Haitian-American leaders need to step-up but also step-in

 

• Originally published on LinkedIn: December 11, 2021

Trust One Another 

In a recent NY Times article about the end of Angela Merkel’ 16 years as chancellor, three words in her final message stood out: Trust one another.  In her speech, Mrs. Merkel emphasized that “Democracy, depends on solidarity and trust, including the trust in facts.” 

Mrs. Merkel's central parting word to her nation was “trust.” Lest we forget, the Federal Republic of Germany is one of the strongest democracies in the world and the most powerful country in Europe, and yet the chancellor found it necessary to remind Germans of this fundamental point. She did so because the concept of trust is central to social cohesion. The work to build and maintain a people's trust muscle is vital for nation building but more importantly for sustaining said nation. 

In a 2020 article “The Elusive Quest for Growth: The Role of Trust” published by the Inter-American Development Bank’s Research Department, the researchers noted that “Trust is a linchpin of any efficient economic system.” They observed that  “Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) confronts one of the most severe economic downturns in its history.” Indeed, the research documented that while “ Interpersonal trust – or trust between citizens – fell on a global level from 39% between 1981-1985 to 23% between 2010 - 2014,” this decline was “especially painful in the Latin American and Caribbean region.”  In a comparative analysis, they reported that while the interpersonal trust in the OECD countries fell from 50% to 35%, it dropped on average from 22% to 10% in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This conclusion has deeply negative incidence on economic growth. To illustrate, between 1960 and 2017, the “typical emerging Asian nation, for example, advanced from a per capita income of 11 percent of that of the United States in 1960 to 58 percent in 2017. While, on average, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean gained only 4 percent in terms of the United States’ per capita income during that time.” 

I believe that the trust gap is at the core of Haiti's challenges. The lack of trust is deeply-rooted in Haiti’s social structures and can even be found in the early revolutionary days, which led to the country’s founding as a republic. Gérard Barthélemy, in his book “le Pays en Dehors (the Country Outside),” illustrated this chasm in the context of the “opposing economic interests of the exploiting part (Creole – mixed children of the French colonizer and slave women) and the exploitable part (Bossale – African born slaves). The "Pays en Dehors" phenomenon remains to this day and can be observed in the permanent riffs between rural vs. urban (nèg andeyò vs nèg lavil), educated vs. uneducated (nèg save vs. nèg sòt), good/straight hair vs. coarse hair (nèg cheve siwo vs. nèg tèt grenn), light skin mulattos vs. dark skin blacks (milat vs. bosal/nèg nwè).

The world has yet to catch up with Dessalines’s vision

Dessalines, Haiti’s founder, understood these issues and expressed a vision of a unified people that went beyond the limited definitions. He boldly claimed that everyone who set foot on Haiti’s soil was free but also a "nèg" which can be closely translated to negro but not in the sense of the offensive noun. Instead, it became a proper noun with no racial connotation and even encompassed gender. I believe Dessalines dreamt of refashioning our identity to capture our full humanity. That is, to be a Haitian is to be a nèg.  To be a nèg is to be a "moun (human)" and " tout moun se moun (all people are humans)."

As Haitians, we often proudly and loudly repeat the powerful national motto of “L'union fait la force, (unity creates strength).” Yet, Haiti remains a paradoxical country in which a very large portion of the population has not only been ostracized but excluded from basic citizenship while foreign nationals are not only accepted but they are revered. The undergoing displacement of the mulattos by the Levantine has only exacerbated the chasm, move the country farther away from the Dessalinian ideals, and serve to magnify the “Pays en Dehors” phenomena. 

Standing with the people as they wrestle the demons

Although in general, it is understood that a crisis brings people together, Haiti’s deepening socio-political crises, which have unleashed incontrollable insecurity dominated by arms/drug trafficking and money laundering, have challenged civil society to find appropriate solutions. For those of us living outside of Haiti – the diaspora– we understand that our contribution is necessary in support of the work being done on the ground.  But this contribution requires a united diaspora. Yet, despite knowing this truth and despite many attempts, we have not yet been able to define and agree on some short-term goals and even less, a common purpose as a people. Indeed, the same social fractions that have bred mistrust in Haitian society are evident in the diaspora. We are the reflection of Haiti’s deep social ills and disunion.  

As Jacob wrestled with himself in Genesis 32:25, we too must wrestle our demons.

The Haitian diaspora needs to play its legitimate role but doing so requires that it faces the structural and social ills that affect Haitian society – within and outside of Haiti. Therefore, one of the most important tasks for diaspora leaders is to unite disparate communities around a common cause. That’s what leaders do.

For those among us who choose to play a leadership role in the Haitian diaspora, we must surely know and accept that leadership is always hard, and at this particular moment with our specific community, it is even harder. But as the Chinese proverb goes “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” To that end, I want to encourage my friends and colleagues, especially in the United States, who are not only passionate but are actively engaged in the fight for the betterment of our people to not only step-up but to also step-in, and serve as the connective tissue that links our many "haitis."  

I am calling in our elected leaders to lead! And in the spirit of love and respect, I am calling in the leaders of specific organizations to step-up and step-in.

One of those organizations is the National Haitian Elected Officials Network (NHAEON). With more than 80 current and former Haitian-American Elected and Appointed Officials, I believe NHAEON can serve as a facilitator and provide the platform for the various organizations to talk to one another. I am calling in my friends in various community organizations to step into the circle. I want to highlight among them the United Front of the Haitian Diaspora, the Haitian-American Foundation for Democracy, the Haitian Diaspora Political Action Committee, the Haitian United Council, the Haitian-American Professional Coalition, the Haitian American Voters Empowerment (HAVE) Coalition, the Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti and all the others that involved in advocacy work.

I will close by humbly offering three pieces of advice to my Haitian-American friends and leaders:

1. Step in and do what you think is right. You will get criticized by somebody somewhere sometime -- it comes with the territory. You must accept the criticisms and use it as an opportunity to share your vision one hundred times over, if needed, to the very same three people.
2. As my friend Eileen Alma, Director, International Centre for Women’s Leadership at Coady Institute, wisely shared with me recently, we should forget about bringing people to the table.  Instead, she said, we should break the damn table and co-create something new altogether that allows everyone to be in the conversation.
3. Make a concerted effort to be inclusive. The Haitian community is more than its doctors, lawyers, nurses and other professionals. The great majority of the diaspora is made up of folks working in the service sector, from taxi drivers to home health aides to hotel and restaurant workers. We must find the points that connect and bring them in the circle. After expanding all efforts to that end, try again. But accept that some people will choose to opt out. Respect their choice, keep moving and try again later.  

Haiti is at a crossroad and it is yet another fateful moment in our history. One fundamental question for all of us is whether we are willing to seize the moment.  The other more difficult one to answer is whether our leaders are willing to sacrifice their egos.