----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Mensah" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 8:12 PM
Subject: [unioNews] HAITI -- THE BLACK MAN`S BURDEN?
Thursday, January 15, 2004
<H3>HAITI -- THE BLACK MAN`S BURDEN?</H3>
<B><i>ABOUT TWO weeks ago, Haiti celebrated 200 years of its
independence as the first republic established by freed slaves of
African descent. The occasion was graced by President Thabo Mbeki of
South Africa, symbolically representing Africa's most successful
state.</i></B>
When Toussaint L'Ouverture, the slave who led the uprising that gave
Haiti independence started his fight, he was encouraged by events
that had occurred half a world away in the colonial capital of Paris.
The French Revolution, with its cry of freedom, liberty and equality,
had fired his imagination, and Haiti's example was a beacon for
oppressed black people who appeared as the chattel of the world.
After two hundred years of self-rule, Haiti has nothing to show for
it but abject poverty, widespread unemployment, hunger, police
brutality and corruption in high and low places.
The people of Haiti are the poorest of the poor in the Western
Hemisphere and indeed in the whole world. The dreams of its founders
for a state of freed slaves who could work and build for themselves a
viable and prosperous country have been shattered by centuries of
dictatorship and oppression by their own leaders.
Its current leader, the ex-Catholic Priest Jean Baptiste Aristide had
promised much, and delivered little, hence the ongoing troubles in
that country. For Haitians, it is still the same old story.
The lessons for Africa in this sorry tale of betrayed hopes and
dreams are many and varied. As a matter of fact, the 52 states of
Africa, with only a few exceptions, could be the story of Haiti
duplicated many times over.
No longer can one blame the white man, the colonial masters,
everybody but ourselves for the sorry plight facing African countries
in the 21st Century.
The Chronicle is of the view that we should deem Haiti's troubles as
our own and reflect on the reasons why it seems the black man cannot
take care of himself. When 200 years of independence cannot provide
three square meals a day for citizens, then that country can hardly
claim any credit for self-rule.
Some claim that the black man is a second-rate human being who can
never get by on his own. We at The Chronicle beg to differ and
believe that all is not lost. However, the leaders of Africa seem to
give credence to all the negative perceptions of black people. We
have a huge burden to carry in trying to build nations out of our
tribes and cultures.
We must, no matter the disappointments and betrayals of the past,
still carry on to prove that we are also God's children who yearn for
peace and prosperity.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Let us keep on
struggling.
© Copyright 2004 Ghanaian Chronicle Online. All Rights Reserved.
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QUOTATION:
"All of us may not live to see the higher accomplishments of an African
empire, so strong and powerful as to compel the respect of mankind, but we
in our lifetime can so work and act as to make the dream a possibility
within another generation"
-<html><A HREF="http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion/afrohero.html">Ancestor
Marcus Mosiah Garvey <i>(1887 - 1940)</i></A></html>
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A luta Continua!
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