Life during Covid-19 and the fears of being « Black/Brown » in America

French Version

By Herve Gilbert

After the murder of Georges Floyd at the hands of 4 white police officers  during the summer of last year,  Haiti Connexion Network invited some of our young « Haitian-American » to give their opinion in a few minutes on the history of « Blacks and Browns » in America. Yes, the history of blacks in America is the history of America. And it's not a good story. What is it like to be « Black or Brown »   in the United States?

For the occasion, we called on our young graduates from the University working in several fields and in different places in the United States and Canada to tell us a little about their daily experiences in the face of this systemic crisis. Despite significant signs of progress, ethnic inequalities are still very present in the US and Canadian labor markets according to the panelists. Compared to « whites », African Americans are twice as likely to be unemployed, and when they are employed, their earnings are almost 25% lower. There are many reasons for this marked difference: for example, skill level, cultural norms in the workplace, and ethnic discrimination in hiring.

Violence against « Black / Brown » was a pandemic before the COVID-19 epidemic? The underlying causes are not the virus itself or the resulting economic crisis, but rather an imbalance of power and control. In the United States, the Covid-19 epidemic has already claimed nearly 400,000 lives in less than a year. Not surprisingly, the Americans most affected by this crisis are the poorest minorities. But what really concerns is the staggering number of African Americans infected with the virus. African Americans are particularly vulnerable in the face of the coronavirus epidemic, as they are more likely to work in low-paying jobs, which cannot be done remotely, and do not offer health insurance or compensation in the event of absence for sickness.

All this effort made by HCN, to bring together this beautiful sample of young folks, was done with the aim of coloring the pastime of its audience. Let's listen to the news on TV, that's good, but sometimes hearing the voices of our younger generations is even better. Through their reflections on current situations, through the relevance of their reactions, viewers will have the opportunity to experiment with these young professionals in a debate of ideas, where everyone brings their point of view to the table. This is the opportunity for our audience to form an opinion.

Life during Covid-19 and the fears of being Black/Brown in America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDPsnKE96CU&ab_channel=HerveGilbert

Poem - "The Hill We Climb" at President Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021

Amanda Gorman was named  the first Youth Poet
Laureate of Los Angeles in 2014.                         

 
Amanda Gorman became the youngest person to deliver a poem at a U.S. presidential inauguration, with the 22-year-old reciting her poem "The Hill We Climb" after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as president and vice president.

Gorman read her poem "The Hill We Climb" at President Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021, and is the youngest poet to read at a presidential inauguration in United States history. Jill Biden recommended Gorman for the inauguration. After January 6, 2021, Gorman amended her poem's wording to address the storming of the United States Capitol. During the week before the inauguration, Gorman told The Washington Post book critic Ron Charles, "My hope is that my poem will represent a moment of unity for our country," and "that with my words I’ll be able to speak to a new chapter and era for our nation.

"The Hill We Climb"

When day comes we ask ourselves,

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry,

a sea we must wade

We've braved the belly of the beast

We've learned that quiet isn't always peace

And the norms and notions

of what just is

Isn’t always just-ice

And yet the dawn is ours

before we knew it

Somehow we do it

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed

a nation that isn’t broken

but simply unfinished

We the successors of a country and a time

Where a skinny Black girl

descended from slaves and raised by a single mother

can dream of becoming president

only to find herself reciting for one

And yes we are far from polished

far from pristine

but that doesn’t mean we are

striving to form a union that is perfect

We are striving to forge a union with purpose

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and

conditions of man

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us

but what stands before us

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside

We lay down our arms

so we can reach out our arms

to one another

We seek harm to none and harmony for all

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew

That even as we hurt, we hoped

That even as we tired, we tried

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious

Not because we will never again know defeat

but because we will never again sow division

Scripture tells us to envision

that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

And no one shall make them afraid

If we’re to live up to our own time

Then victory won’t lie in the blade

But in all the bridges we’ve made

That is the promise to glade

The hill we climb

If only we dare

It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

it’s the past we step into

and how we repair it

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation

rather than share it

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy

And this effort very nearly succeeded

But while democracy can be periodically delayed

it can never be permanently defeated

In this truth

in this faith we trust

For while we have our eyes on the future

history has its eyes on us

This is the era of just redemption

We feared at its inception

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

of such a terrifying hour

but within it we found the power

to author a new chapter

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves

So while once we asked,

how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was

but move to what shall be

A country that is bruised but whole,

benevolent but bold,

fierce and free

We will not be turned around

or interrupted by intimidation

because we know our inaction and inertia

will be the inheritance of the next generation

Our blunders become their burdens

But one thing is certain:

If we merge mercy with might,

and might with right,

then love becomes our legacy

and change our children’s birthright

So let us leave behind a country

better than the one we were left with

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,

we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one

We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,

we will rise from the windswept northeast

where our forefathers first realized revolution

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,

we will rise from the sunbaked south

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover

and every known nook of our nation and

every corner called our country,

our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,

battered and beautiful

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

if only we’re brave enough to see it

If only we’re brave enough to be it

Des émeutiers pro-Trump ont répandu des excréments dans les couloirs du Capitole américain

Les voyous de Trump à l'assaut du Capitole américain

Certains des émeutiers pro-Trump qui ont pris d’assaut le Capitole américain mercredi ont déféqué à l’intérieur du bâtiment historique et «traqué» leurs excréments dans plusieurs couloirs, a révélé le Daily News.

Une source proche du sénateur Chuck Schumer a déclaré que les membres du personnel avaient découvert le fiasco fécal jeudi.

Les attaquants, dont la violente invasion du Capitole a fait quatre morts, sont apparemment allés dans une salle de bain et ont ensuite répandu leurs excréments autour du bâtiment, laissant derrière eux des «empreintes de pas» brunâtres, selon la source.

Les partisans du président Trump ont affronté mercredi des agents de la police du Capitole devant la salle du Sénat à l’intérieur du Capitole américain. Encouragés par le président Trump, la foule d’émeutiers d’extrême droite a brisé des fenêtres, combattu des policiers et vandalisé les bureaux de législateurs.

Trump, apparemment inconscient de la tâche que sa présidence laisse sur l’histoire des États-Unis, a applaudi ses partisans extrémistes dans une vidéo Twitter supprimée depuis. «Nous vous aimons», leur a-t-il dit.

Schumer et des dizaines d’autres démocrates de Capitol Hill appellent à la destitution ou à la destitution de Trump via le 25èamendement à la lumière de son incitation à l’émeute.

La source a déclaré que la merde dans les couloirs du Capitole était le moindre des problèmes de Schumer pour le moment.

Source Daily News

La soupe de l’indépendance à Beaumont

Par Mérès Weche

Méres Weche

C’est dans ma résidence familiale, en arrière de cette bâtisse en construction pour loger la ``Bibliothèque patrimoniale de Beaumont`` que j’ai dégusté la soupe de l’indépendance. Faite avec les mêmes ingrédients naturels qu’avait utilisés Marie-Claire Heureuse, pour ce repas de libération, le 1^er Janvier 1804, cette soupe traditionnelle, de grande valeur nutritive, constitue le plus précieux souvenir de ces valeureux ancêtres auxquels nous devons la fière patrie d’Haïti.

Ce rituel de cuisine qui est répété, à l’aube de chaque année, dans tous les foyers haïtiens, à l’intérieur comme à l’extérieur du pays, nous rappelle la nécessité de toujours nous unir pour l’indispensable force nationale. Cette soupe de l’indépendance porte en elle une valeur spirituelle qui ravive notre mémoire de peuple et qui impose un devoir de solidarité dans les moments les plus difficiles de notre histoire. Deux-cents dix-sept ans après la première soupe de l’indépendance, nous nous devons, Haïtiennes et Haïtiens de partout, de vivre ce rituel de la soupe de l’indépendance, non seulement comme un impérieux devoir de mémoire, mais aussi comme une quête de forces nouvelles pour la régénération du pays.

Mérès Weche