te vini avèk elevasyon.
……………………………………………………..
E pwezi te blayi nan tout katye a
nan yon tyaka maji wouj ak mirak
moun yo t’ap ri danse rejwi kò fatig la
nan yon moman divinite k’ap jwi ak lavi
lwa yo te vini e ale pou tout bon
rejwenn mistè sa lespri yo ye e vle ;
yo fè yon ti dènye koze anvan yo te ale
ki mande pou zansèt reprann lòlòj yo.
……………………………………………………….
Lenglensou te vini san anyen (…)
men l te mande defann pirite zespri yo
li di : « Pa mande zespri yo redamsyon
si ou pa pechè ki vle chanje chimen w
w’a plase pikan nan asansyon Sò Rada
si w imanize lwa l yo pou jebede touris »
li sèmante pou l travay pou lavi vin pi bèl.
Menm nan mitan enposibilite revri
nan yon mond ki pyeje avèk trajedi
zespri k’ap trepase nan dram e dezespwa
mwen mande pou yon timoman libere
yon pwomnad nan mwèl sen forè a
oubyen yon jwèt lago bò laplaj lanmè a
pou m sèlman fè plezi ak Dantò
—zespri yo konn viv rejwisans lavi.
(1997)
Glosè (definisyon) mo ak ekspresyon vodou
• Agasou : Mo ki deziye prens afriken, Agasu, yo di ki se zansèt tout Dahomeyen ; lwa oubyen zespri ki pa gen ankenn karaktè patikilye ; lwa sa a gen repitasyon mechan.
• Agoe oubyen Agwe : Loa, mistè lanmè, vwayaj, ekzil.
• Aidawèdo : Loa ki konsidere tankou madanm Aidawèdo. Ekspresyon vodou pratikan itilize pou montre admirasyon gras lwa sa a, ansanm ak Danmbala pou li pote gras anfas kalamite lavi.
• Anvalou oubyen Yanvalou : Yon rit dans vodou.
• Ason : Yon tchatcha pou seremoni yo fè avèk kalbas sèch e ki itilize nan tout sèvis rityèl vodou.
• Asòtò : Tanbou ki pi gwo pami twa tanbou nan seremoni ; pratikan yo kwè li gen yon pouvwa espesyal.
• Ayibobo : Salitasyon pou zespri yo ; espresyon ki itilize pou bay lwa yo onè-respè (labyenveni).
• Baka : yon ti lwa ki pa two grade nan panteyon oubyen tanp donè vodou a ; lwa sa a gen repitasyon li renmen fè moun pè pou l ka pase moun lan nan tenten.
• Baron Samdi : Mistè ki se gadyen tout simityè. Li jeneralman kou premye moun ki antere nan yon simityè ; li se yon gwo asosye Gede.
• Bòkò : Yon sòsye oubyen yon oungan ki fè wout lemal.
• Dambalah oubyen Danmbala : Mistè dahomeyen pou syèl, lespas oubyen lakansyèl, li reprezante sou fòm koulèv. Konsidere tankou mari Aidawèdo. • Dosou : Timoun ki fèt apre yon marasa ; yo di li gen pouvwa espesyal ki kapab, nan moman kritik, netralize menm pouvwa espesyal marasa yo. • Erzulie oubyen Èzili Dantò : Mistè rada pou lanmou, koketri, sajès. • Èzili-Je-Wouj : Mistè petro pou temerite, lanmou, jeni fanm. • Gede Nibo: Tinon jwèt Gede ki se mistè lanmò, men ki ka tou reprezante libido (enèji seksyèl), ouvèti seksyèl ; li renmen di betiz.
• Gwobonnanj : Pati kò yon moun, ann opozisyon avèk pati espirityèl li, tibonnanj li ; yon zonbi se yon moun ki kenbe pati gwo kò li men ki pèdi lespri li, nanm li, konsyans li.
• Kouzen Zaka oubyen senpleman Kouzen : Mistè ki reprezante peyizan, agrikilti, semans. Pratikan yo rele pouvwa li pou l vin pote fètilite nan moman sechrès oubyen pou selebre jenewozite Manman Lanati. Kouzen gen repitasyon yon lwa ki gen yon pouvwa trankil chaje ak sajès, menmsi pafwa li yon ti jan ròk.
• Laso oubyen Frètkach : Kòd a manch yo fè avèk pit trese oubyen kui trese yo sèvi nan sèvis anpil seremoni vodou.
• Legba : Mistè ki gade kle tout oumfò/peristil tout lòt lwa yo ; pa ekstansyon ki gade kle tout vwayaj, opòtinite, rechèch, bonè ekzistansyèl.
• Lenglensou : Mistè rit petro, li gen yon repitasyon mechanste, renmen fè vanjans, mannyè dyabolik. • Loa oubyen Lwa : Espri oubyen « mistè » nan relijyon vodou ; yo konsidere l tankou mesaje oubyen entèmedyè ant Gran Papa/Bondye ak moun.*
• Maldyòk : move sò, malchans.
• Manbo oubyen Mambo : Grann pretès vodou, li gen menm pouvwa avèk yon oungan.
• Marasa : frè jimo oubyen sè jimèl ; yo gen repitasyon yo gen pakèt pouvwa espirityèl.
• Mèt Minwi : Zespri redoutad ki renmen mache nan lari chak minwi. W’ap vin mouri oubyen w’ap vin gen move sò tonbe sou ou si ou kwaze li nan chimen ou. Pafwa yo pran l pou Baron Samdi, byenke Mèt Minwi gen yon karaktè ki pi redoutad.
• Nanm oubyen Ti-bonnanj : Tibonnanj siyifi nanm men li gen lòt sans ki pi konplèks ki vle di pran konsyans, lespri, klèvwayans, vijilans, fakilte konesans. Souvan yo refere de li kouwè « esans » yon endividi. Yon zonbi se yon moun ki pèdi tibonnanj li.
• Ogatwa : Yon ti kote beni pou adore mistè a, li reprezante souvan sou fòm yon ti kabinè pratikan an kenbe lakay li.
• Ogoun Balagi : Yon lòt non pou Ogoun ; yo pafwa refere avè l tankou frè Ogoun Feray.
• Ogoun Feray : Mistè dahomeyen pou fè e dife ; ou toujou wè l avèk yon manchèt oubyen yon epe. Li se yon metafò (yon lòt fason pou reprezante) lespri revolisyonè peyizan an.
• Ounfò: Peristil oubyen tanp vodou.
• Oungan oubyen Houngan : Gwo monpè ou prèt vodou, li gen menm pouvwa avèk yon manbo.
• Ounsi oubyen Hounsi : Yon initye, sèvitè, yon manm enpòtan vodou trè souvan lwa a chwazi pou li monte sou li.
• Papa Dòk oubyen Papa Doc : Tinon jwèt diktatè François Duvalier, ki refere ak pwofesyon medikal li anvan l te vin prezidan Ayiti (1957–1971).
• Pè Savann : Yon pè san òdinasyon, mwatye katolik, mwatye hounsi, youn nan fonksyon prensipal li se chante libera moun ki mouri nan simityè diran entèman.
• Petro : Rit vodou ki soti nan zòn nò Okongo, non an soti de yon oungan ki te rele Don Pedro nan zòn sid Dayiti ; yo konsidere li tankou kote « cho » nan vodou, li asosye avèk dife, avèk pouvwa pou li kwape fòs advèsè l yo.
• Poto-mitan : Poto ki nan mitan yon peristil ; li gen yon siyifikasyon espesyal antanke kote tout lwa yo konvoke.
• Rada : Rit vodou ki soti nan yon vilaj dahomeyen ki rele Arada ; li konsidere tankou kote « mou », « cool » vodou.
• Rivyè Sous Pyant : Yon rivyè ann Ayiti ki trè santi (non li soti de fransè « source puante »); li trè koni akoz de pouvwa pou trete moun malad yo di l genyen ; chak ane plizyè milye pratikan vodou al fè pelerinaj la. Odè santi rivyè a ranfòse nan zye pratikan yo pwisans majik yo di l genyen ; yo di si ou benyen ladann l’ap pote chans pou ou.
• Samba : Yon rit vodou, se posib non li ka vini de jan Endyen anvan Kristòf Kolon yo te bay powèt ak mizisyen ann Ayiti.
• Sèvitè : Kwayan ki pratike vodou.
• Shango oubyen Chango : Lwa, mistè ki reprezante loraj nan rit petro vodou a ; li gen repitasyon vyolan.
• Ti-Jean Dantò oubyen Ti-Jean Petro : Yon lwa yo asosye avèk bòn chans ; li gen repitasyon yon lwa ki renmen jistis, men ki renmen montre fèmte. Li reprezante nan toulède rit vodou yo, rada e petro.
• Vèvè : Desen ou grafik ki siy labyenveni pou lwa yo, ou souvan wè vèvè yo layite atè oumfò a, bò potomitan an de preferans.
• Wanga oubyen Ouanga : Yon fetish oubyen talisman oubyen yon asanblay majik yon bòkò prepare espesyalman pou l pini you moun yo make oubyen pou atire bòn chans.
• Zombi oubyen Zonbi : Yon moun ki sipoze mouri pa wonga vodou. Bòkò ki te « tiye » moun lan resisite l e kenbe l nan yon eta demi-konsyan, mwatye mouri, mwatye anvi pou l ka fè l fè tout sa bòkò a vle. Men, si zonbi a t’a vin goute sèl, l’ap reprann konsyans li e, souvan, goumen ak bòkò a.
* Majorite non loa yo gen karaktè maskilen, men anpil fwa tou lwa yo pa montre yon idante seksyèl an patikilye. Anpil loa a karaktè feminen tankou Èzili ak Aidawèdo gen menm pwisans avèk lwa a karaktè maskilen kouwè Danmbala ak Ogoun.
* Powèm sa a te pibliye pou premye fwa kou yon rekèy bileng (ayisyen e anglè) an 1997.Li te repibliye an 2011 nanliv mwen an Poetica Agwe.

O.J. and Me: The Take of the Poet

2010-12-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

First, a warning: The following poem was composed before the not-guilty verdict concluding the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson. Naturally that verdict ruined the poem, since its credibility and authenticity rested on the firm assumption that O.J. was guilty as charged, conformingly to the circumstances presented and alleged during the trial, and taken at face value. Therefore the O.J. here discussed is a fictional O.J., reinvented by my subjective hypothesis of what the truth is, independently of the legal judgment or of the real truth of the matter.

Second, while the subsequent verdict by the civil court ruling Simpson’s “responsibility” in the death of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman has somewhat reinstated the credibility of my guilt assumption in the poem, it also left me angry by the realization that justice—as search for the truth and correction of wrongdoings—was being perverted by people’s emotions and perceptions, and by the Machiavellianism of the arcane justice system. The death of Brown and Goldman was not really properly adjudicated per se at the end, neither, possibly, were the perpetrator or perpetrators irrefutably proven and punished.

In any case, as with the Von Bulow or the Rodney King cases—and regardless of its application in instances that pleased our ideological bias—a justice system which needs two trials (with two opposite outcomes and two sets of standards) to establish justice, must be a system of injustice. Whatever our empathy for the stricken families of the dead and our admiration for a father’s strong-mindedness in single-handedly seeking justice for the death of his son, amidst tremendous odds; and however captivating was the theatrics of the drama or demeaning was the process, the Simpson’s trials have demonstrated, if anything, that the US justice system remains a Janus, with two faces: One for the poor and one for the rich; one for Black and one for White; one for men and one for women; one for the politically connected and one for the excluded. A justice system unduly influenced by the multiple relations of power in the socio-economic sphere of human interaction, creating a general climate of mystification and untrustworthiness, thus disproving US society’s ideals of itself as a nurturing unit in the pursuit of life’s splendors. Despite our fundamental differences in wealth and material acquisition, O.J. and I have a lot in common. He is Black and male, so am I. He is an athlete, I am a poet: We both deal with elements, space, time, contingency, hazard, dreams, and speed. Speed?… Rather mistrust of the fast lane-life, for my part.

When I first heard the news of the murders, I cried for this one more romance turned hellish and nightmarish. I cried for Nicole, this beautiful woman—who was once an innocent and angelic girl—when she faced her assailant, with his look of perdition, destruction, full of mortuary passion. Her sudden life’s ending let me with a bitter feeling of a life stopped by un-necessary, un-needed and arbitrary situation. Had she woken up on another day, in different circumstances, his gaze could have been one of joy, beauty, inspiring trust, pleasure, a sense of showering in the sun and caressed by the wind, wind and hands of her man, handsome man, charnel creature who would tell her: “I love you.” I also cried for that young and innocent man, Ronald Goldman, who was apparently put, by the contingency of a mere chance encounter (or un-beknownst to us all, by other mysterious causality), between the cross-fire of passion and destruction.

I also cried, of course, for O.J., that man who suffers in silence, in the deepness of his soul and heart; a man who has lost everything that is really dear to him, including his own connection to himself. Despite my assumption of his guilt of the monstrous crime, I empathize with his terrible loss, for this man is the most miserable one among all the tragedy’s protagonists. Faced with his own conscience, probable exclusive receptacle of the ultimate truth, he becomes the undesirable hero of an unwanted drama that transcends his own apprehension of the unfolding events. He becomes an object, passive figurant in a worldwide absurd theater. A fallen hero.

Of course, a fallen hero doesn’t a fallen destiny make. As the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said, one can always make something different—by mere will power, by a claim of freedom or a sense of drama,—of what is prescribed by the existential and social determinism of the existing social order. O.J. was sociologically destined, both by the structural construct of this order, and within the historical confine of the time, to be at best a hustler, possibly a resigned poor man, but certainly not a hero. His short-cutting foray into becoming a celebrated sport hero didn’t erase the fact that his success only illustrates the rules of the game: The chances are not every single Black man in the United States would become a sport hero, even though they’d want to. In any case, sport is a safe category that doesn’t need much soul searching. It’s a spectator’s pleasure activity for which the personal odyssey of the athlete is totally irrelevant, much less his political or historical context.

As was the case for most famous black athletes, notably Muhammad Ali and Nascimento Pele among them, the Establishment’s acclaim for the black athletic hero is always lived as a phenomenal, exceptional, even accidental occurrence, which together satisfies its phantasms of glory and its need of a contented self-conscience. Interestingly enough O.J. Simpson and Malcolm X come from, basically, the same historical, ethnic and social background, but while one was celebrated by the so-called mainstream Establishment, the other was perceived as its worst nemesis. While one has inoculated his soul with the fast lane splendor of the American dream, the other launched himself into the unknowns of political rebellion to force justice on the land and freedom for his people. Both are, however, survivors of the same dysfunctional, socio-economic reality from two different angles.

That one was killed as a martyr and the other vilified as a villain, says a good deal of the US spectacle culture. Make no mistake, however: their common blackness is just a small part, a referential epithet in the overall signification of the drama. The fact is that most down-trodden men and women of this society—be they black or white or yellow—share the fundamental alienation of these two men’s destinies by the constant tick-tack of validation between success and failure, representativity and exclusion, acknowledgement and oblivion, celebrity and invisibility, poverty and wealthiness, necessity and contingency, plenitude and imcomplétude, being and nothingness.

Neither the old-time chivalry of the noble classic era, nor the chic of the Post-modernist nihilistic dogma of today, has a remedy for the soul. Killing for my love is no different from killing for my property or killing for my glory and my image: the well-being of the soul is despondent of the nutrients with which it has been fed. Emptiness creates artificiality which in turn creates alienation and heartlessness.

Ironically, independently of his ultimate guilt or innocence, we make O.J. hold the key to our understanding of what occurred that fateful night: but he can also foul us by claiming either innocence or guilt. The sadness of the situation is that whatever the truth behind the dual verdict will prove to be, O.J. will always have to deal with his losses: the loss of a woman he loved, the loss of his children’s trust, the loss of his status of hero. Hero or villain O.J. will never again live in peace.

Naturally, in this matrix of virtuality and reality interceded in a symbiotic madness of wealth, power, sexuality, racism and plasticity, love ceases being a simple joy of being in the company (or the memory) of the beloved Other, be they a sister, a cousin, a friend, a lover, or a spouse; it ceases being the joy of experiencing a moment of transcendental elation with any beautiful human being who brings to your per-sonal existence a little human warmth.

In the end, stripped of its cosmic element, unrepresented in the high drama, love’s “got nothing to do with it,” as the Tina Turner song goes. It becomes an expression of a narcissistic game, a manipulated pawn in a relation of power—as if love the tender, the sweet honey, love the subliminal splendor, love the erotic trance, happiness translated in a feeling of actual well-being, had created a kind of alternated malicious sublimity, a transubstantiated eroticism made of human negations. That devi-ated love would kill on a certain day when it is faced with its reflection of existential boredom, its lacking of purpose, its emptiness, its imcomplétude of being. It will kill because it finds itself far away from the soul, penetrated by terrestrial impulses, taken by a huge force of total destruction. Alienated.

Alienated by a cosmic and social epistemology within the confines of political expediency, for which fundamental issues like life and death, suffering, happiness and human destiny are devalidated, relegated to fantasy category, dismissed as doctrinal orthodoxy coming from obscure preachers lacking the right credentials. While, of course, humans are being marketed as computer data, stupid consumers for whom no manipulation technique is absurd enough to demerit their monies—and their souls.

Today we are already being designated for mass human cloning. Perhaps we will need no mother’s mound, her uterus, her nourishing breast, nor the father’s sperm or parental wisdom, to make us grow and prosper. Can we break away from such a nightmare and build a new human perspective based on the assumption that we can recreate our lives conformingly to our liberational aspirations? That is the question.

Very fortunately, the human spirit always reaches a certain breaking point where it cannot take it anymore, and acts to change the mess—be it in a decade, a century or a millennium. Human cloning, human marketing and human devaluation may be the most trendy achievement that is offered to us today, but we also know that the concept of human redemption—cherished by the religions—is the same as the notion of liberation cherished by the revolutionary movements: a stage of humanization of life, which together encompasses and reformulates all adventures, misfortunes and aspirations of the human soul toward the realization of the dream of being.

We shall not return to the Stone Age because we invented High Technology; we must use High-Tech to help realize the dreams of the Stone Age. After all, why would we want to clone a multiplicity of the same when the sample is in such a state of dismay and decay? It’s sad that the Simpson story was such a compelling story of our time. This world of ours would be a much better world if we had devoted the same amount of attention and concern to the plight of the homeless as we had devoted to the problematic of O.J.’s guilt and innocence. The troubles of the factory worker who has no future in a system of structural exploitation; the confusion of the teen-age mother denounced as a sin-ner in a society of pseudo-parental virtue; the nightmare of the homosexual deprived of a nurturing space; the ghetto girl and boy excluded from the American Dream; the immigrant lost in a virtual and multilateral reality that devaluates his or her sense of being; the proud woman trapped in the male-dominated world of so-called penis envy and pussy reification, would be better off if the O.J. story were just a story. By default of a more nurturing and humanized cosmos tending to real human happiness, we made of the O.J. story our story, while, in fact, it is just the illustration of our nothingness. There must be another way.

Elegies to the Simpson Madness

He killed her one hundred times before
when he told her he loved her as a bird
lost in the wonderment and madness of being.
Adventurer in hell trapped by his own ego,
he descended into the pavement, his soul
had forgotten the path to the infinite space,
to the vast cosmos—celestial transcendence.

He killed because his heart was petrified
by the nostalgia coming from the time passed;
time of love under the pine trees, in open sky,
sensual and sweet moment of ultimate pleasure
when the unity of being and the grace of her flesh
were in enamoring trance with the sun.
—He killed when he was no longer just a dream.

He killed because killing has then become
the purest expression of the male’s power trip,
ero-sacrificial ritual for the fucked-up lovers
bent on destroying the pleasure principle
just to place their unhappiness in a museum.
He killed when beauty was an ideal no more,
when his heart changed suddenly to stone.

He killed when he became a prisoner
restricted in the confines of a miniature cell,
narrow road on a too fast a lane to nowhere,
to the infinite finitude of a morbidity
escaping the artificiality of the naked matter.
His endurance had conquered the magic
only to let it sleep under a zombie spell.

He killed when his love told him in disgust
that all will from now on be a disaster,
dreams changed to nightmare; hailed freedom
for a regained dignity of an oppressed soul,
would end at the tunnel of the Impossible.
O! Valorous courage to attain transcendence
within the nothingness of a dead-end corner!

While the elixir of the Simpson’s drama
was instilled in our veins of spectator guinea-pigs,
soon as the spotlight was on, fixated on the scripts
of myopia and self-hate hailed as entertainment,
you and I were reduced to primal contingence,
ideal consumers for marketing scheme
—happy recipients of soap-opera epics.

While we were dazed off by the Simpson’s pills
zealous legislators were deciding in silence
of our fate and virtues for the next millennium;
innocent men were found guilty as charged
because of their profiles of terrorist bandits;
groups of tenants ended up on the streets
due to downsizing of Wall Street’s junk bonds.
Mortuaries of broken bones, dry tears,
children killed in absence, their dreams depleted,
betrayed within the bureaucratic grandiosity.

Teen-aged mothers were made the enemies
to scapegoat scandalous bilking of the civic trust
by those who take our world as their own domain.
This was a time when suffering was made a crime.
In this diabolical mess smiles changed to swears
while love was reduced to mundane etiquette,
the ideal family was thrown trough the window
for mass consumption and anthropophagy
of a public conditioned to applauding bad-taste
—Magnificence of mediatic happiness,
defiance, defeat and death of a sad romance.

This had begun a long time ego, since the time
when the proud profiteers were made the saviors
of the exotic land—aiming for spatial conquest
and redemptive prayer for life’s degradation
in usurped lands and souls, death in the desert,
amid laments of despair of whole communities
whose souls were eaten by hunger and pain.
It began when we killed the dream and installed
in its stead a computer center to quantify progress
and dis-qualify whatever emotional in-put
or humanly feeling which distracts production.

After they had killed the ideal and the dream,
the law of the jungle became the mainstream,
global madness, false ecstasy in a hellish Nirvana.
Hatred for the self and the Other’s self, eternal
purgatory in Bad-life—and killing will follow,
for we are being told that is the only way, the way
of a soul so distraught that it needs to destroy.
The cops might have been happy, adrenalin risen,
to have hero-figure O.J. feed their prejudices
and keep peace on the land without a fanfare.

O.J. has reincarnated what he was made to be
from the start in a hatred-dominated world,
world of losers who kill wives and girlfriends,
deviants who make love under a freezing sea
beyond the frontiers of Apartheidized lives
and who kiss and yell and dream and cry,
living in constant displacement and defiance.
World of teen-age mothers giving birth
in vast cemeteries paved with grey boredom;
metamorphosis of a boy in an asshole killer
or a pimp who uses charm to collect his dues
and terror if love failed to impose blindness;
surreal manipulator with majestic prestige,
athletic hero edge from Hollywood canon
—phantasms of a universe with no dream.
Celebrate all the protagonists’ histories,
but leave in peace the dead and the living
who share the emptiness of common fate.

The O.J.’s tale is not our history—it is
the lost memory of our depravation;
the mountain’s cloud hiding the beauty.
Who will sing the song of the awakened dead?
Who will throw the first stone at O.J.?

(Boston, 1995–1997)

These essay and poem are extracted from my book, Poetica Agwe : Essays, Poems and Testimonials on Resistance, Peace, and the Ideal of Being, released in December 2010. You can purchase it at amazon.com.

Cet essai et ce poème sont extraits de mon livre, Poetica Agwe : Essais, poèmes et témoignages sur la résistance, la paix et l'idéal d'être, paru en décembre 2010. Vous pouvez vous le procurer amazon.com.

La France doit restituer à Haïti la rançon de l'indemnité

2010-08-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

L’annonce qui a fait croire que le Quai d’Orsay allait restituer aux Haïtiens l’indemnité que la France leur avait recelée de 1825 à 1947, contre sa reconnaissance de l’indépendance d’Haïti, était bien sûr un canular, celle-ci n’ayant pas encore honoré même son engagement au fonds mis sur pied pour la reconstruction d’Haïti par les Nations unies à la suite du tremblement de terre du 12 janvier, 2010. Mais ce canular a eu le mérite de relancer un débat sur cette escroquerie historique dont la réparation demeure, aujourd’hui encore, une revendication légitime.

À tout considérer, la demande de l’indemnité était totalement inappropriée dans la mesure que la révolution haïtienne était fondée sur le rejet de l’esclavage, sur la dénonciation de ses méthodes de fonctionnement et sur l’appropriation, par le nouveau État, des biens jugés iniques qu’il a générés et dont avaient bénéficié les anciens colons.

Nous appelons l’indemnité une escroquerie pour deux raisons particulières : Premièrement parce qu’elle a été demandée sur de fausses prémisses de droit, à savoir que les anciens colons avaient perdu des biens à cause de l’abolition de l’esclavage et que redressement leur était dû ; deuxièmement, parce que l’indemnité a été imposée sous la menace de l’invasion militaire. La France ne s’était même pas payée le luxe de l’apparence : Le 17 avril 1825, une flotte de 14 navires de guerre était à la remorque, là dans la rade de Port-au-Prince, prête à intervenir. Donc, c’était par l’utilisation de la violence, et non pas suite à un traité ou aux délibérations d’un tribunal international conséquent que l’indemnité a été demandée. Jean-Pierre Boyer, le président haïtien, pouvait certainement refuser et résister à toute attaque française, mais on peut aussi comprendre pourquoi il ne voudrait pas donner à la France une excuse de plus pour attaquer Haïti, d’autant plus qu’elle n’a cessé de menacer l’intervention militaire pour reprendre son ancienne colonie.

Étant donné le boycott général d’Haïti observé par toutes les puissances du monde, grandes et moins grandes, Boyer voyait aussi dans l’acceptation de l’indemnité un bénéfice additionnel. C’est ce qui en effet arriva, suite à l’acquiescement d’Haïti et la bénédiction de la France, d’autres pays reconnaissaient l’indépendance d’Haïti ; naturellement tous ces pays-là qui attendaient le signal français pour reconnaître Haïti étaient objectivement complices dans cette escroquerie. Quant aux États-Unis, où l’esclavage était toujours légalement en vigueur, ayant d’abord utilisé le prétexte de l’indemnité due à la France pour ne pas reconnaître Haïti jusqu’ici, ils n’ont pas de cure par la suite à désigner carrément le « mauvais exemple » que constitue Haïti, terre indépendante d’anciens esclaves libérés, comme raison de leur refus. Leur boycott de la reconnaissance d’Haïti durera ainsi 58 ans, jusqu’en 1862, soit sous l’administration d’Abraham Lincoln, qui lutta au moment contre les sudistes esclavagistes et sécessionnistes.

Certains milieux politiques, pour discréditer la légitimité de la revendication de restitution, ont avancé que l’idée de l’indemnité serait venue d’une proposition d’Alexandre Pétion aux Français pour obtenir leur reconnaissance et stabiliser l’État haïtien « ou pour sortir du ghetto international », comme l’a dit René Depestre, qui affirme, concernant la requête de Jean-Bertrand Aristide à la France en 2003, que cette demande de restitution n’est pas « la manière la plus sereine, la plus intelligente, ni la plus civilisée, de donner un éclat international à la célébration des origines 1». D’autres ont fait valoir que l’indemnité n’a pas de fondement juridique, et qu’après tout, il faut oublier le passé et travailler en paix avec la nouvelle France fraternelle, en tandem avec une « communauté internationale » soudainement protectrice.

On trouve parmi ces derniers, les éléments ex-gauchistes, renonciateurs de leurs propres idéaux de justice, comme Régis Debray et René Depestre, que je critique dans mon livre Critique de la francophonie haïtienne. Régis Debray, en mission pour Jacques Chirac en Haïti en 2003, a critiqué la demande de restitution faite par Aristide, arguant que « le droit en vigueur au moment » ne le prévoyait pas. Citons en entier le paragraphe dans lequel je cite Debray et le critique à fois : « Il est certes à nos yeux scandaleux que Haïti ait dû en quelque sorte acheter en francs or sa reconnaissance internationale après avoir conquis son indépendance au prix du sang, mais faut-il rappeler que le droit à l’autodétermination des peuples n’existait pas en 1838 ? Pas plus que la notion de crime contre l’humanité, née au lendemain de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. » Ma réponse à Debray : « Ni en cela les Conventions de Genève (août 12, 1949), pourtant le premier Tribunal de Nuremberg (1945–46) condamnait et exécutait des officiers allemands pour crimes de guerre. Pourquoi surtout suggérer la caducité des revendications parce que l’idée d’une indemnisation serait venue de Pétion et Boyer pour compenser ‘‘des colons français massacrés (15 000) ou en fuite (15 000) ’’ ? À supposer que tel était le cas, cela ne témoigne-t-il pas du fait des grandes pressions militaires, politiques et économiques que la France continuait à exercer sur le jeune État nègre ? Et quand bien même les Français ‘‘dépossédés’’ et assassinés auraient droit à réparation, pourquoi s’arrêter là ? Et le génocide en série (après celui complété des ‘‘peaux rouges’’) causé par la Traite de Noirs ? Les brimades sur les plantations ? 2»

Nous laisserons aux historiens la tâche d’éclaircir les détails de la problématique bilatérale de la question de l’indemnité, mais une chose est déjà claire pour nous, vue dans le contexte historique de la naissance du pays : Jamais la jeune république noire aurait volontiers initié une démarche qui, de toute évidence, ne pouvait que ruiner son projet de développement national. Il est donc absurde, selon l’insinuation de Depestre, d’imaginer que Pétion ou Boyer eussent de plein gré offert et accepté de donner plusieurs générations de leurs recettes et budgets nationaux à une puissance étrangère qui les menace d’invasion, cela confirme une certaine désinvolture de la part de Depestre qui l’amène à cautionner la plupart des ingérences impérialistes en Haïti ces derniers temps.

En fait, tout au cours du règne de Napoléon, puis sous la Restauration royaliste (1814-1830), la France continue de faire des tractations, des magouilles, des démarches insidieuses auprès des autres puissances pour chercher à reverser la nouvelle réalité politique en Haïti, souvent en manipulant la lutte de pouvoir entre les multiples protagonistes haïtiens, et souvent par des menaces militaires directes ou camouflées. Étant donné le prestige de la France comme grande puissance impérialiste, l’inacceptabilité du précédent haïtien comme générateur de droits, et surtout les pressions des anciens colons royalistes, qui ont eu le vent en poupe sous le nouveau régime de la Restauration et qui réclament, sinon le rétablissement pur et simple de l’esclavage, du moins la compensation forfaitaire de leurs biens fabuleux, tout cela dans un environnement international hostile, il n’est pas difficile de comprendre le stress et le grand dilemme où se trouvait Haïti. Il y a en cela un lien direct entre la demande d’Aristide, qui embarrassait Jacques Chirac et Dominique de Villepin, et l’intervention politique et militaire française qui aboutit au renversement d’Aristide en février 2004.

Ce n’est pas sans raison que l’une des premières décisions prises par le régime de facto fantoche de Gérard Latortue après le coup d’État franco-étatsunien de février 2004, était « d'abandonner la réclamation de la dette de la restitution à la France », une réclamation qu’il qualifie d’ « illégale ». Il faut lire à ce sujet une intéressante lettre ouverte de Francis Saint-Hubert, un économiste haïtien, adressée à Latortue en avril 2004 où il s’élève contre le rejet par Latortue du bien-fondé de la demande de restitution, observant que la véhémence de la réaction du gouvernement français peut être due « [p]lus probablement [...], à ce qu'il perçoit, sans vouloir l'avouer publiquement, comme une revendication sérieuse, non seulement embarrassante mais potentiellement très coûteuse, supportée par d'irréfutables faits historiques et, de l'avis de beaucoup, des bases juridiques solides ». Critiquant l’argument de l’absence de fondement juridique, Saint-Hubert ajoute : « Aucun pays au monde, sauf Haïti (ni les États-Unis, ni le Mexique, ni la Colombie, ni même, plus près de nous, l'Algérie ou le Vietnam), n'a été contraint de payer la reconnaissance de son indépendance et d'éviter par une dette paralysante le retour forcé de ses citoyens à l'horreur de l'esclavage. 3»

L’énorme montant, de nature forfaitaire, de la somme exigée dit déjà long sur son importance en 1825 : 150 millions de francs or, renégociée treize ans plus tard, en 1838, à 90 millions. Le nom officiel de l’accord sur la réduction, « Traité de l’amitié », s’avérait un grand précurseur des euphémismes absurdes du Parti républicain aux États-Unis au cours des élections partielles de 1994, qui présentait son programme d’austérité anti-peuple et de la loi et l’ordre comme un positif « Contrat avec l’Amérique », soi-disant favorable au pays, particulièrement à ceux-là qu’on allait dépouiller des protections régulatrices contre les banques prédatrices et des derniers recours à l’assistance sociale. On a estimé que les premiers versements de l’indemnité pour lesquels Haïti a contracté des crédits prohibitifs à la banque centrale de France, ont irrémédiablement affecté le projet de développement d’Haïti, plaçant le pays dans un cercle vicieux d’endettement, d’appauvrissement, d’autoritarisme et de dépendance croissante envers les puissances impérialistes, notamment la France, puis les États-Unis. Les effets cumulatifs nuisibles du cercle vicieux ont décuplé à chaque crise politique, à chaque intervention étrangère impérialiste, à chaque fois qu’on a laissé libre cours aux requins du Bord-de-mer, aux petits boss des usines d’assemblage et aux suceurs de sang de la finance internationale (dont le FMI et la BID) pour déplumer le pays.

À la question du montant exact de la restitution que la France doit à Haïti, Saint-Hubert croit qu’ « Il s'agit en fait, et en surcroît des dommages inestimables causés par l'esclavage lui-même, d'une injustice tout à fait chiffrable en valeur monétaire de son temps, qu'on peut ramener par des méthodes de calculs reconnus en sciences économiques, à une valeur réelle, d'aujourd'hui » 4. Le chiffre de 17 à 23 milliards de dollars, au taux actuel, généralement avancé est bien crédible, mais je ne doute pas que le montant de compensation réel soit beaucoup plus élevé. Il y a certainement aussi des dommages qui ne sont pas chiffrables ou observables à vue d’oeil mais qui ont néanmoins laissé des empreintes indélébiles dans l’existence des victimes et de leurs descendants.

La fiabilité de la demande de restitution

En fait la somme initiale exigée par le roi Charles X — 150 millions francs or — était cinquante pour cent fois plus élevée que celle déjà exorbitante soumise par les ex-colons pour compenser leurs « pertes ». Il est vrai que cette poule aux oeufs d’or qu’a été la colonie saint-dominguoise de la France pourvoyait à une part importante de son économie, faisant vivre un Français sur sept. La coterie française profitait en effet énormément de l’empire colonial, particulièrement de la colonie de Saint-Domingue dont les exportations dépassaient celles combinées des treize colonies anglaises en Amérique du nord. La production et le commerce des esclaves à Saint-Domingue constituaient le tiers de l’ensemble du commerce des esclaves dans le monde. Dans des termes qui annoncent les pratiques déprédatrices du Fonds monétaire international (FMI), des 166 millions de francs or qu’Haïti aura emprunté pour satisfaire les obligations de l’indemnité « plus de la moitié, dit Anthony D. Phillips, était retournée aux mêmes banques sous les rubriques de commissions, honoraires et services d’intérêt » 5.

Comme l’a bien dit Phillips, Haïti était acculée à un « choix hobbesien » : ou acquiescer aux demandes françaises ou résister et risquer la continuation de la guerre, jamais résolue, avec la France. Ce dilemme était d’autant plus ardu et tortueux, qu’Haïti était située dans une région contrôlée par des empires rivaux — France, Espagne, Angleterre, Hollande, Portugal, Allemagne et les États-Unis émergeants —, qui se combattent et cherchent à prendre avantage les uns sur les autres mais qui, tous, répugnent Haïti, le nouvel état nègre, et veulent se prémunir contre le « mauvais exemple » que représente sa radicalité révolutionnaire.

Les conditions draconiennes et pernicieusement gourmandes de l’indemnité auraient été impossibles à satisfaire pour n’importe quel autre pays, mais pour Haïti qui se relevait à peine des désastres de la guerre civile et de la guerre d’indépendance, c’était le comble : « La pauvreté de l’Haïti moderne, dit Anthony Phillips, est inextricablement liée à la dette de l’indemnité. Après l’échec de l’imposition directe, les revenus qui payaient la dette provenaient des mêmes commodités qui avaient fait d’Haïti une colonie lucrative. L’économie haïtienne restait enchaînée dans l’exportation des denrées tropicales, bois, sucre et spécialement café (...). Les conséquences d’un tel drainage, même non surprenantes, étaient dévastatrices pour le trésor public. L’éducation, la santé et l’infrastructure restaient pratiquement non financées tout au cours du XIXe siècle » 6.

Cette tournure des choses ne pouvait qu’être nuisible à la jeune république noire. L’économie haïtienne restait ainsi dépendante des mêmes mécanismes de contrôle que durant l’économie esclavagiste du régime colonial. Les impératifs de production pour l’exportation prennent précédence par rapport aux propres besoins du pays. Comme on pouvait bien le prédire, la dureté économique engendre l’instabilité politique, d’autant plus s’il y a des puissances ennemies qui tirent malicieusement les ficelles...

Prémisses de droits

J’ai parlé plus haut de « prémisses de droits » dans le sens que accepter que la révolution anti-esclavagiste haïtienne ait porté préjudice aux « biens » des ex-colons en termes de droit, c’est reconnaître que l’esclavage est une activité économique légitime. Or, comme on le sait, en 1825 l’esclavage était déjà reconnu et dénoncé comme un crime en Europe et dans certains milieux politiques en Afrique et dans les Amériques. Anthony Phillips a relevé que même dans l’absence d’une loi ou d’un traité spécifique, certains actes sont considérés sur une base jus cogens, c’est-à-dire « ‘‘acceptés et reconnus par la communauté internationale’’ comme criminels (...). Aujourd’hui, la liste des crimes relevant du jus cogens inclut le génocide, la piraterie, l’esclavage et la traite des esclaves, le meurtre en tant que pratique de l’État, la torture, la détention arbitraire prolongée et la discrimination raciale systématique ».

Un autre point important soulevé par Phillips, c’est l’illégalité de l’esclavage au moment de la demande de l’indemnité : « Le Premier Traité de Paris [30 mai 1814] inclut un engagement pris par la France vaincue et les Alliés vainqueurs (la Grande Bretagne, l’Autriche, la Prusse, la Russie et la Suède) de travailler pour l’abolition de la traite des esclaves. Le Deuxième Traité de Paris de 1815 et le Congrès de Vienne en font suite. Tous les deux traités condamnent la traite des esclaves comme inhumaine et en contradiction avec les pratiques des nations civilisées. Les signateurs s’engagent à éradiquer la traite et la pratique de l’esclavage. 7»

Cela dit, bien qu’il n’y ait aucun précédent légal, comme Phillips nous le rappelle, déjà « établi pour gagner un jugement de restitution historique », la demande de restitution est fondée sur des principes de droits solides, sans compter naturellement les principes de droits moraux qui appellent pour la réparation des torts causés aux autres. Donc, le fait que l’esclavage était reconnu et condamné comme crime dans des traités internationaux signés par la France avant 1825 — date de l’application initiale de l’indemnité —, ça annule le bien-fondé de la demande de compensation pour des biens obtenus par une pratique jugée criminelle.

En réalité, le vrai sujet à droits ou ayant droits, c’est l’ancien esclave victime de l’esclavage et ses descendants. Il y a des biens réels qui ont été accumulés grâce à l’exploitation de ces hommes et femmes transplantés comme bêtes de somme sur une terre étrangère qui leur sert de prison. Biens réels contre dénuement total, ça donne exploitation malhonnête, commerce immoral des humains, donc actions préjudiciables à d’autres humains qui ont droit à réparation, à la réhabilitation de la justice.

Aux États-Unis, il y a un très fort mouvement de revendication qui demande réparation tangible aux descendants des victimes de l’esclavage. Je soutiens cent pour cent une telle revendication. Pour la simple raison que des biens réels ont été amassés grâce à cette injustice, et que des torts réels ont été causés contre des gens réels. Nous ne parlons pas ici d’une abstraction théorique, mais bien d’une réalité historique empirique qui continue à affecter d’une manière néfaste les descendants des victimes. On comprend bien, pour qu’il y ait une véritable réconciliation dans une société — ou dans les relations de nation à nation — où des actes de victimisation ont été causés sur un groupe par un autre, il faut qu’on rectifie les torts causés d’autant plus s’ils continuent à handicaper les descendants des victimes.

La configuration de la restitution

Dans mon effort d'appréhender la problématique de l'indemnité et la question de restitution, j'ai consulté plusieurs sources, l'une d'entre elles est Franck Laraque qui, depuis son ouvrage Défi à la pauvreté, publié en 1987, s'est penché sur la crise économique haïtienne et cherche à y trouver une solution « endogène ». Voici ce qu'il pense de la question de restitution après avoir lu le brouillon du présent texte : « [Je suis ] cent pour cent d'accord avec tes arguments irréfutables et complets montrant le bien-fondé du remboursement d'une ‘‘dette odieuse’’ qui a entraîné l'empire de la faim et la perte de la souveraineté nationale. Néanmoins, ce remboursement soulève d'autres points importants : la responsabilité des gouvernements haïtiens avant la dette et après son remboursement dans le sous-développement du pays ; demande de remboursement par négociations bilatérales avec le gouvernement français ou recours aux tribunaux ; versement d'argent comptant à tempérament ou de la somme globale, ou investissement dans l'infrastructure (ponts, routes, ports, aéroports, énergie etc...) ; remboursement à un régime corrompu, dictatorial, déprédateur ou aux organisations paysannes, populaires, progressistes haïtiennes sur le terrain déjà engagées dans la construction du pays ; ou toute autre solution appropriée. »

En effet, les questions soulevées par Franck Laraque quant à la configuration du remboursement, sitôt assurés le consentement par la France de la juste valeur de la réclamation et sa disposition à s’en acquitter, s’avèreront très importantes, car cette configuration pourrait prendre des formes non nécessairement profitables au pays. Sitôt réglée la question de la représentation de l’instance habilitée à recevoir le remboursement (je pense personellement qu’il doit être une question de gouvernement à gouvernement), on peut imaginer plusieurs options.

Je suis, pour ma part, favorable à une option qui mette l’emphase sur l’infrastructure, étant donné l’impact néfaste que le paiement de l’indemnité a eu sur le développement de l’infrastructure, partant sur le développement d’Haïti. Naturellement, dans le cas d’Haïti, on ne peut pas parler de l’infrastructure sans adresser le problème de la dégradation de l’environnement écologique. Le remboursement par la France peut prendre donc la forme de financement (et de partage d’expertise) dans la construction de ponts, routes, ports, aéroports, écoles, et dans la préservation/conservation de l’environnement, dans la reforestation, dans la protection des rivières, des plages, etc. On peut aussi, à la limite, accepter le remboursement en raison de la formule 50/50 échelonnée sur plusieurs années : 50% en liquidités et 50% en financement des projets infrastructurels.

La dette étatsunienne

À la suite de l’occupation étatsunienne d’Haïti en 1915, le service de la dette de l’indemnité était transféré à la National City Bank of New York, une banque américaine (rebaptisée aujourd’hui Citi Bank). Bien entendu cette banque pillait jusqu’aux os le Trésor haïtien, protégée par la baïonnette des marines. En fait, le contrôle du Trésor haïtien par les Étatsuniens précédait de cinq ans l’occupation militaire d’Haïti quand la Banque Nationale d’Haïti fut remplacée par la Banque Nationale de la République d’Haïti, une banque contrôlée par la National City Bank. Craignant la menace que faisait peser l’instabilité politique sur la bonne marche de son capital, la National City Bank faisait tout pour contrôler totalement la douane et la finance haïtiennes, y compris un raid armé en décembre 1914 par les marines étatsuniens sur la Banque Nationale de la République d’Haïti, emportant plus d’un demi-million de dollars US qui furent déposés directement à la National City Bank de New York. La subséquente occupation de juillet 1915, décidée par l’administration de Woodrow Wilson, était déterminée pour une grande part par ces intérêts économiques.

Ce sera une autre histoire et tout un autre ordre de réclamation que celle touchant à la dette des États-Unis envers Haïti, non seulement la dette morale pour avoir participé militairement et aidé à leur indépendance et pour leur avoir favorisé, par l’achat de la Louisiane, de l’acquisition de plus du double de leur superficie de l’époque, mais aussi la dette en valeur monétaire de leur pillage d’Haïti de 1910 à 1947, date du dernier versement de l’indemnité. Il y a aussi la dette de la destruction de l’agriculture haïtienne par l’acquisition manipulatoire des terres arables et leur affectation à l’exploitation exclusive du sisal et de la canne à sucre, le remplacement des cochons noirs et marrons par les cochons blancs, le riz local par le riz étatsunien fédéralement subventionné, donc rivalisant à peu de frais avec la production locale. Il y a surtout la dette quant à la réparation qui est due à Haïti pour les massacres des résistants et des civils haïtiens durant l’occupation qui dure de 1915 à 1934, mais qui continue voilée dans la complicité avec les dictateurs cruels, servants de l’oligarchie, la permissivité envers la bourgeoisie parasite et déprédatrice qui écorche le pays à vif. Il est vrai que beaucoup de courageux Étatsuniens ont reconnu ces dettes et sont solidaires de l’aspiration d’Haïti pour la justice et l’autodétermination nationale, mais il faut que le gouvernement étatsunien lui-même les reconnaisse, non seulement sous les traits de regrets de crocodile d’un ancien président, mais par des actions de solidarité pratiques de la part de la présente — ou de toute prochaine — administration étatsunienne.

Le recours et l’application de la justice sont possibles

Contrairement aux propos désobligeants des hommes comme Gérard Latortue qui qualifient la demande de restitution d’Aristide d’ « illégale » — ou d’« inappropriée » dans le cas de Depestre », cette revendication est juridiquement fondée dans la doctrine du droit européen appelée « l’enrichissement injuste » en vigueur depuis le début du XVIIIe siècle. L’article d’Anthony D. Phillips — « Haiti’s Independence Debt and Prospects for Restitution » — est divisé en deux parties, la première est une narration historique de l’indemnité, particulièrement son rapport génésiaque avec à la fois la crise endémique, l’endettement et la dépendance qu’il nourrit, l’état de pauvreté continuel, la reproduction de l’autoritarisme et de l’autodestruction. Il ne l’a pas dit en ces termes précisément, mais on voit bien, à le lire, que tout revient à cette méchanceté originelle. La deuxième partie touche à la réclamation de restitution selon un empirisme légal fondé sur les torts réels causés et les recours possibles pour appliquer la restitution et obtenir satisfaction.

Parmi les procédés possibles, il y a bien sûr la reprise de la demande de restitution par un nouveau gouvernement haïtien, secondée (ou incitée) par une pression publique insoutenable (comme par exemple le canular lui-même, la pétition des intellectuels à Sarkozy, la clameur publique, etc.). Il y a aussi l’option qu’ont toujours les individus, citoyens civils haïtiens, d’appeler en justice l’État français (pour les torts causés à leurs ancêtres et dont ils continuent à souffrir les conséquences), selon la doctrine de l’enrichissement injuste. Si on peut prouver qu’il y avait « transfert de richesse » obtenu par l’extorsion ou la violence physique, et qui, de plus, a causé des torts et aggravations chez des plaignants, cette doctrine légale appelle pour restitution ou « redressement ». Des descendants d’esclaves noirs étatsuniens et descendants des victimes de l’holocauste se sont servis de cette doctrine légale pour appeler en justice des compagnies profiteuses de l’esclavage, ou, dans le cas des Juifs, les États allemand et suisse, pour exactions contre leurs congénères durant la Deuxième guerre mondiale. Anthony Phillips l’a bien rappelé : « Le transfert des richesses de Haïti à la France et de Haïti aux différentes banques qui finançaient la dette de l’Indépendance est bien établi. Des réclamations détaillées, soumises par des anciens possédants d’esclaves pour compensation, y compris la valeur monétaire de la ‘‘perte’’ des esclaves, et formant le fondement pour la demande du gouvernement français, sont documentées. De même, les termes de l’ordonnance de 1825 et les comptes-rendus des négociations ont survécu. Le gouvernement français a reconnu d’avoir reçu le paiement de 90 000 000 de francs or. L’histoire du premier paiement — 24 000 000 de francs or —, transporté à travers Paris, sortant des coffres de Ternaux Grandolphe et Compagnie pour être déposé aux coffres du Trésor français, est enregistrée. 8»

Bref, il existe amples documentations historiques qui témoignent, détails à l’appui, de l’application systématique de l’escroquerie française à l’encontre d’Haïti, handicapant ainsi structurellement, puisque faite sur un plan continu, répété et s’allongeant sur plusieurs générations, le projet de développement économique d’Haïti. La France doit restituer cet argent. C’est une question de décence et de justice. Le canular sur la restitution a invoqué les terribles dommages causés par le tremblement de terre du 12 janvier 2010 en Haïti comme justification morale de la décision prise par la France pour rembourser la rançon de l’indemnité. C’est en effet une très noble justification, étant donné l’état mille fois déplorable où se trouve le pays suite à ce désastre. La France est un pays très riche dont une bonne part de la richesse est tirée de l’exploitation de ses anciennes colonies, y compris Saint Domingue. Rembourser à Haïti cet argent, c’est faire oeuvre à la fois de magnanimité et de justice — quelque tardive qu’elle soit.

-Tontongi, Boston août 2010

NOTES

1. Cf. René Depestre, Encore une mer à traverser, Éditions Table Ronde, 2005.

2. Cf. Tontongi, Critique de la francophonie haïtienne, éd. l’Harmattan, Paris, 2008. Lire en particulier les chapitres « Quand "l’instruction musclée" mène au panégyrique autocolonialiste » et « Régis Debray ou le détour déboussolé ». « Depestre présente l’accord sur l’indemnité non pas comme une imposition impérialiste mais comme une manœuvre stratégique de la part des dirigeants haïtiens "de négocier, après coup, une indépendance déjà conquise héroïquement sur les champs de bataille. (…) D’où, pour sortir du ghetto international, en 1825, la décision d’indemniser, à la hauteur de 150 millions de francs or, les colons qui avaient perdu tous leurs biens dans une tourmente qui avait duré douze ans, de 1791 à 1804". On sentait des larmes couler de ses yeux pour cette grande injustice faite aux colons français! » [R. Depestre, Encore une mer à traverser]

3. Cf. « Francis Saint-Hubert conteste la prétention de Gérard Latortue d'abandonner la demande haïtienne de restitution de l'indemnité de l'indépendance extorquée par la France». « [En tant qu'économiste, Monsieur le Premier Ministre, vous savez certainement que la valeur actuelle d'un investissement dépend de deux facteurs : le taux d'intérêt et le temps considérés. À lui seul et à 5% d'intérêt, l'investissement du premier versement de 5 millions de dollars, payé à la France en décembre 1825, rapporterait à Haïti en 2004 (soit 179 ans plus tard) plus de 30 milliards de dollars US ! Cette valeur est donc moins "onirique" que pense M Debray.] » http://haitiechanges.free.fr/diplofrance.htm
4. Ibid...

5. Pour une analyse plus détaillée de la question de la dette d’Indépendance d’Haïti et la demande de restitution, il faut lire l’excellent article d’Anthony D. Phillips « Haiti’s Independence Debt and Prospects for Restitution ». On peut le trouver sur le site de l’organisation Institute For Justice and Democracy in Haiti:
"http://ijdh.org/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2009/11/Haiti_RestitutionClaimArticlePhilipps05-09.pdf"

6. Ibid... Notre traduction de l’anglais.

7. Ibid... Notre traduction de l’anglais.

8. Ibid... Notre traduction de l’anglais.

(Tontongi est l'éditeur en chef de la revue Tanbou:http://www.tanbou.com)
Cet essai est aussi publié dans Haïti Liberté du 25 août au 1er septembre 2010:
http://www.haiti-liberte.com/archives/electronic_edition.asp
et dans l'AlterPresse du 30 août 2010 : http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article9913

Trois poèmes d’été / Twa powèm ete / Three summer poems

2010-07-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

J’ai écrit ces trois, non traduits, poèmes durant l’été 2010, au cours d’une période de deux semaines. Le poème en français est le tout dernier volet — le troisième — d’une série de poèmes d’observation (aperception) sur une personne réelle que j’ai vue décrépir sous mes yeux au cours des ans. Le poème en anglais est tiré lui aussi d’une expérience empirique que j’ai personnellement vécue, pris sous le charme enchanteur d’un oiseau chanteur ; quant au poème en haïtien, il concerne l’état continuellement critique d’Haïti six mois après le tremblement de terre, concluant qu’en face de telles calamités, de souffrances infligées par les manquements humains, et de tant de démissions, « la révolution reste toujours la seule solution ».

Mwen ekri twa powèm san tradiksyon ou wè la yo diran ete 2010 la, sou yon peryòd de de semèn. Powèm en fransè a se dènye — twazyèm — livrezon nan yon seri de powèm obsèvasyon (apèsepsyon) sou yon moun reyèl mwen te wè ap fin delalay devan zye m pandan pasaj ane yo. Powèm ann anglè a soti de yon eksperyans anpirik, reyèl, mwen te pèsonèlman viv, lè m te tonbe anba cham yon zwazo chantè kou Simbi; pou powèm ann ayisyen an limenm, li gen awè ak eta de kriz Ayiti toujou ladann sis mwa apre tranblemanntè a, epitou powèm lan konkli, devan pil kalamite sila yo, nan mitan chay soufrans pwòp imen parèy nou ap fè nou sibi, e devan tou demisyon kaponnri sila yo, « revolisyon ret toujou yon sèl solisyon ».

I wrote these three, non-translated, poems during the summer of 2010, within a period of two weeks. The French poem is the latest — the third — installment of a series of observatory poems (apperception) regarding a real person I have seen aging and falling apart under my eyes over the years. The poem in English is related to an empirical experience I have personally lived, taken as I was by the enchanting charm of a singing bird ; as for the poem in Haitian, it is concerning the continually critical state of Haiti six months after the earthquake, concluding that, faced with such calamities, such suffering inflicted by human failures, and amid such demissions, “revolution still remains the only solution”.

Une aperception du campeur

Son visage est défait
tel un rebours de quoi que soit
depuis notre dernière rencontre
par les rides soudainement apparues
les ossements sous les assauts du temps
élongés tout au long du menton
comme si venant d’une longue traversée.

Je le revois le lendemain
d’une allure pressée et gaie
mais comme pour aller nulle part
il a perdu son calme regard d’introspection
qui questionnait en silence le destin
même si sans jamais le défier.

Je le revois marchant à grands pas titubant,
semblant se résigner au grand troc
de la dégradation galopante du corps
contre de fous moments de plaisirs de l’instant
dans les abîmes du non-retour
comme la voie tracée depuis longtemps
inéluctable comme une perdition.

Pour mieux vivre ses élucubrations
dans les néants de l’extrasensoriel
il s’est longtemps avoué vaincu
pensant que c’est le péché fondateur
qu’on lui fait croire d’avoir commis
qui le dispense de toute obligation.
Il n’est jamais retourné du voyage
qui l’a envoyé dans les ténèbres du temps.

-Tontongi, juillet 2010

The Urban Singing Bird

He sings early in the morning
when the night’s tranquil sleep
crosses paths with the opening day;
he sings the same song in three tones
the kulukulytutulutytukutulitukuly
in the masterly rendering of a pro.
Often other musician birds would join him
in disparate, arbitrary intervals
to complete the morning symphony.
He sings it seems just for the joy
to welcome the dawn at the gate.

He sings in many other places
at different time of the day
I heard him the other day in the brush
near the Cambridge Hospital’s parking lot
serenading in his unique famed melody
its tonality covered by the urban foggy noise.

He sings to go along
with the flow of the time
continuity, movement, cadence
and rhythm of the passing instant.
He sings early in the morning
when nobody seems to care.

-Tontongi, July 2010

Sis mwa apre dekonstonbray

Sis mwa apre dekonstonbray
Se yon sèl traktè moun wè sou Granri
Yon sèl vila an mab souvnans nan plantasyon
Chaje ak motif neokoloni sou Dèlma.
Pil debri kontinye makiye Pòtoprens
Zantray li dyondyonnen pil tant pou moun dòmi.

Sis mwa apre dekonstonbray
Koup Mondyal detounen kout lanmèd malpwòpte
Gòl Forlan ak Inyesta defoule reyalite malouk
Bellerive ak Clinton mande pou lajan debouse
Sot lakay peyi gwo zouzoun ki sèmante sèt fwa
Devan Loni pou ede rekonstwiksyon ak kout kreyon
Sou lokipasyon dan griyen malandren an kas ble
San fè meya kulpa pou diri k’ap toupizi agrikilti.

Anpil tan apre dekonstonbray
Peyi a kontinye depeple opaotwoogalop
Osekou pou sove madichon pran lepa
Tout sa k pèdi yo rete gwo pèdan nan ran ban
Pwofitè anvayi toupatou nan lakou kay Kwakou.

Anpil tan apre dekonstonbray
Ankenn pwomès pa janm reyalize
Kòlèk Bò-de-mè rete byen eskanpe
Menm fo komedi pa fè Lafrans debranle
Yo ret refize peye pou vòl endemnite.

Sis mwa apre dekonstonbray
Tout sa k pèdi yo rete gwo pèdan nan ran ban
Sivivan poko pran bouk chandèl
Mande ladelivrans pou Ayiti Toma.
Anpil tan apre dekonstonbray
Apre tout emosyon anba kadran je CNN
Anderson Cooper ak Doktè Gupta lage bon dokiman
Lajan pa janm deplase sot nan bous Tonton Nwèl.
Anpil tan apre dekonstonbray
Revolisyon ret toujou yon sèl solisyon.

-Tontongi, jiyè 2010

To see other writings by Tontongi, go to website :
Pour voir d'autres écrits de Tontongi, aller sur le site:
Pou wè plis tèks Tontongi ekri, ale sou sit:
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Dunga the Mouda

2010-06-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

-by Tontongi

I have been watching football (a.k.a. “soccer” in the United States) ever since childhood. The epic ascendance of Pelé, late 1950s early 1960s, coincided with my own developmental upbringing; it was hard to avoid its impact.

In Haiti, soccer was already experienced as a religion, due in part to the great pride Pelé inspired to millions of Haitians. The entire Brazilian National Selection became a kind of second home — sometimes even the first home, considering how many Haitians would root for Brazil when they played against their own national team!

Pelé was the new working class hero. From the perspective of the tyrannical Papa Doc regime, Pelé’s popularity and glorification provided the necessary distraction that kept people from paying too much critical attention to the ambient political oppression that was taking place. This charming expediency worked marvelously until 1985-1986. Still football was a joy, and throughout my pre- and early adolescence, the jogo bonito was an enriching experience. Now a few words on the current World Cup, particularly the Dunga-Ronaldinho bizarre affair.

Like many soccer fans, Brazilian or otherwise, I felt a sense of injustice for the exclusion of Ronaldhino from the Brazilian World Cup squad of 2010. Coach Dunga’s decision was so obviously biased and petty; I saw it as an abuse of power and of coach’s prerogatives. If the World Cup represents a real effort to recognize and celebrate the athletic talents of soccer players around the globe, it is absurd that a superbly fit Ronaldinho, Adriano, Pato or Neymar (to speak only of the Brazilians) are not part of the selection merely because of subjective considerations by an egomaniac coach.

In truth, despite its unfairness one can also understand Dunga’s action/reaction as a human being, although it way over-punishes the initial affront. When Ronaldhino was at his prime at Club Barcelona in Spain, winning local and Champions League competitions in Europe (2006-2008), he refused to play — claiming fatigue — for the newly appointed coach of Brazil National Selection, Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, also known as Dunga, who was facing his first serious test as a coach in the Copa América of 2007. Unwavering, Dunga built a new selection under the leadership of Robinho, Elano, Lucio, Maicon and Baptista. They won the 2007 Copa América against a powerful Argentinean rival that included Messi, Tevez, Riquelme, and Veron, beating them 3-0 at the final. Kaká also refused to play at that Copa América for the same reason, but because of his excellent form throughout the 2008-2009 season, or for other reasons I don’t know, he seems to have mended fences with Dunga. That was never the case with Ronaldinho, who said recently in an interview (a few days before the May 11th call-up) that the last time he spoke with Dunga was the previous December, that is six months prior, when Dunga asked him to regain his form.

Personal ego should not be a criterion for important decisions, be they in politics, business, war, or sport. Dunga’s snub of Ronaldinho has been vastly criticized. The World Cup Organizing Committee’s CEO, Danny Jordaan, called it regrettable, saying : “I sometimes think these coaches [believe] they are gods and are out to prove they can do anything they wish... They become blinded by this sense of power.” He called Ronaldinho a “soccer genius” who has talents "enjoyed by few in the game, both past and present.” (Associated Press, May 12, 2010)

The following poem on the non-selection of Ronaldhino started as a knee-jerk reaction of mine, as both a poet and a football/soccer fan, to the unfair human drama that was unfolding before my eyes. Of course, in the realm of objective analyses of and concerns for human conditions, this Ronaldinho thing is a mere mystification. Mystification as theatrical wrestling can be. Except that Dunga may seriously think that a Ronaldinho that would go to the World Cup just to play a beautiful game, the jogo bonito, would be an impediment. Why? Because for Dunga — and unfortunately for the new trend in sport episteme and valorization —, winning is everything, the ultimate goal and finality. Playing to enjoy the beauty of the game is out of the question. This new trend can, of course, only encourage cynicism and the flowing of personal ego trips.

As I read an online article in the New York Times about the Brazilian team selection, I wrote a quick poem in which I called Dunga a mouda, which means ass in Haitian. Of course, the NYT didn’t publish it, and I didn’t expect them to, given that they haven’t published anything I sent them (oftentimes accusatory repartees to coverage or absence of coverage I found unsatisfactory).

A few days later, having not noticed my poem among the published comments, I wrote and sent them a modified version of the poem, this one less overtly insulting to Dunga, but still disagreeing with his decision and still calling him a mouda. (Do they publish poems in the online “Comments” section? I didn’t even ask myself this question!)

Although I expected this second poem to be rejected as well by NYT, I was half surprised that they didn’t just publish it, just for the heck of it. Structurally and grammatically, it was OK, perhaps not the best the English language can produce, but still among the refreshingly emotional impulses one puts in writing to convey dissent, or to affirm a different way of feeling.

It was at that juncture that the idea of writing a trilogy of poems and a blog essay came to my mind. A trilogy that transcends together the NYT’s limited horizon, language use policing and acceptable discourse in a multicultural, multisocial and multilingual society. Unfortunately, the trilogy idea provided no better solution. The third poem, repeating the bad lines of the other two, was a total disaster. It didn’t take me long to figure that out! At this point of inquiry, the New York Times no longer matters. Not willing to accept defeat — ne pas m’avouer vaincu — , I finally decided to use all three poems as raw material for a new poem. Poetry is hard labor, a labor of love, you know.

A last word: Sport has these weird characteristics — shared by philosophy, literature, religion, politics, and pop culture — that can make you personally involved in its on-going, never-ending drama. My first sports hero was of course Pelé, followed by Guy Saintvil (a.k.a. “Ti Guy”) of the Haitian National Selection squad that participated in the 1974 World Cup, the first ever by a Caribbean country. We were so proud of that team, even though it didn’t make it past the first round. The team’s first goal in its opening against powerhouse Italy suspended the entire nation in a euphoria of unimaginable elation. Foutbòl can do that to you. For better or for worse.

-Tontongi, Boston, June 7, 2010

Sport Metaphorics: Dunga the Mouda

Power as metaphor
Pelé caught in a contradiction
saying one day one thing
the opposite the next
one day against Ronaldinho’s butting
few days after the boss had spoken
he was all over backing Dunga’s edict.

Dunga takes away the poetry from the game,
poor soul who sullied
the spirit and its solemnity
Ronaldinho loves the game
you can see it in his smiles
you can see it in his plays.

The power-holder got his way
the losers are the fans,
the loyal believers,
mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers
wanting to enjoy the jogo bonito;
the game has lost
and the people with it.

This thing must be seen
plainly translated à vue d’oeil
for the idiotic slight that it is
to the least as a human frailty.

Power as metaphor
human bestial instinct
even in the sportive realm
has perverted the ideals
of plays and games,
human physical prowess
for recreational aims.
Completion of the adventure of being.
The body and the soul
in osmosis in the complétude d’être,
except that a mono-maniacal ego soul
can anytime withhold the pleasure
enjoyed from the jogo bonito.

Who cares about Dunga the Mouda
amid real life’s calamities and horrors, amid
Port-au-Prince under siege by nature
and by neo-colonists of the Earthquake Commission
looking to reestablish the long past golden days?
Who cares if Gaucho or Neymar or Gousse are bêtes noires
of an ego entangled in self delusional quest?
Maybe the people still care. Maybe.

-Tontongi, Boston, June 7, 2010

To see other writings by Tontongi, go to website :
Pour voir d'autres écrits de Tontongi, aller sur le site:
Pou wè plis tèks Tontongi ekri, ale sou sit:
http://www.tanbou.com

A Reminder For the Haitian Crisis

2010-04-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

We wouldn’t understand the Haitian problematic if we don’t go through history and learn from the structural rationality, that is the class greed and imperialist interests that cause pain, suffering and human degradation in that country. The following trilingual articles explain a part of that problematic. These essays are among the chapters of my up-coming book Poetico Agwe (2010).

Nou pap ka konprann pwoblematik ayisyen an si nou pa etidye istwa peyi a e aprann de rasyonalite (lojik) estriktirèl lan, sètadi goumandiz sèten klas sosyal ansanm ak enterè enperyalis yo ki se koz lapenn, soufrans e degradasyon kretyenvivan nan peyi sila a. Atik nan twa lang pi devan yo esplike yon pati pwoblematik sila a. Esè sa yo se pati nan chapit liv mwen ki pral vini an ki rele Poetico Agwe (2010).

On ne peut appréhender la problématique haïtienne si nous n’entrons pas dans l’histoire et n’apprenons pas la rationalité structurelle — c’est-à-dire l’avarice de certaines classes sociales, jointe avec les intérêts impérialistes —, qui est à la base des difficultés, douleurs et dégradation de l’humain dans ce pays. Les articles trilingues qui suivent expliquent en partie cette problématique. Ces essais sont parmi les chapitres de mon prochain livre Poetico Agwe (2010).

THE FRANCE-US COUP D’ETAT IN HAITI: NEO-COLONIALIST INTENT

In Haiti, precisely on the night of February 28-29, 2004, the colonialist relation between grand-blanc and petit-nègre that was the normal occurrence during slavery time, was replayed with unusual vigor when the United States and France intervened militarily in the Haitian crisis, under the pretext of preventing mass killing and saving democracy.

The France-US cooperation with the anti-Aristide coup helped France kill several birds with one stone: Pay back Jean-Bertrand Aristide for the embarrassment he caused in demanding France’s restitution of the billions of today’s dollars it had forced Haiti to pay between 1825 and 1947 in order to recognize its independence; humiliate a country of formerly enslaved Africans that had sparked off the parting shot against colonialism and the French empire; and also reconcile with the United States after the rupture over the Iraq war.

Indeed, France’s opposition to the war against Iraq brought it mostly misfortunes (US hostility, loss of influences and of profitable contracts in Iraq, etc.). With the US’s supremacy as the unique superpower enabled to do whatever it wanted in any case, France’s strategy, at least since the launching of the war, was to mend fences with the United States. The Haitian crisis provided the golden opportunity.

The vehemence of France’s criticisms against George W. Bush’s Iraq venture led people to forget that the two governments, both conservative and interventionist, had in common more points of convergence than divergence. Their rapprochement will thus be made on Haiti’s back.

This was not the first time France and the United States cooperated on a joint approach regarding Haiti. In February 1986, facing the rising violence and revolutionary insurgency of the people against the autocratic-fascist regime of Baby Doc, François Mitterrand and Ronald Reagan maneuvered a smooth and sweet exit for Baby Doc and his regime, making sure that the real power remained in the hands of the regime’s satraps, thus saving it from a possible people’s revolution.

In 2001 Jacques Chirac’s government supported, without batting an eyelid, the embargo on aid decreed against Haiti by the newly inaugurated administration of George W. Bush, thus blocking crucial funding that had been negotiated and agreed upon between the Inter-American Development Bank and the newly-elected government of Aristide. France moreover used its influence to discourage all possibility of aid to Aristide by the European Union.

Indeed, France has never forgiven Haiti for the loss of not only its most profitable colony — named then Saint-Domingue —, but also for the loss of Louisiana, which Napoleon’s defeat in Saint-Domingue compelled him to sell to the United States in order to finance the war against Britain. Far from being grateful to Haiti for facilitating the acquisition of the double of its then territories, the United States saw it rather as further evidence of the “bad example” Haiti represented as a nation of formerly enslaved Africans — therefore the negation of its own slavery system, which was still blossoming at home. It thus took the United States fifty-eight years (1804-1862) to recognize Haiti’s independence, under the administration of Abraham Lincoln who was pursuing his own war against the southern secessionists, supporters of the slavery system in United States.

In this light, the France-US coup against Aristide is part of the will of the two Western powers to impose their neo-colonialist conception on a country of the so-called “periphery” — one that they consider as a client-state falling within their sphere of influence.

The France-US intervention in Haiti’s February-2004 political crisis and their overthrow of Aristide constitute two illegal actions that cannot be a posteriori justified or legitimized despite the possibility they may have aborted a bloody battle between the armed rebels and pro-governmental forces. In any case, the probability of a power-grab by the rebels was very remote, given the fact they had merely two hundred troops, while Port-au-Prince abounded in armed groups, regular and non-regular, many of them Aristide partisans ready to resist all eventual offensives by the rebels on Port-au-Prince. Ultimately, the power that defeated Aristide was the interventionist coup d’état by French and US military units which manipulated the security forces (from the US) that provided security to Aristide. One cannot help but think of the astuteness used in the abduction of Toussaint two centuries before.

What is undeniable, however, it’s that more people were killed, more houses were looted, more damages, physical and emotional, were caused after the kidnapping and the exile of Aristide than during the entire period of the final phase of the crisis, which began on February 5, 2004, when Gonaïves fell to the rebels.

The intervention has profoundly subverted Haiti’s constitutional process and imposed a unilateral decision establishing the preponderance of France’s and the United States’ imperialist interests (Canada and Brazil playing the supporting role), regardless of what their Samaritan propaganda has insinuated. It’s a classical case of the imposition of mighty powers’ interests on international laws of the moment, as is shown in Afghanistan, in Iraq or in Ivory Coast. In their rush to intervene in Haiti, neither France nor the United States cared to ask the authorization of the government of the sovereign state, even though Aristide himself seemed to invite George W. Bush to intervene — in his favor, of course — in his CNN interview two days before the invasion.

This illegal action didn’t reflect positively on France’s and the United States’ pretence at civilizing. The image that was projected throughout the world was that of Conquering White Men imposing their will on a sovereign country. An image not really different from Napoleon’s onslaught in Haiti two hundred years before, or Mussolini’s massacres in Ethiopia or Israeli incursions in the occupied territories — notwithstanding the “humanitarian” intent evoked as justification for the coup.

Another phenomenon of propagandist hypnosis that was in evidence, but which was presented as otherwise in the Haitian crisis, was the selling of the notion that the France-US invasion was a good thing for Haiti. It is a distortion that has particularly affected the European left (contrary to the US left, who knew better). It is a weird logic, one that suggests if you invade my country, destroy my institutions, create chaos in my society, kill and humiliate my people, all of that is to be OK as long as your intention is good!

In the course of the two years that de facto regime lasted following the France-US intervention in Haiti, the economic, political, and security situations worsened multifold, making the Aristide era look like a peaceful oasis in comparison (the situation of total horror has somewhat improved after René Préval’s election in March 2006). It is not our intention here of choosing one evil over another. Ours is the wish of surpassing, transcending their limit, their confining horizons, and, instead, reposing new questions, in terms of Haiti’s radical liberation from oppression, poverty, foreign domination and petit-bourgeois opportunism.

Despite the structures of oppression that mold it a certain way, the Haitian crisis, then and now, is not a structural crisis per se; it is essentially a struggle for power between protagonists within the same political class, which comprises elements of the ruling bourgeoisie, the latifundist land owners, and the petit-bourgeois intellectuals of the so-called “middle class”.

Truly, the opportunism of the petit-bourgeois and the malfeasance of the Empire were not the only elements responsible for the defeat of the Lavalas government in February 2004. Aristide’s populist antics and autocratic exercise of power, the traditional cronyism and corruption in a society versed in survivalism, personal profit-seeking as political finality pursued by many, including some of his supporters, which the opposition blamed him for not doing much to stop, all of that contributed a great deal to the failure of the Lavalas government and, by extension, the popular movement.

Of course Haiti is only a small factor in the global problem of domination by the West, although what happens in Haiti informs on the general orientation of neo-imperialist goals and impulses in the global geo-political context. With the invasion of Haiti in 2004, the Bush administration wanted to send several messages at once, especially during this first year of the Iraq occupation, which had already started to look problematic. The Haiti invasion was meant to show US resolve and the continued control of its own hemispheric flank, while helping the administration’s right-wing zealots get rid of their nemesis Aristide, pleasing their friends from the Haitian elite in the process.

It was somewhat of a surprise to hear the former US ambassador to Haiti, Brian Dean Curran, explicitly acknowledge and condemn a White House policy he himself helped implement 1. He did it certainly, at least in part, to distance himself from a governmental action whose disastrous consequences had become more and more evident (putting the blame on Stanley Lucas, the local homme de main, who had been in charge of overseeing the Republican National Institute’s dirty work in the country). As Georges Clemenceau once said, successes have many fathers, while failure is orphaned.

Just like in the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the preliminary conditioning of people’s intellectual apprehension had very well succeeded in Haiti’s case. The “red priest” had become so undesirable to French and US-American reactionaries that his overthrow was shown to be inevitable. As we shall have seen in the election of Hamas in Gaza in January 2006, oftentimes one doesn’t need the pretext of democracy to justify hostility toward the people’s resistance.

Postscriptum

For now, in the middle of 2010, that is, after two years of the putschist regime and four years of governing by the second Preval presidency, and a devastating earthquake, the country is still facing a political, economic and ecological crisis from which it is not near to recovering. Hope is permitted, however: The resilience and combativeness of the people, together with a genuine international (and inter-popular) solidarity can accomplish miracles of revolutionary proportions.

NOTE

1. For more details, read the article of Walt Bogdanich, “Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos” in the New York Times of January 29, 2006. See also Allan Nairn’s “Our Payroll, Haitian Hit,” in The Nation of October 9, 1995.

KOUDETA LAFRANS-ETAZINI ANN AYITI : ENTANSYON NEOKOLONYAL

Ann Ayiti, ekzakteman nan lannwit 28 rive 29 fevriye 2004, relasyon kolonyalis ant gran-blan e ti-nèg, ki te pratik kouran nan tan koloni, te vin retounen an fòs lè Etazini ak Lafrans entèveni nan kriz ayisyen an, sou pretèks pou yo anpeche yon bendesan e pou swadizan sove demokrasi.

Kowoperasyon Lafrans ak Etazini nan aplikasyon fòs gwo-ponyèt la te pèmèt Lafrans te bay plizyè kou ak yon sèl kout wòch : Pran revanch sou anbarasman Jean-Bertrand Aristid te koze li nan demand li fè Lafrans pou l remèt 21 milya dola (montan jodia) Ayiti te vèse ba li ant 1825 e 1947 kou endemnite pou l rekonèt endepandans Ayiti ; imilye yon Eta ansyen esklav ki te pote premye kou danvwa kont kolonyalism modèn lan e kont ampi franse a ; epitou, rapwoche l de Etazini apre ti fache yo te fè osijè lagè kont Irak la.

Lefètke opozisyon Lafrans kont lagè Irak la te koze l sèlman pwoblèm (ostilite Etazini, pèt enfliyans ak kontra gwo zouzoun ann Irak, elatriye), epitou etandone pwisans siprèm Etazini antanke inik sipèpwisans te pemèt li fè tout sa l vle detoutfason, politik Lafrans, omwen depi lansman lagè a, se te pou l rapwoche l de Etazini. Kriz ayisyen an vin ofri l yon okazyon dò.

Kantite gwosè kritik Lafrans kont politik irakyen George W. Bush la te fè anpil moun bliye toude gouvènman yo, ki te toulède konsèvatè e entèvansyonis, te gen plis pwen konvèjans ke divèjans. Yo fè donk rapwochman yo sou do Ayiti.

Se pa te premye fwa Lafrans ak Etazini te kolabore nan yon apwòch komen anvè Ayiti. An fevriye 1986, devan zak enzireksyon deplizanpli vyolan e revolisyonè pèp la kont rejim otokratik-fachis Bebe Dòk la, François Mitterrand e Ronald Reagan te maniganse yon sòti an dousè pou misye, yo fè l yon fason pou rèn pouvwa a ret nan men malfektè rejim lan ; se konsa yo sove sistèm lan kont yon revolisyon popilè ki te posib.

An 2001 gouvènman Jacques Chirac la te soutni san l pa poze keksyon anbago sou èd nouvèl administrasyon George W. Bush la te dekrete kont Ayiti, se konsa li bloke yon èd trè enpòtan ki te negosye e konsanti ant Bank pou devlopman entè-ameriken e gouvènman Aristid la ; menmlè a tou Lafrans limenm itilize tout enfliyans li pou l dekouraje tout posiblite èd Inyon Ewopeyen an te ka pote bay gouvènman Aristid la.

Ojis, Lafrans pa janm padone Ayisyen yo pèt nonsèlman koloni l ki te pi florisan an, ke l te rele Sen-Domeng, men tou eta Lwizyàn ke defèt Napoleon nan Sen-Domeng te blije li vann bay Etazini pou li te ka finanse lagè Lafrans t’ap mennen lè sa a kont Angletè. Olyeke l te montre rekonesans anvè Ayiti pou ede l akeri doub teritwa li alepòk lan, Etazini de preferans te wè sa kou yon prèv siplemantè de « move ekzanp » Ayiti te reprezante antanke nasyon ansyen esklav, kidonk negasyon pwòp sistèm esklavajis ki te an vigè lakay Etazini. Se konsa li pran Etazini pliske senkantuit tan (1804-1862) pou l rekonèt endepandans Ayiti, sètadi sou administrasyon Abraham Lincoln lan ki t’ap pousuiv nan tan an yon lagè kont sesesyonis sidis yo, ki te patizan pou mentni esklavaj Ozetazini.

Entèvansyon Lafrans ak Etazini nan kriz ayisyen an e ranvèsman yo de Aristid sou pouvwa a se de zaksyon ilegal ki pa kab jistifye e lejitimize a posteriori, malgre ke yo te kapab anpeche gwo batay — donk posibleman yon bendsan — ant rebèl ame yo ak fòs pro-gouvènman yo. Detoutfason, pwobabilite pou rebèl yo te pran pouvwa a pat menm yon bagay ki te asire, etandone rebèl yo te apèn de san zòm, tandiske Pòtoprens te chaje ak gwoup ame regilye e iregilye, anpil ladan yo patizan Aristid, ki te prè pou defann li e reziste kont tout ofansiv rebèl yo sou Pòtoprens. Fòs ki vin depatya Aristid la se koudeta entèvansyonis inite militè fransè ak etazinyen yo ki manipile ajan sekirite (etazinyen) ki tap asire sekirite Aristid yo. Yon moun pa ka anpeche tèt yo panse ak magouy Fransè yo te anplwaye a lè yo te kidnape Tousen de syèk anvan sa.

Sa ki okontrè te vin klè, plis moun te vin pèdi lavi yo, plis kay ak etablisman te vin piye, plis domaj, domaj fizik e emosyonèl, te vin koze apre anlèvman e ekzil Aristid la ke diran tout peryòd faz final kriz la, ki te kòmanse 5 fevriye 2004 kan Gonayiv te tonbe anba men rebèl yo.

Entèvansyon an te boulvèse pwofondman regilyarite konstitisyonèl ayisyen an e enpoze yon opsyon inilateral ki tabli priyorite enterè enperyalis peyi Lafrans ak Etazini (avèk Kanada e Brezil nan wòl sipò), malgre sa yo te deklare nan pwopagann sekouris yo. Se yon ekzanp klasik de enpozisyon enterè pwisans ki pi fò yo nan lwa entènasyonal an vigè nan moman an, kou nou ka wè ann Afganistan, ann Irak oubyen an Kotdivwa. Nan kouriprese pou yo entèvni ann Ayiti, ni Lafrans ni Etazini pat wè li te nesesè pou yo mande otorizasyon gouvènman peyi souveren an, menmsi avrèdi Aristid te sanble envite George W. Bush pou li entèvni — an favè pa li byennantandi — nan entèvyou li bay CNN de jou anvan envazyon an.

Zak ilegal sila a pat reflekte pozitivman sou pretansyon peyi Lafrans ak Etazini kòm peyi sivilize. Imaj yo te voye bay lemond antye se te imaj Gran-Blan ki tap enpoze volonte yo sou yon peyi souvren ; yon imaj ki pa two diferan de imaj mefè Napoleon yo nan Sen-Domeng de san zan oparavan, oubyen tou imaj Musolini ann Etyopi, oubyen ankò imaj atak Izraelyen yo sou teritwa okipe yo — malgre evokasyon yon swadizan entansyon « imanitè » kou jistifikasyon pou entèvansyon ame a.

Yon lòt fenomèn ipnotik ki t’ap boulinen nan kriz ayisyen an men ke yo te fè parèt tankou yon lòt bagay, se te pwopagasyon nosyon envazyon franko-meriken an te yon bon bagay pou Ayiti. Se te yon jebede ki te patikilyèman afekte goch ewopeyen an (kontrèman a goch etazinyen an ki te limenm te kenbe ti dout). Yon lojik etranj ki vle di ou dwe kontan si yo anvayi peyi ou, detwi enstitisyon w yo, kreye kawos nan sosyete w, tiye e imilye pèp ou, tout sa dwe oke paske yo gen bòn entansyon !

Diran de zane rejim defakto yo enstale apre entèvansyon franko-meriken an ann Ayiti a te dire, kondisyon ekonomik, politik e sekirite yo vin anpire plizyè degre ; yo menm vin fè epòk Aristid la parèt tankou yon ti oazis/laplèn fètil pezib an konparezon (sitiyasyon malmalouk total la vin yon tijan amelyore apre monte opouvwa gouvènman Rene Preval la nan eleksyon an mas 2006 la). Se pa entansyon nou koulyea pou nou chwazi yon mal pou yon lòt. Bi nou se pou nou depase, transande limit ak orizon fèmen yo, e repoze, nan plas yo, nouvo keksyon antèm liberasyon radikal Ayiti de opresyon, povrete, dominasyon etranje, ansanm ak opòtinism tiboujwa.

Menmsi estrikti opresyon yo ka enfliyanse li, kriz ayisyen an alepòk la e jodia, pa yon kriz estriktirèl nan limenm ; li se esansyèlman yon lit pou pouvwa ant eleman ki soti nan yon menm klas politik, ki gen ladan li politisyen ki sot nan boujwazi tradisyonèl la, gran pwopyetè teryen latifundis yo ansanm ak entèlektyèl tiboujwa ki soti nan sa yo rele « klas mwayèn » lan.

Avrèdi, opòtinism tiboujwa yo e malveyans Ampi meriken a pat sèl eleman ki kontribye nan defèt gouvènman lavalas la an fevriye 2004. Tandans popilis Aristid yo ansanm ak ekzèsis otokratik li de pouvwa a, tradisyon kliyantelis ak koripsyon nan yon sosyete k’ap toufounen nan sivivalism, rechèch enterè pèsonèl kòm finalite politik anpil moun t’ap pousuiv, san retire anpil nan sipòtè Aristid yo, ke yo repwoche l li pat fè anpil bagay pou l estope, tout sa yo tou te kontribye nan fayit gouvènman lavalas la, e ansanm avè l, mouvman popilè a.

Byennantandi, Ayiti se yon faktè toupiti nan pwoblematik global dominasyon oksidantal la, men sa ki rive ann Ayiti enfòme moun sou oryantasyon jeneral enpilsyon e objektif neo-enperyalism yo nan kontèks jeopolitik global la. Avèk envazyon Ayiti an fevriye 2004 la, administrasyon Bush la te vle fè pase plizyè mesaj alafwa, espesyalman diran premye ane okipasyon Irak la ki te deja ap vin pwoblematik. Yo te chapante envazyon Ayiti a pou yo te demontre detèminasyon Etazini e kontwòl yo kontinye genyen nan pwòp emisfè yo, pandan menm lè y’ap pèmèt fanatik ekstrèm-dwat Pati Repibliken yo debarase yo de bèt nwa yo Aristid, e anmenmtan an ede zanmi yo nan lelit ayisyen an.

Se te kanmenm yon sipriz pou wè ansyen anbasadè meriken an ann Ayiti, Brian Dean Curran, vin admèt klèman e kondane yon politik Mezon Blanch li te limenm ede aplike 1. Li fè sa sètènman, omwen yon pati nan rezon yo, pou l te ka pran distans li parapò yon zak gouvènman l lan ki te gen konsekans terib ki vin parèt pi evidan deplizanpli (li plase blam lan de preferans sou Stanley Lucas, nèg Enstiti Nasyonal Repibliken mete sou teren an pou fè travay malouk yo). Kouwè Georges Clemenceau te di oun lè, siksè gen anpil papa, men fayit limenm ret òfelen.

Menmjan nou ka wè nan envazyon Irak an mas 2003, desounman preparatif konpreyansyon moun yo te byen reyisi nan ka Ayiti a tou. « Monpè wouj » la te vin si endezirad pou reyaksyonè fransè ak meriken yo ke yo te fè pase ranvèsman Aristid tankou yon bagay ou pat ka evite. Kouwè jan nou vin wè sa nan eleksyon Hamas nan Gaza an janvye 2006, anpil lè yo pa menm bezwen pretèks demokrasi pou yo jistifye ostilite yo kont rezistans pèp yo.

Postscriptum

Pou koulyea, nan mitan ane 2010, sètadi apre de zan rejim putchis e kat tran gouvènans dezyèm prezidans Preval la, san wetire yon tranblemanntè dekonstonbray, peyi a toujou ap konfwonte yon kriz politik, ekonomik e ekolojik ke l pa prè pou l vin rezoud. Men sepandan, gen ti plas pou lespwa : kouraj ak konbativite pèp la, jwenn ansanm avèk yon vrè solidarite entènasyonal (e entèpèp) ka akonpli mirak ki djanm ak karaktè revolisyonè.

NÒT

1. Pou plis detay, li atik Walt Bogdanich an « Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos » nan nimewo 29 janvye 2006 New York Times. Li tou atik Allan Nairn « Our Payroll, Haitian Hit » nan magazin The Nation, edisyon 9 oktòb 1995.

LE COUP D’ÉTAT FRANCO-ÉTATSUNIEN EN HAÏTI : L’INTENTION NÉOCOLONIALISTE

En Haïti, précisément en cette nuit du 28 au 29 février 2004, la relation colonialiste entre grand-blanc et petit nègre, qui était pratique courante durant l’esclavage, était rejouée avec une vigueur inusuelle dans l’intervention militaire des États-Unis et de la France dans la crise haïtienne, sous le prétexte de prévenir un bain de sang et de sauver la démocratie.

La coopération franco-étasunienne dans la mise en application du coup de force a permis à la France de faire d’une pierre plusieurs coups : Prendre sa revanche sur l’embarras que lui a fait essuyer Jean-Bertrand Aristide dans sa demande de la restitution des 21 milliards de dollars (montant d’aujourd’hui) versés à l’État français entre 1825 et 1947 comme indemnité pour reconnaître l’indépendance d’Haïti ; humilier un État d’anciens esclaves qui portait le coup d’envoi contre le colonialisme moderne et l’empire français ; et aussi, se rapprocher des États-Unis après la rupture sur la guerre contre l’Irak.

En effet, l’opposition de la France à la guerre contre l’Irak ne l’ayant apportée que des ennuis (hostilité des États-Unis, perte d’influence et de contrats alléchants, etc.), et la toute-suprématie de l’unique-superpuissance EUA l’ayant permise de faire ce qui bon lui semble de toute façon, la politique de la France, depuis au moins le lancement de la guerre, a été de se rapprocher des États-Unis. La crise haïtienne lui aura procurée l’occasion d’or.

La véhémence des critiques de la France contre la politique irakienne de George W. Bush avait fait oublier que les deux gouvernements, conservateurs et interventionnistes, avaient plus de points de convergence que de divergence. Leur rapprochement se fera donc sur le dos d’Haïti.

Ce n’est pas la première fois que la France et les États-Unis collaborent dans une jointe approche envers Haïti. En février 1986, face à l’insurrection de plus en plus violente et révolutionnaire du peuple contre le régime autocratico-fasciste de Bébé Doc, François Mitterrand et Ronald Reagan manigançaient une sortie en douceur pour celui-ci, faisant en sorte, au demeurant, que les rênes du pouvoir restent dans les mains des satrapes du régime, sauvant ainsi le système d’une possible révolution populaire.

En 2001 le gouvernement de Jacques Chirac soutenait sans sourciller la politique d’embargo sur l’aide contre Haïti décrétée par la nouvelle administration de George W. Bush, bloquant ainsi une aide cruciale pourtant négociée et consentie par la Banque interaméricaine de développement à Haïti ; tandis que la France usait de ses influences pour décourager toute possibilité d’aide de l’Union européenne au gouvernement d’Aristide.

En fait, la France n’a jamais pardonné aux Haïtiens la perte de non seulement sa plus florissante colonie, appelée jadis Saint-Domingue, mais aussi de la Louisiane que la défaite de Napoléon à Saint-Domingue l’obligeait à vendre aux États-Unis pour financer la guerre que la France menait alors contre l’Angleterre. Loin d’être reconnaissants envers Haïti pour leur avoir favorisé l’achat de plus du double de leurs territoires d’alors, les États-Unis le voyaient plutôt comme une preuve supplémentaire du « mauvais exemple » que celle-ci représentait en tant que nation d’anciens esclaves, donc négation du système esclavagiste toujours en vigueur chez eux. Il a mis ainsi aux États-Unis plus de cinquante-huit ans (1804-1862) pour reconnaître l’indépendance d’Haïti, soit sous l’administration d’Abraham Lincoln qui poursuivait au moment une guerre contre les sécessionnistes sudistes, partisans du maintien de l’esclavage aux États-Unis.

L’intervention de la France et des États-Unis dans la crise haïtienne et leur renversement d’Aristide du pouvoir constituent deux actions illégales qui ne peuvent pas être a posteriori justifiées ou légitimisées, en dépit du fait qu’elles pourraient avoir prévenu des batailles rangées — et donc possiblement un bain de sang — entre les insurgés armés et les forces progouvernementales. De toute façon, la probabilité de la prise du pouvoir par les insurgés était très mince, étant donné que ceux-ci constituaient à peine deux cents hommes, tandis que Port-au-Prince regorgeait de groupes armés réguliers et irréguliers, beaucoup d’entre eux partisans d’Aristide, prêts à le défendre et à résister toute offensive des insurgés sur Port-au-Prince. La force qui vaincra Aristide en dernière instance, c’est le coup d’État interventionniste des unités militaires françaises et étastsuniennes qui manipulent les agents de sécurité (étatsuniens) assurant la sécurité d’Aristide. On a du mal à ne pas penser à l’astuce employée dans l’enlèvement de Toussaint deux siècles auparavant.

Ce qui était sûr par contre, c’est que plus de personnes ont été tuées, plus de maisons et d’établissements étaient pillés, plus de dommages, physiques et émotifs, étaient causés après le rapt et l’exil d’Aristide que durant toute la période de la phase finale de la crise, qui commençait le 5 février 2004, quand Gonaïves tomba aux mains des insurgés.

L’intervention a profondément subverti la régularité constitutionnelle haïtienne et imposé une option unilatérale établissant la prépondérance des intérêts impérialistes propres de la France et des États-Unis (le Canada et le Brésil jouant le rôle de suppôt), quoiqu’en dise leur propagande secouriste. C’est un cas classique d’imposition des intérêts des plus forts dans les droits internationaux du moment, comme on l’a vu en Afghanistan, en Irak ou en Côte d’Ivoire. Dans leur hâte d’intervenir en Haïti, ni la France, ni les États-Unis n’avaient cure de demander l’autorisation du gouvernement d’un État souverain, même si Aristide, il est vrai, semblait inviter George W. Bush à intervenir — en sa faveur bien sûr — dans son interview à CNN deux jours avant l’invasion.

Cette action illégale ne reflétait pas positivement sur la prétention de la France et des États-Unis à la civilisation. L’image qui était renvoyée à travers le monde était celle de Grands-Blancs imposant leur volonté sur un pays souverain ; une image qui n’était pas trop différente de celle des méfaits de Napoléon à Saint-Domingue deux cents ans plus tôt ou celle de Mussolini en Éthiopie, ou celle des incursions israéliennes dans les territoires occupés — en dépit de l’invocation de l’intention « humanitaire » comme justification du coup de force.

Un autre phénomène d’hypnose propagandiste en évidence dans la crise haïtienne mais présenté pour quelque chose d’autre, c’était l’insinuation de la notion que l’invasion franco-étatsunienne était une bonne chose pour Haïti. Une distorsion qui avait particulièrement affecté la gauche européenne (contrairement à la gauche étatsunienne qui était plus sceptique). Une étrange logique qui suggère que si vous envahissez mon pays, détruisez mes institutions, créez le chaos dans ma société, tuez et humiliez mon peuple, tout cela devrait être OK aussi longtemps que votre intention soit pure !

Au cour des deux années que dura le régime de facto installé après l’intervention franco-étatsunienne en Haïti, les conditions économique, politique et sécuritaire ont empiré à plusieurs degrés, faisant paraître l’ère d’Aristide comme une oasis paisible en comparaison (la situation de totale horreur s’est comme quoi améliorée après l’élection de René Préval en mars 2006). Il n’est pas ici question de choisir un mal à un autre. Notre souhait est de dépasser, transcender leur limite, leur étroit horizon, et de reposer, à la place, de nouvelles questions en termes de la libération radicale d’Haïti de l’oppression, de la pauvreté, de la domination étrangère, aussi bien que de l’opportunisme des petits-bourgeois.

En dépit des structures d’oppression qui sans doute la façonnent une certaine façon, la crise haïtienne, d’alors et d’aujourd’hui, n’est pas une crise structurelle à proprement parler ; c’est essentiellement une lutte de pouvoir entre les protagonistes au sein d’une même classe politique, qui comprend les politicos de la bourgeoisie dirigeante traditionnelle, les grand propriétaire terriens latifundistes et les intellectuels petits-bourgeois de la dite « classe moyenne ».

À la vérité, l’opportunisme des petits-bourgeois et la malfaisance de l’Empire n’étaient pas les seuls éléments responsables de la défaite du gouvernement Lavalas en février 2004. Les velléités populistes d’Aristide et son autocratique exercice du pouvoir, la tradition clientéliste et la corruption d’une société pétrie dans le survivalisme, la quête de l’intérêt personnel comme finalité politique poursuivie par certains, y compris certains de ses supporteurs, qu’on lui reproche de ne pas trop faire pour stopper, tout cela a aussi contribué à la faillite du gouvernement Lavalas et, par extension, du mouvement populaire.

Bien entendu, Haïti est un infirme facteur dans la problématique globale de la domination occidentale, mais ce qui arrive en Haïti informe sur l’orientation générale des impulsions et objectifs du néo-impérialisme dans le contexte géopolitique global. Avec l’invasion d’Haïti en 2004, l’administration de Bush avait voulu signaler plusieurs messages à la fois, spécialement en cette première année de l’invasion de l’Irak qui commençait déjà à être problématique. L’invasion d’Haïti était conçue pour montrer la détermination des États-Unis (spécialement leur contrôle continu sur leur propre hémisphère), tout en permettant aux zélés extrême-droitiers du parti républicain de se débarrasser de leur bête noire Aristide, et en même temps aider leurs amis de l’élite haïtienne.

C’était tout de même une surprise de voir l’ancien ambassadeur étatsunien en Haïti, Brian Dean Curran, reconnaître explicitement et condamner une politique de la Maison Blanche qu’il avait lui-même aidée à appliquer 1. Il l’a fait certainement, au moins en partie, pour prendre ses distances à l’endroit d’une action gouvernementale dont les conséquences désastreuses devenaient de plus en plus évidentes (plaçant de préférence le blâme sur Stanley Lucas, l’homme de main du terroir en charge de superviser les sales boulots de l’Institut National Républicain dans le pays). Comme Georges Clemenceau l’a dit un jour, le succès a beaucoup de pères, tandis que la faillite est orpheline.

Tout comme dans l’invasion de l’Irak en mars 2003, le conditionnement préalable de l’entendement avait bien réussi dans le cas d’Haïti. Le « prêtre rouge » était devenu si indésirable pour les réactionnaires français et étatsuniens et leurs homologues dans la bourgeoisie haïtienne que son renversement s’avérait inévitable. Comme on l’aura vu dans l’attitude israélo-étatsunienne vis-à-vis de l’élection du Hamas à Gaza en janvier 2006, souvent on n’a même pas besoin du prétexte de la démocratie pour justifier l’hostilité envers la résistance des peuples.

Post-scriptum

Pour maintenant, c’est-à-dire au milieu de l’année 2010, soit après deux ans de régime putschiste et quatre années de gouvernance de la deuxième présidence de René Préval, et un tremblement de terre dévastateur, le pays est toujours confronté à une crise politique et économique et écologique dont il n’est pas prêt de s’en tirer. Mais l’espoir est permis : la résilience et la combativité du peuple jointes à une authentique solidarité internationale (et interpopulaire) peuvent accomplir des miracles d’une envergure révolutionnaire.

NOTE

(1) Lire pour plus de détails l’article de Walt Bogdanich « Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos » dans le New York Times du 29 janvier, 2006. Lire aussi l’article d’Allan Nairn « Our Payroll, Haitian Hit » dans le magazine The Nation, édition du 9 octobre 1995.

* Un essai plus analytique du coup d’État franco-étatsunien en Haïti peut être lu dans l’édition été 2005 de Tanbou-Tambour. Il s’intitule « Un an après le rapt : Pour une praxis de libération conséquente autour d’un consensus national stratégique en Haïti ». Pour le lire, cliquez sur le lien suivant:

http://www.tanbou.com/2005/AristideUnAnApresRapt.htm

(copyright Tontongi (c) , 2010)

The Port-au-Prince I Knew

2010-01-30T13:13:00.000-08:00

(A poem is sometimes the best medium in which to express and apprehend a tragedy. This one expresses what I feel and endure even from the safe retreat of afar)

-by Tontongi

It was a sonic, dreadful, shocking blow
the scoop, the news that day
for them it was— alas! — reality
those seconds of horror
a terrible moment
hell on Earth magnified
multiplied
the cement-brick walls protecting my refuge
against the elements and my security ceilings
suddenly have become destroyers.

Your most trusting hut or lovely home
can any moment collapse on your head
disposable cadavers you become
in those seconds when your destiny is made
amid a long desert of suffering
hell on Earth magnified
ten-times multiplied.

Hell on Earth
a sea of blood and tears
where even survivors are not safe:
“I don’t know if we can make it,”
my nephew said after surveying
the long Calvary of broken bones
human humming as a trailing pain slope.

Amid the unending real-life nightmare
daily consumption of vivid tragedy
history is remade — Did you know
people on this island always die stupid death?
Unnecessary deaths for lack of nutrients
lack of water to drink, cook or bathe
lack of medicines to sustain wellbeing
lack of everything that saves life.

My people are always dying
they die on a Monday morning
without any obvious causality
slow mass dying in silence
outside the glaring eyes of CNN News
they die outside human consciousness.

Even after deadly, repetitive tremors
Haiti has not disappeared, not ever.

The skeletal remains of the majestic Cathedral
whose spectral and eerie shadow
charmed my childhood soul
feel like slow, painful kicks on my wounds.
In my remembrance of our first encounter
she was a revelation
a discovery of a new space
joined with atemporal grace
she existed as in a dream
a furtive moment in passing.

She was the place for great Te Deums
also where things happen unexpectedly
her high silhouette seen from afar
hid unseen truth from sinners and saints
her odor of burned, wet candle
mixed with rum and sorrowful tears
conferred a peaceful, existential mystique.

Hotel Montana was destroyed
in a swirling fury just like the Cathedral
I remember going there almost every Sunday
with my sister Mimine a regular loyal fan
to hear the mini-jazz band Les Fantaisistes
and dance the melodious Compas Direct rhythm;
I remember I went there on a November 1st
a teenager in search of thrills and peer cachet
and enjoyed so much the Gede Vodou feast
that I drank myself to total oblivion
Hotel Montana was the place.

The agony of Port-au-Prince is painful
but my Port-au-Prince was already long dead
long before this extra-destructive quake;
she had become a neglected, mistreated city
a monster slum eating up the whole land
she had become a beauty turned ugly
a dirty and unsafe and toxic Port-au-Prince
a place where people die in slow but sure death;
she was no longer the Port-au-Prince I knew
she was overpopulated and dreadful
she needed a revolution or a quake.

Still I mourn sacred human bodies
suddenly violated by Nature’s madness
I mourn those innocents’ entrapment
in the great void of contingence
those who already had nothing
who now lose even that nothing
those suddenly transformed as cadavers,
human rubbish for the mass pit.

Yet I enjoy the genuine togetherness
even amid Big Brother’s reflexive antics
Somalia replay in 2010 except this time
the Haitian people will early see the light
they would remember 1791 and before
and what came after and beyond
and the people of the world will stay vigilant
to preserve centuries of valorous struggle
to gain what we have so sacrificed to gain:
real-life freedom
the dignity of being.

I would welcome our neighbor’s grace
in bringing water and firefighter
to extinguish the fire in our house;
I would welcome his goodness of heart
in providing sustenance and comfort
yet I would still resent him if he stays
against my will in my house in a guise
and tells me what to do like a master;
I welcome genuine solidarity and empathy
from those who care and share my sorrow
I welcome the helping hand
and not the holding grip.

Even from the distance of exile
I feel the unending tremors of the quake
the daily nightmares remaining reality;
in the mortal incineration of my home town
an important part of me has joined the ashes
I mourn my people’s anguish
yet my heart even in the absence of joy
is full of the hopeful wind of change
full of the creative energy even chaos
sometimes entails in its infinity
my soul takes pride in this human togetherness
and is full of hope for a better Haiti
a Haiti rebuilt on sounder and more just grounds.

Those who come from afar
and the land’s children who stay put
the survivors who endure utmost calamity
the doctors, the nurses, the vigilant reporters,
those who feel and care
those who want to continue
until human decency is achieved
I salute your great sacrifice
at the end that’s what counts
human solidarity in action
I salute you
I salute your sharing my dream.

-Tontongi, January 28, 2010

______________________

To see other writings by Tontongi, go to website :
Pour voir d'autres écrits de Tontongi, aller sur le site:
Pou wè plis tèks Tontongi ekri, ale sou sit:
http://www.tanbou.com

La Katrina d'Haïti

2010-01-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

(Quand la furie de la nature et la faillite humaine contribuent à la catastrophe)

-par Tontongi

Le tremblement de terre du 12 janvier 2010 a causé en Haïti des dégâts d’une proportion apocalyptique, particulièrement à Port-au-Prince, à Léogane, à Jacmel et dans la région sud-ouest. Pour un pays qui était déjà en proie à une multitude de handicaps, ce coup du destin a été particulièrement anéantissant. Pourtant il a tenu le coup, le pays, malgré le flot de sang et de pleurs, malgré les os brisés sous les décombres, malgré la squelettisation de la majestueuse cathédrale de Port-au-Prince dont l’ombre spectrale, enfant, attendrissait tant mon émoi, son odeur de bougie brûlée agrandissant sa mystique.

Comme les quatre cyclones qui ravageaient Haïti en automne 2008, ou encore Katrina, le cyclone qui frappait les États-Unis en été 2005, le séisme du 12 janvier a démontré l’ampleur que peuvent prendre les désastres naturels quand ils se combinent avec la négligence, l’incompétence, la corruption et la mauvaise foi des humains.

Naturellement, il faut faire la différence entre la science sismologique qui a identifié les patterns géologiques et le mouvement des plaques tectoniques qui causent et aggravent le tremblement de terre, et l’action (ou l’inaction) des humains et du système socio-politique haïtiens quant à la mise en place des paravents, sinon de prévention, du moins de réduction des dégâts envisageables dans une crise séismique. C’est la différence entre un État fonctionnel comme celui de Cuba qui affrontait à peu près les mêmes cyclones qu’Haïti en 2008 avec considérablement moindres dégâts, et l’État dysfonctionnel d’Haïti, historiquement au service de la bourgeoisie prédatrice, qui ne s’est jamais souscrit à la notion de l’État comme protecteur du bien-être général et des moins privilégiés.

Un système inhumain et des conditions sub-humaines

La tragédie séismique qui engloutit Port-au-Prince et le sud-ouest d’Haïti en ce jour de janvier 2010 changera à coup sûr la physionomie des villes et régions affectées, mais espérons que changeront aussi à la fois la conception et les pratiques de fonctionnement de l’État comme une poule aux oeufs qu’on déplume à volonté. Espérons qu’engloutisse avec les piliers des bâtisses et des monuments, avec les blocs de béton jadis protégeant les refuges, avec les cadavres jetés dans les fosses communes comme des immondices anonymes, tout le système socio-politique pourri d’Haïti qui considère le prochain comme un pallier et un pion malléable à merci, un système qui n’a cure que des gens vivent au milieu de la crasse et de la misère la plus horrible si l’automobile tout terrain du bourgeois est assez robuste pour y circuler à grande vitesse ; un système inhumain qui accepte que des gens vivent dans des conditions sub-humaines pour perpétuer le statu quo ; un système de perdition qui intimide par la terreur étatique et l’invasion étrangère, par l’exclusion et la répression, par l’exploitation et la subjugation de l’humain par l’humain.

Je pleure les gens qui meurent, parents, amis et connaissances, à l’instant d’un soupir et d’autres après une longue agonie ; je pleure ces gémissements et bourdonnements qui émanent de la profondeur des hécatombes sérielles, ces morts de la malchance et de la contingence dont la survit dépendait de la faillite d’une conjonction de facteurs à la fois arbitraires et prédéterminés mais qui tous témoignent de la démission relative d’une partie importante de la société : son propre État national.

Je pleure les enfants de l’oubli, ces disparus à peine parus dans notre monde de faux-semblants dont la ténacité vitale de la petite Jeanne, sauvée des décombres, a témoigné l’existence. Je pleure le grand vide d’être et les espaces dilapidés ; je pleure la furie destructive de la nature et le sang et les pleurs qu’elle a fait couler, sa violence mortelle contre les membranes de la terre, contre le corps sacré des humains. Je pleure cette massive manifestation de l’existence de l’horreur ; je pleure ses victimes innocentes.

Je me réjouis, toutefois, de voir au milieu des laideurs de la tragédie, cette immense manifestation de solidarité provenant des quatre coins du globe pour aider Haïti à s’en remettre, pour l’aider à survivre les coups. Pourtant je ne peux m’empêcher de revoir le spectre de Katrina, revivre l’abandon de la Nouvelle-Orléans seulement quelques mois après que les larmes de crocodiles eussent été versées. Haïti connaîtra-t-elle le même destin de ré-statuquosation que la Nouvelle-Orléans quatre années après Katrina ?

En effet, il serait condamnable de ne pas nous souvenir de Katrina dans le contexte du tremblement de terre en Haïti. L’éclairage, la vigilance, les apports de solidarité, les incriminations dans les médias nationaux et internationaux, les cris pour le changement étaient presque les mêmes qu’en Haïti aujourd’hui, mais seulement quelques mois plus tard les choses étaient retournées dans l’ordinaire de leur mondanité. Les morts étaient morts pour toujours ; on n’avait pas à en questionner les causes ni gaspiller les ressources pour en redresser les dégâts. Katrina n’était plus un scandale et la misère humaine, même exposée sur les écrans de télévision et d’ordinateur, n’était plus part de l’urgence et encore moins des priorités.

Fausse compréhension basée sur une fausse prémisse

Nous accueillons avec indulgence ceux-là qui, face à la passivité démissionnaire de l’État haïtien durant les premiers jours cruciaux du tremblement de terre, émettent le voeu que les choses soient prises en main par les étrangers, particulièrement par les Étatsuniens. C’est un désir suscité par la frustration, mais c’est une fausse compréhension des choses basée sur la fausse prémisse que les étrangers auraient les intérêts haïtiens à coeur plus que les Haïtiens eux-mêmes. La solidarité étrangère à Haïti est jusqu’ici formidable, les forces humanitaires de sauvetage et d’aide à la survivance, les secours médicaux et d’autres ont accompli un travail extraordinaire qui a sauvé beaucoup de vies dans une situation générale de chaos et de destruction. Mais leur travail de secours aura sitôt pris fin, et ils plieront bagages. Le peuple haïtien restera confronté aux mêmes problèmes : l’exploitation, l’inégalité, l’exclusion sociale, la détresse économique, la victimisation par les circonstances et les contingences.

La solution n’est certainement pas, loin de là, dans la recolonisation d’Haïti comme le préconisent carrément plus d’un ou plus implicitement dans le voeu que les étrangers prennent charge d’Haïti. En fait, l’ironie bien amusante de cette assertion c’est qu’elle ignore ou passe de l’éponge sur le fait qu’Haïti ait vécu justement, avant le tremblement de terre, sous le paradigme de la charité étrangère et de l’ajustement structurel promus par le Fond monétaire international et la Banque interaméricaine de développement qui sévissent en Haïti comme des proconsuls de l’impérialisme.

La responsabilité de la colonisation et de l’oppression postcoloniale

Comme le rappelle Peter Hallward dans un article dans The Guardian du 13 janvier 2010, « les décennies de politique néolibérale ’d’ajustement’ et d’intervention néo-impériale ont dépouillé le gouvernement d’Haïti de toute capacité significative d’investir dans son peuple ou d’organiser son économie (...) Haïti est couramment désigné comme ‘le pays le plus pauvre de l’hémisphère occidental’. Cette pauvreté est l’héritage direct possiblement du système colonial d’exploitation le plus brutal dans l’histoire du monde, aggravé par des décennies d’oppression systématique postcoloniale ». Hallward est correct d’attribuer aux conditions socio-économiques existant en Haïti une part de responsabilité dans les dégâts causés par le séisme : « C’est cette pauvreté et l’impuissance qui expliquent l’énorme échelle d’horreurs à Port-au-Prince aujourd’hui. » Hallward conclut l’article avec le voeu qu’en plus de l’aide d’urgence envoyée par la communauté internationale qu’elle réfléchisse sur ce qu’elle peut faire « pour faciliter l’auto-responsabilisation du peuple d’Haïti et des institutions publiques. Si nous sommes sérieux dans notre volonté d’aider, il faut nous défaire de nos velléités de contrôler le gouvernement d’Haïti, de pacifier ses citoyens et d’exploiter son économie. Et puis nous devons aussi commencer à payer au moins quelques-uns des dommages que nous avons déjà causés » [notre traduction de l’anglais]. À la lueur du blocus illégal par États-Unis des ports et de l’aéroport de Port-au-Prince, la mise en garde de Hallward est bien judicieuse.

C’est en effet difficile de voir ceux-là mêmes comme Bill Clinton, George W. Bush et Nicolas Sarcozy, cet héritier du revanchisme français, dont les décisions politiques sont en une grande partie responsables des malheurs d’Haïti maintenant se métamorphoser en champions de son bien-être. Le paradigme de la charité, de la dépendance et de la prise en charge, c’est celui-là même que l’impérialisme bien-pensant (ou son pendant le néocolonialisme globaliste) avait déjà imposé sur le reste du tiers-monde, Haïti servant comme laboratoire. Il faut rejeter catégoriquement cette voie-là.

Une opportunité de repartir à neuf

Ce qu’en outre les forces progressistes doivent avancer dans le grand débat d’idées qui se mène en cet instant, c’est que le tremblement de terre et la réponse passive de l’État à son égard témoignent non seulement de la faillite du système politique, mais ils rendent possible en même temps l’opportunité de chambarder tout le système pourri et le remplacer par un nouveau système rebâti sur des bases plus solides, plus bénéfiques aux intérêts du peuple.

En effet, Haïti n’était pas, loin de là, un paradis terrestre quand le séisme fonçait sa furie son centre névralgique. Haïti et Port-au-Prince en particulier vivaient, avant le tremblement de terre, dans des conditions quasiment séismiques, dans une situation terrible de sous-développement qui amène à son sillon la misère, la corruption de l’État, la nocivité de l’environnement, l’abjection de la vie ou simplement la laideur de la contingence. Haïti était en désolation avant le tremblement de terre, la désolation est maintenant amplifiée par les horreurs en série que vit journellement la population.

Cependant, malgré ses horreurs, le tremblement de terre présente pour nous une rare occasion de repartir à neuf, repartir à partir du projet original de libération nationale, d’indépendance et de solidarité avec les autres peuples qui combattent l’oppression ; repartir vers la création de la société de droit et de justice sociale, vers une vie décente faite de dignité et de fraternité solidaritaire. Au lieu qu’elle nous engouffre davantage dans l’impasse de la sub-humanité, cette catastrophe nationale, contrairement à l’humiliation de février 2004, doit nous faire avancer vers l’avant, non pas en terme de la conception productiviste du progrès, mais en terme de la réalisation du projet humanitaire vers la transcendance, vers la réalisation de la justice sociale, la dignité de l’individu, la sécurité et le bien-être de la collectivité.

Il n’y a aucune raison pour qu’Haïti demeure une singularité de l’abject, un superlatif de la pauvreté, ni un cas particulier qu’illustre la conception raciste de développement de l’humain.

Oui, même pétri dans le chagrin par la mort des gens que j’aime et je respecte, même vivant la mort dans l’âme l’horrible cauchemar de destruction de Port-au-Prince de mon enfance, je me réjouis de la solidarité universelle que manifeste cette collectivité de nations et de peuples envers la souffrance de mon peuple. Je m’en réjouis, car c’est la récompense de la raison contre l’ignorance et contre l’inhumanité de la notion qu’on puisse bâtir une éthique de vie sur l’exclusion, l’avarice et l’apparence. Dans ce présent moment de chaos, de confusion et de priorité de la survivance et du chacun pour soi, c’est bien réjouissant de voir ces images de solidarité et d’abnégation de soi. Même si on voit dans certains moments de la tragédie la manifestation animale de la contingence, il y a encore l’espoir de reformuler ou de réaffirmer le grand besoin de transcendance, de civisme et de sacrifice de l’ego pour arriver à un nouveau paradigme de réinvention de l’être comme à la fois liberté et solidarité avec l’Autre, une nouvelle éthique de vivre ensemble.

La grande tragédie où s’engouffre aujourd’hui le peuple haïtien est bien douloureuse mais je reste confiant qu’il la surmontera avec courage ; les jours qui viendront seront assurément jalonnés d’épreuves, mais à la fin le pays reprendra sa force car, tout comme le bistouri du chirurgien blesse pour la guérison, cette présente tragédie peut être une opportunité de rebâtir un demain meilleur. Haïti ne moura pas. Loin de là.

-Tontongi, 20 janvier 2010
(Cet article peut être aussi lu dans la revue Tanbou : http://www.tanbou.com;Alterpress : http://www.alterpresse.org/ et Haïti Liberté: http:www.haiti-liberte.com)

N.B. Je veux profiter de cette occasion pour présenter mes condoléances aux familles de mes amis et collègues d’Haïti qui ont perdu la vie dans le tremblement de terre. Je pense plus spécialement à Pierre Vernet qui a été un farouche défenseur de notre créole, à Georges Anglade, le grand géographe et excellent « audienceur », et à Mireille Neptune Anglade, une grande championne des droits de la femme. J’écrirai éventuellement un hommage spécial pour honorer leur mémoire. Mes condoléances et sympathies vont également aux familles de Christine Toussaint, de Myriam Merlet, de Magalie Marcelin, d’Anne Marie Coriolan, de Micha Gaillard et de tous mes compatriotes, connus et non connus, affectés par cette tragédie.

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Y2K Revisited

2010-01-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago, the world was supposed to end or to turn upside down by a computer bug: the Y2K. I wrote the following text about the same time. I am sharing it here for the first time with my English readers. (January 1st, 2010)

The Anthropology of a Bug: The Y2K Collective Hysteric Booby-Trap

In one thousand years from now, when the post-back-to-the-future humans look back to 1999, they will have a big laugh seeing the collective, Kafkaesque booby-trap we had set to one another in that year. They will probably appreciate the stories of people who had looked for safety from one continent to the other; people who confessed to God for their most inner sins, convinced that the end was near; families which had stocked tones of foods, heating oil and first-aid accessories, fearing a central, all-purpose computer system will stop functioning on the year 2000 due to the malignity of an evil bug.

The Boston Globe of Monday January 3, 2000, had reported the case of a New Hampshire state prison inmate who “sewed his eyes and lips shut with dental floss Friday because he feared the new year.” Perhaps not related to the computer bug per se, but symptomatic enough of the millenarian fever, The New York Times reported on March 28, 2000, the unearthing of 330 followers of a Uganda cult named Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God who “died in a fire set by some of its own members in a chapel on the cult’s isolated compound in Kanungu [who] believed that the end of the world was to come on Dec. 31, 1999.”

Perhaps, the future humans will not laugh after all. Being then totally entangled in the web of post-digital computer governance, they might, all to the contrary, very well be highly impressed by the great prescience and wisdom our contemporaries will have had exhibited in 1999. What if the Y2K phobia were really the foreseen signs of things to come?

During the last three days of December 1999 (referring to the Western calendar of course), I saw myself thinking about what Alexis de Tocqueville would say if he were living in Boston at that particular juncture of the United States’ history, he who had asked: “Why the Americans are more concerned with the applications than with the theory of science?” How would he react to the Y2K collective hysteria?

Naturally, like most clear-minded people, I had tried to ignore the Y2K concerns until the very last moment, until it was no longer a distant possibility, but an imminent threat whose pervasiveness was equal only to its ingenuity in mixing, on an interchangeable mode, fantasy and reality.

When my wife asked me to withdraw some cash from the bank and turn off the computer — “just to be on the side of caution,” said she with a skeptical wink — I knew the hysteria had hit home. Still the rebel part of me refused to accept what was now presented to me almost as a fatality: the Y2K bug lurking around, threatening my already precarious life. I however refused to take any step that would give credence to the premises of the Y2K’s conjecturists. Retorted my wife: “Your rejection of preventive measures against the Y2K bug is just a manifestation of your innate stubbornness in refusing things that would make your life easier...”

To win the argument with my wife, I used my favorite technique : the high ground. With a grave tone of voice, I said to her : ”I refuse to accept the premise of the Y2K hysteria, that is that life would end by the action of a stupid computer programming or non-programming. I refuse to be taken in!”

In reality we were already taken in. For my part, deep inside, I was not sure that the Y2K zealous were not right after all. What if they were? What if the food that I eat, the home where I live, the job I have, the heat that warms my body were connected to the capricious compulsion of a computer bug?

Sectorialization of time

On the eve of New Year’s eve, I went to a neighborhood bar in Cambridge to relax and take notes about the Y2K phenomenon, for future use for the book of memoirs I was working on. By then, to my great pleasure, the Y2K fever had become, a great source of anthropological inquiries, a rich, uncovered region for discovery of the Western mind. In the book, I was discussing precisely what I called the reverse-anthropology : How does a Haitian expatriate apprehend the West, including the USA, with his own cultural outlook in a way that reverses the look from thing seen to seer, similarly to what Frantz Fanon calls le regard de l’Autre, the gaze of the Other? If any thing, I was very happy by the rich insight provided by the Y2K’s riddle on the US cultural symbolisms and social mores.

In the bar that night, I asked two Eastern European men what did they think about the advent of the new Millennium and the Y2K bug. The older man, a Polish, former professor, said in a half philosophical, half sarcastic tone that the world was just having a good time. He called the whole thing “superficial” because it doesn’t take into account the existence of other world calendars, like the Arabs’ or the Chinese’s. We both agreed, to my delight, that the Y2K’s millenary fatalism was just part of the arbitrary sectorialization of natural time by the West.

My other interlocutor, a thirty-something Russian, changed the conversation, as soon as I asked the question, from Y2K concern to Russian grandeur — or more precisely Russia’s non-grandeur. Forgetting his known antipathy to all that is Russian, I made the mistake of saying to him that Russia is a great country (just like I consider almost all of the countries in the world). He said: “No, no, Russia is not a great country; America is... What you call Russia’s so-called greatness is only related to its killing and subjugation of other people”.

I couldn’t argue against that logic, knowing of Russia’s historical imperialism, and its killing of the Chechen people at the very moment we were talking. I reminded my interlocutor, however, that he had just said that the U.S. was a great country even though it was a well known fact that the U.S. has committed atrocities as repulsing as that of the Russians. He responded : “Well, I agree; but America does some good for the people all over the world, while Russia...” Was this guy having the bug? I thought.

I soon realized this was an unwinnable argument. Here I was, a Haitian, arguing with a Russian about the “greatness” of his country. I told my interlocutor just that, that I was not comfortable defending Russia with him. He seemed to have caught the irony of it, for he cut off the conversation without any additional reply, waving good-bye to me in a friendly and gentlemanly fashion.

Interestingly enough, within the West itself the debate was raging, acidly at times, as to the right time and the best way of celebrating the new Millennium. Some critiques pointed out that the real time-sequence for the new millennium to take place was on January 1st, 2001, a year later. Others have observed that other cultures, civilizations and countries have different calendars and time configurations that emphasize different celebratory significances that don’t necessarily correspond to the Western norm. One could even feel sorry for the Palestinians and the Israelis who not only had to deal with their respective Y2K bugs and mutual distrust, but also with the invasion of their already crowded living space by hundreds of thousand of Orthodox and Roman Christians along with their millennialist, lunatic fringes.

Naturally, the “relativist” critiques were not too happy seeing the TV clips of celebratory extravaganza in front of the Pyramids by the Egyptians, the state-of-the arts fireworks in Tiannamen Square, nor the vigilant upbeat mood of the Israelis for that matter.

My next interview was with a Haitian immigrant I met in Harvard Square, Cambridge, who has been in the US for the last eight years. He’s from the Haiti’s countryside, a small village where there is no electricity nor water system. He came here from the wave of Haitian refugees who left the country by boat during the fascist military coup d’Etat that toppled the elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in September 1991. At first he didn’t know what I meant by Y2K bug; when I explained to him in Haitian Creole what it was, he proffered a big laugh. His laugh reminded me of this interlocutor who, back in Port-au-Prince in 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission, proffered a similar laugh to the notion that human could go to the moon; he thought the whole thing was a hoax.

I asked my Harvard Square interlocutor whether he was worry about a Y2K-caused general debacle that may result in his losing his job, his saving, his apartment. “Well,” he said with sapient resignation, “in this case, I would take a boat back to my village and care for my pigs and corn field. Espri m ap pi anpè, more peace to my soul.”

Kissingeresque precept

In my search to apprehending the meaning of the Y2K bug in the US’s consciousness during the last three days of 1999, I found myself talking with a MIT researcher, expert on genetic treatment for dyslexia. This scientist and I have chatted in the past about world politics, but I never saw him as passionate as when the subject came on the Y2K bug. Of all my interviewees, he was the only one who put the Y2K delusion in its contextual, logical and consequential conclusion. He complained most of all about the tremendous amount of money that was spent to “fix” the Y2K problem. His estimate was that the powerful financial forces have wasted up to 500 billions of dollars to solve the presumed computer bug, while they would not spend a fraction of that money to solve real human problems. “This goes to show,” he said, “that’s not money that is lacking.”

I reminded him that Henry Kissinger once said (or it’s attributed to him to have said) that the best way to solve a problem is to invent the problem in the first place. My interlocutor liked the analogy, but that didn’t make him any less angry. This scientist told me he had developed, since twenty years now, a tumor removal treatment for dyslexia through lesser technology that needs only a few millions of dollars for experimentation. He’s still begging for the money to come.

Just like what the Kissingeresque dictum implies, my own analysis is that the Y2K thing was just a ploy by corporate USA in inventing an artificial bug (or enlarging a small problem) in order to maintain its overwhelming control of the current electronic and internet revolution. Cartesian by profession, the corporate thinking was that: “If I can prove to you that I can solve that catastrophic problem, therefore I am better; therefore I am in charge.” Naturally, if you accept the premise, you will forget that the problem was pre-fabricated by the savior himself...

The last person I talked to about the Y2K bug was, sure enough, a computer programmer I met by pure chance. He confirmed my gut feeling that the “problem” was blown out of proportion. He told me that, in fact, he had just helped his company fix the Y2K problem and, as a result, was promoted, at the last week of 1999, chief computer analyst. He was now happy, enjoying the end-of-the- year holidays. Given the sense of catastrophic enormity the media have associated with the Y2K problem, I was curious to know how did he do it. I asked him. “Simple,” he replied, “I just re-programmed the computer to count from 1999 to 2000, 2001, 2003, and so forth.” Wow!

Terrorist threat and Y2K specter

In the midst of the millennialist fever that was grabbing the West, it was interesting to see how the usual international terrorist threat had entwined with the end-of-the-century Y2K specter. As 1999 was ending, suddenly the terrorists seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. To read the US media, one would think that the long US-Canadian border had become their staging area, and the whole United-States was now in peril.

With the arrest of two Middle-Eastern men who, according to the authorities’ allegations, tried to cross the border with an arsenal of fire arms and explosives, the specter of omnipotent evil was now becoming reality. Many of us living in those so-called Post-modern societies have had the impression that life was going to come to a sudden stop. Of course, everywhere else in the globe, people thought of those Western eccentrics as nuts. Caprice of the rich?

The terrorist threat, evidently, had not materialized. Not at that moment. In reality, as proven by the real terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, what serious terrorist would attack the West at the moment of high alert of December 1999!

I remember the subdued reaction of that acquaintance of mine who asked me if it was safe for him to travel to Europe following the arrest of the two presumed terrorists at the US-Canada border. “Don’t worry my friend,” I told him, “travel to anywhere in the world you want; the terrorists are now coming to the USA!” Two or three days after that exchange, I saw this same man in a Cambridge coffee shop. He told me he had decided to stay in the US to be in his cozy home with his family during the Millennium celebrations. Did he stay in order to save his family and friends in case of catastrophic Y2K debacle or terrorist attack? I didn’t know.

My own take on the dreadful terrorist threat was that the presumed terrorists were too much busy preparing for their own Millennium celebrations — and the family obligations that they entailed — to invest much attention to terrorist actions per se. It could also be that the terrorists who were caught at the Canadian border, taken in by the Y2K panic like everyone else, were just moving to safety their arsenal in the advent of the up-coming Y2K blight in the United States: Where’s a better place to hide the precious arsenal if not in the belly of the beast itself?

Time and space symbiosis: the Vodou dedoubleman

“What is time any way?” I asked myself as year 2000 busted in without any change in my existential environment. Soon that I had asked the question, the answer came to me through the Boston Globe edition of January 3, 2000, in an article titled “A Rip in Time,” co-authored by Stephen Reucroft and John Swain. The article’s authors have consulted the science fiction author Michael Crichton and the theoretical physicist Julian Barbour to inquire about the meaning of time. Their response is that, time is not only arbitrary, it’s also illusory. Using a kind of timeless symbiosis between Albert Einstein’s relativity and the quantum mechanics in their respective work, they assert, at least as alleged in the Globe article, that the time-space dualism is imaginary, and that what is there is there, existing in its own time-space uniformity; they go so far as to suggest that our actual conception of time may be due to a hangover vision or psychotic alteration of reality. Says Julian Barbour: “The Big Bang is as close to us as the house across the street. They’re both in our head so they’re here”.

For a better understanding of the time-space symbiosis, the article’s authors could have as well questioned any Haitian Vodouist about the phenomenon that is known as dedoubleman or doubling: one person seen at the same time in two places, or in two different localities in a time period that is physically impossible to travel by the normal means that are available to him.

You meet this person in Jacmel, a town in the mountainous Southern Haiti with challenging road conditions; you chat with him and wave good-bye. You travel in a fast GM Jeep (or on a horse) to Gonaïves, a town located in the Central, Northern part of Haiti, at some 160 miles from Jacmel. Arriving at your destination, the first person you see is the same guy you left in Jacmel some six hours earlier. You continue the conversation you were having with him. Naturally, you would ask yourself how did he get to Jacmel so fast knowing well he didn’t use either an air plane, a car, a boat, not even a horse...

It could also be you’re in Cap-Haïtien, in the Northern section of Haiti, talking on the phone with this person in Port-au-Prince, distanced from each other by some 150 miles. “By the way,” says your friend on the other line, “ I just bumped onto George in the square, he sends his regards to you.” “What George?” you ask, “George Gobert,” responds your friend. You ask for more details of identification. You’re both talking about the same George. “George Gobert! He just came by my house, here in Cap-Haïtien, and told me to say hello to you, only fifteen minutes earlier!” you exclaimed. Naturally, no one ever knows how does that happen because, according to the conventional wisdom, you wouldn’t dare ask George himself, knowing deep inside he’s been revealing his dedoubleman Vodou power to you.

Time as process

One of the many surprises I found when I came to France, and later to the United-States, was how much different their notion of time was from Haitians’, especially with regard to setting and honoring appointments and their modalities and commitment, more precisely the respect for the schedule.

On many occasions US-American friends have complained to me about being dissed by Haitians with whom they had made appointments only to be left in the cold, sometimes literally. No trace of the other party. These complainers were generally very upset by the incident, experiencing it as personal rejection.

One particular person reported, with unhidden resentment in her voice, that a common friend offered her to bring a group of musicians to play in a public event she was organizing. Relying entirely on our friend to provide the music, the person was extremely upset when, the day of the event, no musician showed up.

Others would complain of rendez-vous set for a specific date and time, and at a specific place that were not honored. The worst of all, adding insult to injury, those no-show culprits wouldn’t even bother to apologize when seeing the injured party the next time, acting as if there were no problems.

What my whining US-American friends didn’t know is that there was in fact no problem as far as the Haitian was concerned. Not that he didn’t care about hurting the other person’s feeling. He did. Simply, since, for the Haitian, there was no process, no follow-up, no serial confirmations, there was not a commitment. The initial agreement on the project or encounter was essentially, at best, tentative. Here again the definition/meaning of what is tentative is vastly different between the Haitian and the US-American. While for the Haitian it implies everything that is not part of a process, for the US-American it means appointment agreements that are not specifically determined or definite, but are still considered, even partially, as a commitment. In any case, between the two sides the misunderstanding was total, each one modulated by its own frame of reference, its own sense of certainty and expectation.

Actually there was never a chance for the projected happening to ever occur. Too huge was the cultural gap between the US-American who showed up and the Haitian who didn’t. The former’s action is molded by a well-structured socio-economic system that puts a premium to timeliness, while the latter’s upbringing environment is rather unpredictable, formed in hazard, even chaos, modulated by both contingential chance and spiritual determinism.

The capitalist notion of time — time subordinated to the imperatives of production— is foreign to the Haitian psyche, ever among those who had worked before emigrating to the West. For most Haitian immigrants (in the West), it’s already enough of a burden that they have to “give the white man his time,” as they say, meaning working long hours, at specific time frame for meager pay. Ironically, they are usually among the most punctual and reliable of the workers, but their loyalty is left at the gate of the workplace. All other commitments of their time are relegated, for lack of a better term, to the realm of the original Haitian conception of time as a process, a process of priority selection.

For a farmer or a mammal-bovin grower habituated to the slow cycle of natural fecundation, who after long years of maturity must again spend dozens of hours on the long march to the slaughter-house, the notion of time is pretty much expansive, relative. What my US-American friends couldn’t comprehend was that for someone whose life has been a long struggle against time (time awaiting fecundation, time lost in illness, in precocious death, in boredom), a verbal, non-work-related commitment cannot be abiding. Since nothing is never given to him without long days, often long years of negotiation, the agreement to meet or to work on some ulterior project cannot be expected to be timely.

I know by instinct that an appointment to meet with a fellow Haitian, whatever heartfelt and detailed was the initial agreement, is just an idea, at best an intention which cannot be achieved in the time frame/fashion in which it was considered. If we say, for example, we’re going to meet in two weeks from now, at a specific time and place, I know for certain we will have to talk at least twice before the time of the appointment. The second time to confirm the initial agreement, the third time to re-confirm it, preferably the day before or the very day of the appointment. Only then the planned encounter is sure to take place. It must be a process. Otherwise, I surely will be left in the cold.

“Much ado about nothing”

As 1999 came to a close and 2000 entered without much happening, a kind of Shakespearean much-ado-about-nothing general feeling caved in the air. I liked the fact that, after all, I was still alive and well, my family was OK, and the world didn’t come to an end. My dismissal of the whole Y2K thing as a fabulous trap didn’t spare me some worry about its possibility. But seeing that my gut feeling was now proven real, confirmed by the peacefulness of the post-Y2K era, I decided I must let myself go to the infinitude of existence.

By the second day of January, there was a sense of collective feeling of well-being, and an optimist look on reality that seemed to take hold. Everyone I asked said they were feeling good about themselves and about the future, even without any specific, factual evidence to back up their claim. In fact, by now, the whole Y2K thing had become an universal joke. Dana Brigham, owner of the Booksmith bookstore in Brookline, Massachusetts, passed around the joke of this CEO’s very imaginative response to the Y2K compliance : “He dutifully changed all the “Y”s to “K”s in his company’s database.”!

Although I shared the positive vibe coming all around me, and let myself be immersed in the multitude’s new fervor and idealization of the future, I knew good feeling may not be enough to overcome the powerful forces which fester fear, instability, confusion and boredom in our lives; still I wanted to give life a chance. Why not a self-imposed illusion, one just like the Y2K’s magical wand, but which would make everything look green, bright, sunny, beautiful, worries-free?

I know Alexis de Tocqueville admired a great deal the industrious genius of the North-Americans, but what would he think of the metamorphosis of his lovely subject from genius to fabulist of the Unknowable, as we see it in the confrontation between the cyber-magnetic forces and the socio-economic finalities? To answer that question, I went to the Cambridge Public Library to check out if de Tocqueville’s famous book, Democracy in America, has any futurist insight on it. Of course, Tocqueville didn’t have a clue about the Y2K bug, but he went close enough when he told the following story: “I once met an American sailor and asked him why his country’s ships are made so that they will not last long. He answered offhand that the art of navigation was making such quick progress that even the best of boats will be almost useless if it lasted more than a few years.” For de Tocqueville, this offhand answer was endemical “of the general and systematic conception by which a great people conducts all its affairs.” De Tocqueville believed that part of the North-American psyche (and of the West in general) is to create unnecessary industrial crises, that in turn become an “endemic disease” that cannot be cured, “for it is not due to accident but to the essential temperament of these peoples.” My question is then, is it really “temperament” or rather strategic subterfuge to confound everyone and maintain control? In any case, de Tocqueville surely saw a trend in a people accustomed to align its dream to reality, and confound in the process both of them.

I don’t know what the future generations will think of the Y2K bug; but one thing is now sure: They will be so much bombarded by all sort of imaginary bugs that they may as well decide to get rid of all the technological media that mediates their relationship to life, and return, as the Haitian immigrant suggested, to their small villages and care for their pigs and corn fields.

—Tontongi, Cambridge, March 2000

To see other writings by Tontongi, go to website :
Pour voir d'autres écrits de Tontongi, aller sur le site:
Pou wè plis tèks Tontongi ekri, ale sou sit:
http://www.tanbou.com

GIVING IN TO BLOGGING (followed by "My First Poem")

2009-12-16T01:06:00.000-08:00

I, at first, dismissed and refused the idea of having a “blog,” then, as years passed and blogging was gaining more credence, I said to myself: Why not? Having been part of the generation I would call Between-Two-World-Generation (second half 20th and first half 21st centuries), I can appreciate the tremendous technological/digital revolution that has taken place right under my eyes (temporally speaking). I remember the many hassles we had to go through in the 1980’s in order to put out a little typeset magazine, the prohibitive price of publishing and publicizing it to more than a couple of hundreds people, the quasi-silence of the readership. A blog capable of reaching millions around the globe seems so far away in time and space.

I want to use this channel as together an unedited first draft volley, a journal intime (private diary) where all thought is permitted, and a forum where I’m inviting other writers to send texts and comments. It would also be, of course, therapeutic, because this function of writing is the most liberating of all. If insanity is a sort of rebellion of the soul against oppressive power structures, poetry is its no less rebellious cousin who wants to stir it toward redemptive finality.

I will write this blog in three languages, English, French and Haitian, depending on the particular mood I’m in or the pressing issue on hand. Once in a while I will exhort my readers to pay attention to a certain writer, event or public pronouncement, either to critique it or to encourage support.

Finally, while I will encourage free flowing of arguments and ideas, I will not publish — and will remove — comments and venomous arguments that are trying to degrade, hurt or humiliate others. Hate discourse is part of that interdiction, be it against a race, an ethnicity, a gender, a sexual orientation or a philosophical/religious creed.

Let’s now enjoy the adventure of writing off the cuff, going wherever one’s imagination or impulse would lead us. That’s the appeal of the blog.

My First Poem

I must have been 7 or 8 years old when I wrote my first poem. My mother was all complimentary, with some kind of prideful amazement. She took the poem, written long hand on a piece of school notebook, and showed it to the entire lakou vwazinaj (the surrounding neighbors within a certain enclosure) in this Bolosse section of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

I, in turn, found my mother’s reaction quite exaggerate, given I didn’t recognize in me any particular talent, although in 3rd grade French writing I was very fluent, to the point I would help other classmates. Of course I felt flattered by my mother’s excitement.

It is undisputable that this simple congratulatory act of my mother had a positive influence on my confidence in writing although it may not have had a causalistic effect on my continuing to write: there are surely many good writers who continue to write in spite of their mother’s (or any parent’s or authority’s) dismissal.

I don’t remember what I said in the poem but it certainly was my first, and my mother my first admiring reader. I continued to write poems and proto-philosophical reflections throughout my adolescence. Most of my adolescent poems were on love or romantic intrigues. Broken hearts and women’s betrayal or misunderstanding. My reflections were almost always on the unjust nature of life, the caprice of fate. Existential questioning.

-TTG
______
To see other writings by Tontongi, go to website :
Pour voir d'autres écrits de Tontongi, aller sur le site:
Pou wè plis tèks Tontongi ekri, ale sou sit:
http://www.tanbou.com