Home Blog Page 1138

On Sunday, Mass Was About the Dead

Editor, Our Time Press
-
0

by Garry Pierre-Pierre
The Haitian Times

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Rosemarie Tintin’s black hat and veil barely covered the sorrow on her face. She has recently lost her entire family from the earthquake and the only place she could find solace was at her church.
But that too was not possible. Tintin was one of about 300 parishioners gathered in the courtyard of the Saint King of France Church wearing their Sunday best to attend Mass.
“Help me God,” she said. “Help me God.”
A hand-written note had replaced the glass marquee posting service time. “The parish of Saint Louis advised all of its faithful that there will be a mass at 6:30 AM Sunday, January 17, 2010. PS: There will be only one mass. Thanks and courage.”
This was not just a regular church service. For one thing mass is usually celebrated in the pews, not in the yard. So it was on the first Sunday after an earthquake destroyed this city, survivors struggled to keep to their routine, including attending mass.
“If you can be here today, we have to thank God because those who died did not do so because God doesn’t love them,” said one of the three priests who gave the eulogies. “So let’s pray for them so their soul could rest in peace.”
Even the houses of worship did not escape the wrath of this tremor. Sacred Heart, National Cathedral; Church of Christ… They are all in ruins. At Sacred heart, the crucifix stands erect surrounded by debris from the fallen roof and walls of one of the most popular churches in Haiti.
“God is telling us something,” said Robert Thomas to no one in particular standing in front of the church.
On Sundays, Haitians usually gather at home with family members eating pumpkin soup and patties for brunch. But this Sunday, few people were able to pamper themselves with such luxuries.
Since the earthquake hit on Tuesday, the days have seemed like a blur to everyone and the easiness that is associated with the holy day has been a continuation of the macabre task of digging people stuck under buildings. The government has continued to scoop up bodies, burying them in mass graves, offending the sensibilities of many who feel that there should be a better way.
“Oh my God, look what’s going on,” said Gerard Thomas as health officials scooped up a few bodies that were lined up along Canape Vert Road. “Look what we Haitians have become… some dogs are better than us.”
Prayer and Masses did not start on Sunday. Throughout the week, impromptu Masses have taken place with people giving thanks to God. Most of them feel ashamed for having survived the calamities that have taken the lives of neighbors, relatives and friends.
“My son was standing next to me and I tried to grab him,” said Thomas. “Then the building fell and I left. I got out and he’s dead.”
While some people found time for church, many simply were too shocked and dazed to remember that they should attend service in this deeply Catholic country.
“I forgot,” said Lionel Guillaume when asked whether he had gone to church Sunday morning. “I don’t know what to think.”

A Night on Rue Berne:Living on the Streets

Editor, Our Time Press
-
0
by Garry Pierre-Pierre
http://www.haitiantimes.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Dusk had barely set and already, the residents of Rue Berne, were making their beds. These bedrooms were makeshift and arranged neatly on one side of the streets, away from shaky walls and fragile home frames that remain so dangerous.

The men erected barricades, leaving enough room for a vehicle to navigate the tiny canyon. Soon they share whatever they had, pasta or rice with smoke herring. A few hours later, mothers tucked their children in near their belly and they started to listen to the news on battery-operated transistor radios and by 8 P.M, some people had already begun falling asleep.

“You see what we’ve become, “ said Herold Joseph, who was born and raised in this longtime middle-class enclave. “The streets have become our home, no different from the stray dogs that we used to chase with sticks and stones.”

Joseph’s house, a squat tin-roof-covered house now sits feeble like every other home in Rue Berne, victim of a fierce earthquake that almost totally destroyed this capital city.  In its wake millions have been displaced, their lives forever changed.

The death toll so far has reached 50,000 people, but the misery index remains countless and will never be fully-known. Millions of people completely lost their homes and other houses are too unsafe for people to venture inside, rendering this city a giant homeless shelter.

The scene at Rue Berne was similar in every block in every neighborhood of this capital city, wringed by gentle mountains. In many ways, those in Rue Berne are better off than many. Those who cannot sleep among friends in the streets, have sought shelter in courtyards of various government buildings such as the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Television Network, known as by its French acronym, TNH.

In the TNH yard, people brought their mattresses or rags to sleep on as the station produces its live coverage of the calamity.

“We’ve been the best in terms of television coverage,” said Pradel Henriques, TNH general director. “You have to remember the rest of the country, particularly the area north of Port-au-Prince do have electricity and we’re the only station that covers the entire nation.”

Henriques said that he was worried that he may not be able to continue his coverage because equipment was being strained and broke down, and he was running out of tape.

But unlike on Rue Berne, these dwellers are permanent with nowhere to go during day time. It is their home. As the few hospitals still functioning, are overwhelmed with bodies, these government yards have been turned into makeshift health centers. Foreign doctors and their Haitian counterparts, deliver babies – most of them born prematurely, induced from the shock their mothers suffered.

The doctors stitch wounds and make cast to mend broken bones.

“It’s very sad, “ said Fernando Gomez, a Dominican physician who sought permission from Henriques to remove an expectant mother from the yard to the Dominican border to deliver the baby by Ceasarian section. “We’re just glad we can help our neighbors during this tragedy. “

Dr. Gomez said he has worked almost non-stop going from government offices to health centers to treat the injured.

“We do the best we can,” he said.

Though this was a natural disaster, man has played a large role in the calamity. For nearly four decades, Port-au-Prince, once a bucolic town of professionals, has grown into a giant slum with haphazard construction and makeshift neighborhoods.

The degradation began in the early 1960’s when dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier began bringing busloads of peasants from the countryside to come and sing his praises when the shunned leader had foreign dignitaries visiting his country. But the sinister Duvalier gave them a one-way ticket and seduced by the lights of the big city, the country dwellers stayed and abandoned their farms.

One such creation is the infamous Cite Soleil.

Once there, they erected tin shacks and  above poorly-built cement with no sewer lines or electrical grid.

Over the years, Port-au-Prince, a city built to handle 200,000 residents, mushroomed to nearly 2 million. That number is an estimate because there hasn’t been a Census taken in nearly three decades.

“I’ve been saying this for years,” said Dr. Mathurin, a geologist. “But I didn’t have the proper pedigree and so I wasn’t taken seriously.”

Dr. Mathurin, while being interviewed on Radio Signal FM, said that a Purdue University study had pinpointed this earthquake within a week of its touchdown in Haiti.

He also said that in a way, Haiti was lucky because two earthquakes hit Haiti but their path crossed, limiting the impact.

“We were lucky we got the aftershocks instead of the other earthquake that was to follow.”

As the dawn was settling in, residents gathered their makeshifts bedrooms and quickly whisked them in their courtyards and cleared the streets. They bathe, wash their teeth and try to live a normal life.

“It’s going to be a long time,” said Joseph, when asked how long he was going to live on the streets. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”

He and a group of men head off to survey the damages as if heading to work. But their task is to look at the debris and destruction that have become their beloved city.

En Route to Witness what is Perhaps the Worst Natural Disaster in this Hemisphere

Editor, Our Time Press
-
3

by Rachel Pratt and Garry Pierre-Pierre (http://www.haitiantimes.com/)

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – A few days after a disastrous earthquake rocked Haiti to its core, many Haitians in the tri-state area, boarded planes to Santo Domingo in hope of reaching their troubled country through the land border. The team of Haitian Times correspondent ran into about a dozen Haitian New Yorkers at Kennedy International airport.

When asked why they were going to Haiti, all of them said they were frustrated at having no news from their relatives and friends in Haiti. Communication in Haiti remains sparse and the suspense was too much to bear. They boarded these planes not even sure whether they would make it to Haiti. At least, they reason, they were in Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Everyone encountered, was in a state of shock and felt a sense of helplessness not being able to contact and know if their loved ones were alive. Seeing the mainstream media providing limited visibility of the devastation, their neighborhoods, it was beginning to frustrate people. But by making a move… trying to get to Haiti, finally made them feel as though they are making a difference. They are no longer stuck in front of the TV being fed repetitive information. They have control. They will be able to see the true devastation for themselves.

One of the people traveling with us, a well-known Haitian surgeon Dr. Lesly Guerrier, is also feeling the sense of urgency. To quickly do something and take care of his family and put his skills to help his people. His parents who took time to build their dream retirement home in Haiti, lost their home at the age of 80 years old…they lost their life long dream, their happiness. Now his plan is to get his parents out of the country as soon as possible to a safe area. Unfortunately, in Haiti you build your home on your own risk. Hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms are the norm but this is now unexpected territory.

Indeed, when we reached Santo Domingo, getting into Haiti was not easy. Haiti’s battered airport was closed only to rescue mission and even some of them had to travel by car to Haiti. At the municipal airport here, scores of passengers had to make alternative plans to get to Haiti. We rented an SUV and got a driver to take us in a van.

We went to a Costco in Santo Domingo and bought food and water, sleeping bags and flashlights ready to tackle on the elements on the ground, which remain a mystery to all of us. We don’t know what awaits us but we’re off to the border.  (For updates, visit.  http://www.haitiantimes.com

Community Unites in Support of Caribbean Nation

David Mark Greaves
-
10

“You are Not Alone”

“This is one of the great tragedies to befall any country,” said Mayor Bloomberg of the earthquake registering a magnitude 7.0 on the Richter Scale at 4:39pm local time southwest of Port Au Prince.
“And the fact that it happened to a country so close to the United States, and particularly close to this city, it’s incumbent upon us to pull together.” Bloomberg joined by Gov. David Paterson, Borough President Marty Markowitz and many other city leaders at the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn’s Flatbush section yesterday, also spoke of how the search and rescue teams and other city resources were ready to be deployed and that efforts were being coordinated on the federal level, as well.
“What is needed on the ground right now is communications,” said the mayor, a statement echoed by everyone who spoke. “The already fragile infrastructure of Haiti has been decimated, and there is no meaningful communication capability left.”
The scale of destruction is such that basic infrastructure has to be first put in place, before many aid personell can be put on the ground. “The magnitude is such that it will be the United States government and the United Nations with the capability to bring assistance,” said the mayor. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, trying to convey the kind of devastation Haiti has been struck with, a nation that is known for its poverty, shanties, mud slides, hurricanes and coups. “The palace is a very, very substantial building, and the fact that this building collapsed, to think that it crumbled, goes to show you the magnitude of this earthquake.”
Kelly was speaking at a large press conference held at Holy Cross Church in Brooklyn, the spiritual home for “The largest population of Haitians outside of Haiti” according to a conversation that Borough President Marty Markowitz said he had with several members of the Haiti government.
“Brooklynites will be there big time with their checkbooks open,” said Markowitz. “And all the nations of the world, China, Russia, Korea, Japan, should all come together over this tragedy and invest the money necessary to help Haiti overcome this problem.”
“A community that is a part of the great fabric of New York, and today a community that is a part of the great collective prayer of New Yorkers,” is in dire straits said Governor David Paterson. The state is poised to help but “there is an unavailability of communications.” Paterson announced that “Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Denise O’Donnell is creating a registry of New Yorkers known to be in Haiti, so that we can as quickly as possible notify their families of their whereabouts and hopefully, safety.”
All spoke of the need for financial donations, rather than food or clothing. “The ports are closed” there is no communication and the best thing is to give the agencies the money for the flexibility to act where the need can be met. Stressed also was to be watchful for scams and to always give to known relief agencies. Those mentioned were UNICEF, American Red Cross, and Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti. go to http://yele.org to make a donation.
“This will be a consistent and lasting effort during this very difficult time for the people who live in that area,” said the governor. “I want to pledge all the resources of the state” for the relief effort that is being mounted for Haiti. “New Yorkers should know that New York has coalesced in a fight to help those, as they helped us, just a little over 8 years ago, when we had our city confronted by tragedy.”
Councilman Matthew Eugene, the first memberof the Haitian community to serve on the City Council said he sent “My prayers to my brothers and sisters” and “thank you to all my colleagues in government for the support for the Haitian community.” Eugene spoke about people calling his office at 2am, not knowing what had happened to their family members. “I want to say to the people of Haiti, You are not alone. You have friends working together as one team, the United States team, to send relief and assistance to you.”

(Follow up-to-date reports at http://www.haitiantimes.com/

On The Aisle – 2009: A Year in Review in Black Theater

Linda Armstrong
-
10,839

2009 was an absolutely phenomenal year for Blacks in theater from off-Broadway to Broadway. If you came by the way of Brooklyn, you got to enjoy the magnificent writing of Jackie Alexander, as the Billie Holiday Theatre presented, The High Priestess of Dark Alley with an all-Black cast. A superb production of The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson played at the Public Theatre. It featured a mixed cast which was very talented. It was like watching an expose’ on how the FBI and the Ku Klux Klan worked against Blacks during the Civil Rights Movement down South.
A show that features another mixed cast is on Broadway and is going strong at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, that show is HAIR and it is definitely worth experiencing. When you walk in the theatre and take a seat you are made a part of the Tribe of hippies who believe in free love, flowing drugs and long hair. This show is a blast! Although the show has since closed, the revival of Guys and Dolls on Broadway that starred Titus Burgess in the role of Nicely Nicely Johnson was a pleasure to watch. Burgess rocked the house when he did the character’s signature number “You’re Rocking The Boat.”
When you go to the theater it is truly a gift when you get to see a dramatic production that teaches you about an injustice that Black people have suffered. It shares their trials, but also the fact that they managed to survive. That is the kind of inspiration and heartfelt message that came across to audiences as they were stunned and captivated, while watching Ruined, a drama by Lynn Nottage that played at the New York City Center.  The play shared the true stories of women who had been victimized by soldiers in war torn Democratic Republic of Congo. As you walked around the theatre pictures of actual women Nottage interviewed were displayed on the walls. The play also got Nottage her due, as she received the Pulitzer Prize for it in 2009.
On the lighter side of entertainment, audiences were almost falling out of their chairs onto the floor of the Beacon Theatre when Tyler Perry’s The Marriage Counselor was performed. Perry just has a way with words that make them so down to earth, but hilarious at the same time. The characters he creates remind one of someone you might actually know. His stories are hilarious, but also always have a bit of a religious aspect to them. The marriage counselor’s story reminds one of the expression “physician heal thyself.” It was incredible to watch the revival of August Wilson’s drama Joe Turner’s Come And Gone at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway. It was presented by Lincoln Center and spotlighted the talents of a tremendous, mainly Black cast. In fact, Roger Robinson won the Tony this year for his role.
Tony Award-winner Phylicia Rashad returned to Broadway as Violet Weston in Tracy Lett’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play August Osage County. The comedy/drama played at the Music Box Theatre, and looked at the dysfunctional life of a pill-popping, sharp-tongued mother of three.
Some wonderful shows that had a limited life were Pure Confidence and a revival of The Wiz. Both these shows were wonderful. The first looked at the life story of a slave, who was also a jockey and won races easily. The other production gave Ashanti Singer her chance to debut on stage and it was a magnificent show.
A milestone was reached withDavid Lamb’s Platanos & Collard Greens as it celebrated its sixth year at the Florence Guild Hall on 59th St. The funny production looks at relationships between Blacks and Latinos and discloses stereotypes they have about each other.
Roger Guenvere Smith performed his one-man Frederick Douglass Now at the Irish Arts Center. The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center premiered Broke-ology, a play by African-American playwright Nathan Louis Jackson. The drama featured an all-Black cast and showed how two brothers struggled over the decision of how to take care of an ill father. FELA! made its explosive Broadway debut and celebrates the life, music and political struggles of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the father of the Afrobeat. This musical is at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre at W. 49th St.
Some other wonderful shows that happened in 2009 was Sing Harlem Sing at the Dempsey Theatre on W. 127th St. There was River Crosses Rivers-Short Plays by Women of Color at the Castillo Theatre and was presented by New Federal Theatre. It featured plays by Lynn Nottage, Ruby Dee, P.J. Gibson, Naveen Bahar Choudhury, Cori Thomas and Bridgette Wimberly. A new original Broadway musical is Memphis at the Shubert Theatre on W 44th St.  Dreamgirls came to the Apollo Theatre before going on tour. Anna Deavere Smith’s Let Me Down Easy made its New York premiere and it was moving to watch. A comedy/drama, Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts played at the Music Box Theatre and served as the Broadway debut vehicle for young African-American actor Jon Michael Hill. Finian’s Rainbow opened on Broadway and is still playing featuring Chuck Cooper. Ragtime has been revived and is being brilliantly presented at the Neil Simon Theatre.
In 2010, let me just mention some of the names that will be on Broadway, Denzel Washington, Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis, Ron Cephas Jones and Antony Mackie.

1...1,1371,1381,139...1,302Page 1,138 of 1,302