Blogspot

As you guys know, Last week my commentary focused on Haiti, and I want to begin by asking that we extend our love and support to the Haitian people as that country is recovering, yet again, from a natural disaster. Haiti’s tragedy comes right before Dr. Martin Luther King’s actual birthday, tomorrow January 15th, even though we celebrate the official holiday this Monday, the 19th…

Tom, I am so pleased that you’ll be in Haiti tomorrow, I know that we’ll all be listening.  We’ll also tune in on Monday as you host the MSNBC Townhall on Race.  I am soooo happy that you’re getting this important conversation started.…and I’ll be speaking this Monday morning to the MLK Support Group of South East Texas at the Bob Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur Texas in celebration of the holiday…So if you’re in the area, stop in and see me… So, what would Dr. King say about all those suffering souls in Haiti?  First, he would encourage us to pray, pray, and pray even more.  Second, Dr. King might use this as an occasion for the country to re-examine its priorities.  Dr. King might remind us of the old metaphor used in macroeconomic theory: ‘Guns vs. Butter.’

We’ve all heard this in one form or another, but here’s how it works. The ‘Guns vs. Butter’ economic model teaches us about the relationship between investment in the military versus investment in goods and services to civilians. While it’s intended to be an over-simplification of national spending, the ‘Guns vs. Butter’ model teaches us that the more guns we buy, the less butter we have to feed the hungry. So countries have to make a choice.  Do we invest in guns, or do we invest in butter.

When catastrophic disasters occur, like the one in Haiti, the United States of America should be first in line to pour as many resources as needed to come to the aide of suffering people. But, as a country, we’re broke.   We’re broke because we are fighting two wars – still – with no real end in sight.  We’re broke because we have failed to invest in working class people, the backbone of our country.  We’re broke because we’ve chosen to buy guns, guns, and more guns, and little butter.  So, what would Dr. King say today?

Today, I think Dr. King would be rallying us on behalf of the poor and the disenfranchised, those hit hardest by our current economic hardship –disproportionately of color – who have lost homes, are struggling to feed children, or are lining the streets, the shelters and the soup kitchens of our country…

Today, Dr. King would be organizing on behalf of the uninsured and underinsured – disproportionately of color—who can’t afford much-needed prescriptions, who risk sharing medications with those unable to purchase them, or who are turned away from the emergency rooms in our country

Today, Dr. King would denounce America’s engagement in the international conflicts fought disproportionately by people of color in both Iraq AND Afghanistan, conflicts largely driven by corporate interests and a still-active military industrial complex…

Today, Dr. King would say that the country has a duty – indeed, a moral obligation – to provide relief to the thousands of families both here and in Haiti, who have lost people and who are affected by this earthquake.

Today, Dr. King would say that we should ‘study war no more’ and focus on people, suffering people, hungry people, displaced people, sick people, homeless people . . . .

…and today, here in 2010, as he did 50 years ago, I think Dr. King would be a fearless advocate and activist with his incredible brand of Love and Hope to inspire us — with the power of faith, the spirit of perseverance, and the fire of righteousness…

So today, as we celebrate King on what would be his 81st birthday, let us remember that his work is not done, and that Dr. King himself –in his soul-stirring voice– would remind us that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Until next time, this is Stephanie in Love and Hope.



admin Haiti Haiti, Martin Luther King

Well a belated Happy New Year guys.
So did you… make any New Year’s resolutions…?
Well, if you did, try to hang in there… you’ve only got 348 days to go…
With all of the New Year’s celebrating going on this past week, I want to make sure we don’t miss a very significant anniversary in this first week of January…
Any idea?  Here are some hints:
Writer Alexander Dumas; General Toussaint L’Overture; iconic scholar and leader W.E.B. DuBois; founder of Chicago Jean Baptiste DuSable; Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean; and musician Wyclef Jean…
You guys figure it out yet…?
That’s right, all of these important people are either Haitian or Haitian American…
…and this week marks the 206th anniversary of the end of the massive slave rebellion known as the Haitian Revolution, the country’s declaration of independence, and its establishment as the world’s first Black republic…
..in fact, Haiti was the second country in the western hemisphere –the first being the United States – to win its independence from a European power…But unfortunately, since the revolution in 1804—over two centuries ago, this Caribbean nation off the coast of Cuba has had a pretty hard time…To maintain its independence, it was forced to indemnify France for the profits it loss from the slave trade – paying millions until 1947. As Huggie would say, can you believe that shiggity.  Haiti had to pay France because France lost money in the SLAVE trade once Haiti won its independence.…and to add insult to injury, Haitian refugees who –because of their dire situation back home— have risked death to reach the U.S. by raft or boat continue to be dealt with unfairly…

Groups of refugees or asylum seekers coming to the United States from other countries have commonly been granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, a designation protecting those who cannot safely return to their homelands because of armed conflict, environmental disaster or other extraordinary conditions…and Jay, Haiti clearly fits this description . . . and has for a long time now.  And, why do we think Haitians are treated differently from refugees from European countries?  . . . Any thoughts?
…the country is still reeling from four back-to-back hurricanes in 2008 that devastated this already impoverished nation to the tune of billions in damage…

Nonetheless, Haitian refugees are arrested and deported quicker than any other group; and the current legal status of as many as 35,000 refugees in Florida has been in limbo for the past year since the Obama administration has yet to make a Temporary Protected Status determination…

Let me be clear…whether you are for or against loose or strict immigration policies is a secondary matter… For whatever the policy is, or whatever our current administration determines it to be, it needs to be uniform and fair so that Haitians aren’t treated any differently than immigrants or refugees from other nations…
And if refugees from similarly situated nations are being given Temporary Protected Status, then the same should be applied to Haitians…
So to ensure fairness, we can call the Department of Homeland Security Comment Line –they handle TPS issues– at 202-282-8495 and urge them to halt deportations, grant TPS to Haitians in the United States and conduct a full review of administration policy towards Haiti…

If you’re unable to get through to Homeland Security, call the White House Comment line at 202-456-1111 We, as a country, must treat Haitian refugees as we do others.  Justice demands it.
Aristotle famously remarked, “moral excellence comes about as a result of habit.  We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.”

As a country, we have to exhibit moral excellence by insisting on a just policy for our Haitian brothers and sisters . . . by being temperate in understanding that many Haitians are trying to escape unspeakable poverty and shameful violence . . . and by bravely challenging our government’s discriminatory policies against Haitians seeking asylum.

Until next time, this is Stephanie in Love and Hope.

admin Haiti Haitian, Haitian American