Haiti - This only hearsay, but I think soldiers are  supposed to carry 
weapons.       ---Christopher
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Combating the Tarzan effect in Haiti
 
Published: Thursday, January 21, 2010 4:34 PM  EST      NEW YORK AMSTERDAM 
NEWS

By Nayaba Arinde,  Amsterdam News Editor
 
“We are looking for the purity of motivation,” said Hazel Beckles, a
Brooklyn-based activist. “While we are not condemning the good work
that is happening in Haiti, we want a true depiction of what is
happening in this junction in human history, one which is inclusive  of
everyone.”
 
Beckles echoes the opinion of those that there is a ‘Tarzan strategy’
in effect; a stringent selective protocol in place denying certain
people access to assist in the desperately needed Haiti relief.
The mainstream media shows footage day in day out of white medics,
military and reporters on the ground. Relief workers who are Haitians
and Black folks from the African Diaspora in general – not so much.
Beckles told the AmNews. “What the media is promoting is the absence
of the presence of Black or Haitian people helping themselves. We  want
to challenge that notion because we know better. We are working with
several local organizations who have had an on going history with
limited resources, working to uplift and maintain the integrity of  the
Haitian communities. Right there in Haiti, for example, there are
Black run and owned orphanages that you never hear about.”
 
“The problem maker and problem solver co-exist in Pot Au Prince
causing deaths by the thousands. The Tarzan effect is leading to this
opportunistic disaster capitalism,” said Divine Allah, the National
Youth Minister of the New Black Panther Party. “Why aren’t they
highlighting what Cuba is doing with their futuristic mobile medical
facility? Why aren’t they highlighting what Africa is doing with the
Senegalese offering the Haitians land? Why are they just talking  about
what the white philanthropists and missionary types are doing while
not highlighting the work and abilities of those of us who are eager
to get there with s variety of life-saving skills? Why are they
allowing red tape to keep us from saving lives?”
 
In the interest of Black folks helping Black folks on a continuum,  the
Bedford Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corp. landed on the ground in
Haiti last weekend with 44 members: and joined up with others making  a
collective of 117 doctors, nurses, health care workers and  paramedics.
 
Another 30 are going down there on Saturday, said Rudolph Muhammad of
the BSVAC. “They traveled with the Scientology Volunteer Ministers,”
he told the AmNews. “Immediately they got on the ground, they opened
up the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, they took it over and
cleaned it out, and immediately people started going to get treated
there. They delivered two babies, and performed a number of  operations
and just helped the residents.”
 
On Wednesday morning at 6.03am, a 6.0 magnitude quake hit Haiti about
35 miles north-west of the capital Port-au-Prince, Fear of a repeat  of
the January 12th 7.0 earthquake gripped the islanders, but  preliminary
reports do not detail massive casualties or building collapses. Last
week’s quake is estimated to have killed 200,000 people, and injured
250,000 more. A second earthquake hit Haiti today shaking buildings
and sending frightened people running into the streets.
 
The US, military control of the airport and the incredible  bottle-neck
is having planes being turned around. Doctors Without Borders for
example have said that one of their planes was denied landing five
times. There are widespread complaints that despite the huge
international aid effort, and massive US military presence, thousands
upon thousands of people still do not have the basics – medical help
and sustenance.
 
“The militarism shows that there is something else coming behind
this,” posed Allah, “and we have to check what is planned for Haiti’s
natural resources. Look at how they have these people suddenly  rushing
to adopt our children in Haiti, while making it difficult for Black
families to do the same. If you’ve seen ‘Avatar’ or the ‘Book of  Eli,’
you have seen what they have planned for Haiti.
 
“You can not be the cause and the savior. Rich white wealthy
corporations are simultaneously the problem and attempting to be the
solution. Never take white supremacy out of the equation. It is there
in the rescue, the relief, the planning and the execution.”
Allah, a City Council candidate for Trenton New Jersey’s North Ward
concluded, “As our cultural innovator Dr. Maulana Karenga always
stresses, this is the time for us to look to cultural
self-determination and solidarity. Our people, especially the youth
who are used to viewing Africans and Caribbeans in a certain light,
should now use this as a teaching moment to reconnect with our
brothers and sisters in Haiti.”
 
Beckles is close to Brooklyn’s Little Haiti. The East Flatbush
resident and activist stresses the importance of using this moment as
a unifying tool, where people from all over the African Diaspora can
benefit from seeking the open and honest dialogue of solidarity.
Beckles is one of the organizers of a “Haiti We Love You” drive along
with the West Indian American Day Carnival Association. Coordinating
Brooklyn’s Caribbean -American community response to the disaster in
Haiti, the collective is organizing march and rally that will take
place on Saturday, January 30, 2010.
 
Beckles noted that the ”Haiti We Love You” rally will provide updates
and connect people to local initiatives that are happening in the
community.
 
“Collectively we want to show our support. We are saying ‘Haiti we
love you. Haiti will rise again.’ We are not trying to stay in a  sorry
mode. And we want to keep our eyes open and be vigilant. We can not
allow them to do what they did in New Orleans with toxic trailers and
putting us in tent cities.”
 
”In times of celebration and joy we come together as one people and
salute our common heritage with revelry,” said Yolanda Lezama-Clark,
President of WIADCA and VP of the Carlos Lezama Archives &  Caribbean
Cultural Center (CLACC-C). Collaborating with several other community
service organizations, local elected officials and Caribbean clergy,
Lezama-Clark, added, ”It is befitting that in this time of deep
sorrow that the West Indian American Day Carnival Association is used
as a vehicle to stage a united response from our community.”
 
For further information, _www.wiadca.com_ (http://www.wiadca.com)   or 
telephone at (718) 467-1797.
Meanwhile, while the tri-state, like the nation kicks its collective
relief efforts into gear, medical supplies, emergency aid, and water
are either still in the air or sitting on the tarmac leading to major
suffering by those hardest hit, observers report. Medics are having  to
resort to obtaining saws locally, because they say they do not have
the necessary equipment, and they must operate in order to save  lives.
 
As he helps coordinate relief efforts in Brooklyn, December 12th
activist Omowale Clay told the AmNews, “Above all else and through
this entire crisis, the sanctity of Haitian sovereignty- built on the
revolutionary history and legacy, must be defended at all costs.
Haiti’s immediate inability to respond adequately to this crisis is
directly tied to the history of destabilization and colonization by
the Untied States and France. We must be aware the Trojan Horse
interference.” The December 12th Movement is calling on donations for
Haiti to be sent to the CODE Foundation. For more information call  718
398 1766.
 
Chief Chika Onyeani, founder of the Celebrate Africa Foundation told
the AmNews, “This is a time for action - it is a time for Africans
throughout the world to respond to this tragedy as the world has
always responded to disasters in Africa. Under the leadership of the
Celebrate Africa Foundation, Africans can respond generously to the
people of Haiti. Arrangements have been made for Africans to
contribute products needed to help the people of Haiti. You can
donate canned goods (non-perishable products), bottled water, tents,
and shoes.” For while Celebrate Africa Foundation is not accepting any  
funds for the
Haitian relief they did donate $1,000 to the Haitian disaster relief.
We urgently call on all Africans to act immediately.” more  information
call 212-222-7444.
 
“First, question everything! I find the Haitian issue will uncover
everyone’s agenda,” declared Edward Harris, film maker and
documentarian. “The U.S. will militarize their help, for example. TV
news clips will show soldiers with guns more than soldiers with
supplies. Why aren't they at sites digging out survivors? What's in
their hands? The African-American effort will reveal just how in
little power and movement we have internationally without sanction.
 
The aid coming into Haiti, if it were for purely humanitarian  reasons,
they would have been there before the disaster.” Harris questioned:
“Who are the major property owners? What are the plans to rebuild? By
the way New Orleans is still messed up. CNN is running more and more
shots of victims...is it to desensitize? Where are the churches? Why
would Gov. Rendell bring 53 orphans to Philadelphia, when he hasn’t
taken care of the Black children in his state since he was elected...
i.e. north Philly?
 
“Our response to the CNN's historic view must be dynamic and
scathing. The Black press”
Rudolph Muhammad said, “There are 44 members of the  Bedford-Stuyvesant
Volunteer Ambulance Corps in Haiti working at The General Hospital in
Port Au Prince. There are 30 members waiting to go on Saturday. We  are
prepared to send volunteers every week, until the job is done. We  have
Haitian members that are a part of the Vulcan society (Black
firefighters), NYPD, FDNY, Corrections department, MTA, Sanitation,
Board of Ed, Yele Haiti (Wyclef Jean), etc.”
 
Muhammad urged the general community to bring first aid and emergency
supplies and dried and canned food to Bedford Stuyvesant Volunteer
Ambulance Corps 727 Greene Avenue (at Marcus Garvey), Brooklyn.
Health activist Asantewaa Harris declared, “Attention "healers":  BSVAC
has been active on this for 8 days. DONATE your healing skills -
reiki, massage and tonics and natural holistic health. They need our
love and care.” For more information log on to _www.bsvac.org_ 
(http://www.bsvac.org)  or call
212-650-5008
 
More information to donate or assist contact: _www.Yele.org_ 
(http://www.Yele.org) ;
_www.konbitpe.org_ (http://www.konbitpe.org) . 
_www.doctorswithoutborders.org_ (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org) ;  or call the Haitian
 
Women for Haitian Refugees at 718-735-4660.
To donate money or hardware, go to _www.sign-post.org_ 
(http://www.sign-post.org)  or visit
_www.orthoworld.com_ (http://www.orthoworld.com) .

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