By Ilio Durandis
The house of the poor has no master; indeed Haiti being one of the poorest nations on this planet is proving to be a land with no one in charge. There was an avalanche of events that took place in the early part of this year, leading to the nomination of William J. Clinton as the United Nations special envoy to Haiti.
First, it was two short trips by Hillary Clinton, the U.S Secretary of State, and then Bill Clinton along with Ban Ki Moon took a one day field trip to Haiti accompanied by Wyclef Jean. We also had Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, who led a group of U.S. lawmakers to visit Haiti in April of this year. The field was set, the teams were ready, and the take over of Haiti was imminent.
The audacity of the world empires to take over a little country like Haiti, and still pretending to respect the sovereignty and dignity of the Haitian people goes beyond an insult to our basic intelligence.
In theory, Haiti has never enjoyed true independence, but lately the blunt approach of the international community vis-à-vis Haiti’s right of self-governance has taken a step further in describing neo-colonialism in the global age.
Since our independence in 1804, we have been the guinea pig of the world’s imperial laboratory as far as trying out odd theories of progress for the developing world.
Haiti’s independence was not recognized by the United States not until before Abraham Lincoln granted emancipation for blacks in America. The Catholic Church failed to utter a word against slavery as it was promoting its faith based teachings to the oppressed. Haiti had to pay a ransom to France – even after defeating them on the battlefield – to recognize its right to be an independent nation.
The constant threats of those foreign imperialists against the freedom of the new nation suffocated the hope and blinded the visions of Haiti’s founders. Now, 205 years later, the same tactics to prevent Haitians from solving Haiti’s problem are still being applied. It is time that we gather our strength to cry for freedom, which in turn is the true pursuit of every human being.
In the house of the poor, the rhetoric of who finances command always holds true. The poor maybe living in his house, but he does not decide when to sleep, wake up, eat, let alone whom to invite as a guest. The house of the poor is the bastion for all, but the poor.
A fundamental change must take place in order to reverse this great injustice that the poor has been suffering under for so long. Human tendency is to hold firm to what we know even if what we know is wrong, for the fear of the unknown is greater than the failure of the known.
The poor has to decide if they want to be the master of their house or if they will accept to always be the subject of their financiers. The choice they make matters because it will settle the count as to what characters they want their children to have. A house with no master is not a good place to raise children. It must be clear to the children as to who make the final decisions in the house.
Being poor should not equate to being hopeless, but unfortunately in this house of the poor hopelessness is the only currency. This is when tragedy reigns. When there’s no hope, desperation sets in, and avoidable mistakes happen. We have to be careful to not allow ourselves to be guided by the demons of hopelessness.
As a poor nation, we believe that we have the same natural intellect as any nation on the face of this earth. There is not one invention created by men that we can’t duplicate, or for that matter come up with our own invention. It is absurd to buy into the meli-melo that because for 205 years our leaders have yet to figure out the formula of prosperity that we should sell off our stake in our own home. The down deposit that our ancestors vested in this house has been more than enough to pay the whole mortgage. In essence, we must let the world knows that this is our house.
The time for pity and unhappiness has passed. We have a generation ready to right the wrongs of the past. A generation that is ready to modify the vocabulary use to describe Haiti. We want to take our country to new heights, reach the summit with the sweat of our foreheads. We are ready to make our forefathers pride, and leave an impeccable legacy for future generations.
The moment to accept the poor in every circle and in every decision-making for a better world has arrived. The dawn is here, and the dew from the peaceful night is evaporating slowly in the atmosphere as we all breathe the same fresh air.
The house of the poor should be respected, no matter how clumsy it looks. Every nation, every people deserve to be treated fairly and with human dignity. It is foolish to act in hypocrisy towards the poor, by occupying their home without an invitation and still expect for them to accept you with an open arm. Jean Jacques Dessalines, our brave father, upon declaring our independence vowed to die rather than to live under foreign influence, and to that vow we shall pledge allegiance. We must forever be the masters
of our poor house.
