Creating a Place for African-Americans at the Table

Building the New Haiti – Creating a Place for African-Americans at the Table .Monday, 31 May 2010 01:48 .
NEWS ANALYSIS

By Ron Daniels –

(NNPA) - As President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) and Founder of the Haiti Support Project (HSP), I have just returned from leading a team to Haiti to allocate the first contributions from the IBW/HSP Haiti Relief Fund.

A total of $56,000 was distributed to nine community-based/grassroots organizations including women's, youth and peasant groups for relief and capacity-building. Deeply concerned about the plight of Haitian children orphaned by the disastrous earthquake, our team also visited orphanages and assessed the progress of the Oasis Institute, an ambitious initiative designed to relocate orphans and extended family members from tent communities to an interim camp with safe/secure environment, post-traumatic stress counseling and a world class education.

The ultimate goal is to construct a permanent campus as home for the orphans. Though adoption may be necessary as an option of last resort, Oasis Institute is designed to keep the vast majority of Haitian children in Haiti to be nurtured and educated within their own culture so they can become the new engaged citizens and leaders of the world's first Black Republic.

This Initiative has the potential to become a model to significantly impact Haiti's system of social welfare as it relates to orphans. As such, it is a major priority of HSP and the IBW Black Family Summit Task Force on Preserving Children and Families in Haiti. Taken together, the commitments above are consistent with HSP's mission of providing humanitarian and developmental assistance as part of the reconstruction effort in Haiti.

Another goal of our team's visit was to vigorously explore avenues to mobilize/organize African- American administrative and technical skills, entrepreneurial expertise and investment capacity to effectively contribute to the short, medium and long term process of building the new Haiti. Because of a 15-year history of building a constituency for Haiti in the U.S. with a principal focus on educating and organizing African-Americans, HSP has received numerous inquiries about opportunities to secure contracts, to invest and/or to start business ventures in Haiti.

Clearly Haitians will take primary responsibility for the reconstruction of their country in conjunction with the Haitian Diaspora -- which contributes nearly two billion in remittances annually as well as other valuable resources to the homeland. But, HSP believes African Americans and people of African descent in the U.S. can be an invaluable third leg in the reconstruction process. Black America has an estimated 800 million to one billion in consumer power and a large reservoir of business and professional people who can potentially be tapped to play a significant role in building the new Haiti. The question is whether there will be a place at the table for African-Americans.

Our experience over the past 15 years suggests that there is no resistance to African-Americans investing and starting businesses in Haiti. Indeed, we have encountered many Haitians in the Government and the private sector who have welcomed, even pleaded with us to encourage African- Americans to invest in the economic development of the country.

This posture was emphatically re-enforced when our team, which included representatives of the Atlanta-based Joe Beasley Foundation (JBF), met with Patrick Delatour, the minister of tourism, who has been designated to be the director of reconstruction by President Rene Gracia Preval. Minister Delatour not only welcomed the idea of African American investment and business development in Haiti, he views it as an extension of the long relationship between African-Americans and Haitians in terms of the historical struggle for freedom and self-determination. He outlined a range of investment opportunities, especially in the tourism related sector in the Cap Haitien/Milot region of the country where HSP has launched the Model City Initiative.

Tourism was a major component of the development plan for Haiti prior to the earthquake and has become even more important in its aftermath. HSP devised the Model City Initiative to encourage African-Americans and friends of Haiti to visit the Citadel, a magnificent mountaintop fortress built by King Henri Christophe after the Revolution to deter further invasions by the French.

It is one of the great symbols of freedom and hope in the Pan African world. Working collaboratively with the Destination Haiti Foundation, HSP's principal partner on the ground in Haiti, the goal of the Model City Initiative is to transform the lovely town of Milot, which is nestled at the foot of the mountain where the Citadel stands, into a Mecca for cultural-historical tourism. We believe cultural-historical tourism will be the foundation for people-based economic development in Milot and the northern region of the country. There are huge opportunities for African Americans to invest and develop businesses in this region.

Minister Delatour not only agrees with the goals of the Model City Initiative, developing Milot as a tourist destination is a priority within his plan for the northern region. Hence, we have been working together to make this vision a reality. Accordingly, he was pleased to meet the representatives of the Joe Beasley Foundation, which has substantial skills and resources to contribute to the development of Milot and the north. In fact, he agreed to accept an invitation to travel to Atlanta as a special guest of HSP and the Beasley Foundation to participate in George Fraser's Power Networking Conference which brings upwards to 3,000 - 4,000 Black businesses and professionals together for three days of extraordinary skill development workshops and inspirational plenary sessions.

Minister Delatour will address the Town Hall Meeting, which is the kick-off event for the conference and make a presentation on investment opportunities in Haiti at an information session immediately following the Town Hall Meeting. Minister Delatour's visit definitively underscores the interest of the Government of Haiti in enlisting African-Americans to play a leading role in building the new Haiti.

Minister Delatour's visit is also an expression of support for HSP as an organization with a proven track record of promoting the first Black Republic in Black America to engage people of African descent in the process of democracy and development in Haiti.

In this regard, I was delighted that representatives of the Joe Beasley Foundation were part of the HSP team that met with Minister Delatour. Organized in honor of my long-time friend and ally Joe Beasley (who traveled with me to Haiti on our very first delegation in 1995), JBF has assembled an awesome array of conscious and highly talented/skilled professionals and business persons who are committed to making a difference in Haiti. Since our initial visit to Haiti, Joe Beasley - whom I have affectionately dubbed "Ambassador" because of his fervent commitment to global empowerment of African people -has consistently collaborated with HSP on a range of initiatives in addition to developing/supporting projects of his choosing. Based on our long-standing relationship, it seems logical that HSP and JBF should forge a major collaboration to maximize the mobilization of African-American technical resources, investment and business development as we seek to engage the process of building the new Haiti.

That process is now underway. When it is finalized, the HSP/JBF collaborative will serve as one of the major vehicles for African-Americans seeking to do business with the government and private sector agencies and function as a clearinghouse to review proposals for investment and/or creation of business ventures as part of the process of assisting interested concerns to navigate the environment in Haiti. Equally important, the HSP/JBF collaborative will proactively mobilize investment for priority projects within the framework of the Model City Initiative in Milot and the northern region of Haiti in accordance with Minister Patrick Delatour's plan to make this region one of the major poles of the reconstruction process. Milot and the Citadel may well become the face of the new Haiti and the HSP/JBF collaborative will be in the very center of the process.

In previous articles, I have called the building of the new Haiti a "pan-African project" which should involve the engagement of people of African descent from around the world. The resurrection of Haiti from the ashes of the catastrophic earthquake will be one of the great triumphs of the 21st century, and business/economic development will be one of the driving engines of this monumental achievement. There is a place at the table for African-Americans to play a significant role in this phenomenal endeavor. The HSP/JBF collaborative will be a crucial vehicle in mobilizing/organizing African- Americans to assist Haiti to once again become a powerful symbol of freedom and hope for African people and the world!

Dr. Ron Daniels is president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and Distinguished Lecturer at York College City University of New York. His articles and essays also appear on the IBW website www.ibw21.org and www.northstarnews.com. To send a message, arrange media interviews or speaking engagements, Dr. Daniels can be reached via email at info@ibw21.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Gouvènman an ,gen enterè pou l travay ak RON DANIELS.Misye byen konekte politikman;kandida a la prezidans DEMOKRAT ,ou byen kandida pou gouvènè lan ETA ki gen anpil nwa rele misye souvan pou ekspètiz li.

Anvan koudeta 2004 lan,misye te gen yon pwojè pou devlope tourism lan NÒ peyi an.Misye te gen pwojè pou l mennen de santèn afriken-ameriken pou yo t al fete 200yèm anivèsè pi gran revolisyon lan istwa mondyal lan (se te pawòl Dr Daniels);epitou malfrendeng te fè dezòd nou sonje yo.
Misye te pèdi anpil lajan lan bagay sa a.
Se milyonven BREZIL ap fè lan tourism kiltirèl ;afriken-ameriken ki al lan peyi sa a pou yo resouse lan kilti orijinal lan.
Nou mil fwa pi pre ke BREZIL;se pou gouvènman ayisyen an angaje misye kòm konsiltan;misye se yon ""master brain"",ke blan ak nwa isit OZETAZINI rekonèt e misye renmen AYITI A MÒ!

Menm si se pa ter orijinel nou tankou juif sot lan Mwayen-Oryan, men se ta bèl si moun nwa, zanmi nwa ta deside pou peyi sa ata yon kalfou, yon ter pou yo ta vinn bay reverans detanzantan. Gad jan Juif tout kote ap apuye Israel. Tout juif gen dwa an Israel, menm sa ke se aryè-aryè-aryè-aryè-aryè gran paran yo ki te petè soti lan zon' la. Non selman sa, gen ki al okipe pozisyon politik. Nou menm Ayisyen, menm si nou te fèt Ayiti, grandi Ayiti, gen yon Lwa ki bare'n e ki anpeche anpil lan nou al fè bon bagay lakay. Tout sa nou fè, on dirè ke se le monde à l'envers.

Mwen di wi pou jan de nèg konsa ta reyisi projè tourism kiltirel li gen pou Ayiti. Mwen di wi pou nou al chèche jan de ekspètiz sa yo. Menm si mwen pa konen ki sa ki rete kom kilti ki enteresan an Ayiti. Lè m'ap tande Rebu ap desan bikolor pou ise trikolor. Gen anpil travay ki pou fèt wi, anpil envestisman pou projè touristik sa yo ta vinn pran pye lan peyi a. Fo ke nou ta gen gid touristik ki byen forme pou se pa tankou soeur mwen ki te kon ap chante La Marseillaise. Jodi a, l'ap seyen. La France est en deuil...

An nou tounen sou kestyon a. Avèk eksperyans pa'm, mwen kwè ke nou gen plis advocate lan mitan Afro-Meriken yo ke lan zile ak lot peyi nwa. Dayè gen Ayisyen menm ki deklare ke pou nou suiv la Frans, gen moun zile vwazinaj yo ki pa renmen'n akos de imigrasyon e paske Ayisyen tro an gran dapre sa yo di. Afriken an li menm, pandan ke l'ap chyente devan blan, leve tèt li pou'l di ke nou pa fè anyen ak endepandans nou an. Poutan, antouka lan liv pa mwen, se pa yon kestyon endepandans ki plis enportan à bien parler. Tout koloni to ou ta te vinn endepandan, men nou menm se chenn lan pye'n nou te kase ak prop mwayen'n. Nou te siyen la fen esklavaj.

Ofon se konsolasyon'm devan afron 2004 la. Si m'byen sonje, se te yon bout paj ki te pale de jou proklamasyon endepandans Ayiti lan ti liv istwa sa a, men etap ki te presede jou sila te telman pasyonan. Gen lot dat ki te pli desizif, pli determinan ke premye janvye.

Dessalines te di ke Ayiti se tè pou tout sa k'ap chèche libète men li pat pa prevwa ke se pou oportunite ke ti-neg plis pwal batay menm si se chenn yo ka met lan tèt yo.

Wap pale de REBU;pedan kòm lwi sèl.Gen anpil ladan yo ,yo konnen pase tout moun ,men tou sou w ekzamine sa y ap di ,pawòl yo se pawòl inyoran.

Nou pa Brezil ou byen KIBA kote kilti afriken an pi byen konsève lakay yo;pou yon rezon senp,se lan ane 1880s yo ke esklavay aboli lan peyi sa yo ,e lan yon peyi tankou KIBA ,se an 1873 ke dènye bato negriye an te debake.

Pou nou tounen a mesye afriken-ameriken ,klas edike an depi lan 19yèm syèk te wè AYITI tankou IZRAYEL (tankou w di an)
Ou te gen yon ""entelektyèl"" ki rele DELANEY lan 19yèm syèk lan ,ki te manm sosyete syantifik ann Angletè (a kòz de rasism,li pa t ka sa OZETAZINI);misye te gen 3 pitit gason,prenon yo se te DESSALINES,PETION,CRISTOPHE.
San nou pa bliye dskou FREDERICK DOUGLASS an 1893 ;diskou ki rele ""Anvan AYITI te kanpe""
Ou genyen 2 katye nwa ,kote nwa lib te rete anvan abolisyon esklavay;youn se te lan PITTSBURGH (PA),lòt lan se te lan KAROLIN DI SID;yo te rele katye sa yo LITTLE HAITI;se la MARTIN DELANEY te fèt!
Se lan tradisyon sa yo ke yon moun takou RON DANIELS sòti!