As human beings, we all live with constant paradoxes. And within the Haitian community, both in Haiti and the diaspora, those paradoxes often seem even more pronounced. The president's assassination is yet one more issue for us to bicker about. Whether it is about the president or who is behind his assassination, the fact that the country's head of state was murdered in his home has not brought us together -- not even to recognize the nightmare in which the population lives. If the most protected person in the country can be executed, what hope is there for the regular citizen?
For those of us who have been singularly focused on our demand for justice, our disappointment and sadness had long ago turned to anger. When the president would sooner acknowledge and tweet about the migraine pains of the Prince of Bel Air (sarcasm) then the massacre of his own people, it raised the ire of a great number of us. When a president who rightly identified corruption as the fundamental problem of the system and yet went about the systematic weakening and elimination of the very institutions that are there to fight against corruption, then he raised the ire of a great number of us. I could go on and on with the "when the president" illustrations but that is not the point of this post.
We wanted a president who could empathize with his people and a government that responds to their cries and sufferings. On that very basic measure the president failed. Nonetheless, I have been dismayed by the responses to the president's assassination, which run the gamut from credulous to the highly hypocritical. Indeed, the idea that folks who either don't know anything about Haiti, never cared to engage and who certainly never seem to give a hoot about the massacres of the masses, are now showing love for the president and to go as far as to compare him to Dessalines, that is disheartening and triggering.
That said, the president is no more. In a moment in which the head of the Haitian state was killed in his bedroom, I believe we need to extend grace to each other. Despite our deep disagreements with the president and our firm belief that he played an outsized role in creating or at least allowing the state to completely disintegrate --- he is gone. Now, we must not only get past this moment but we must find a way to reimagine a different nation and state.
For those of us who were constantly and loudly demanding justice for the voiceless and nameless, we have no choice but to demand justice for President Moise as well. As MLK said "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Given my strong opposition to the president's policies, I have been silent on his death because I was afraid of appearing hypocritical but fear should never be our guidepost.
I have felt anger about such an odious act and sadness that President Moise was assassinated. So in this moment, as Haiti reels from this event, I want to extend my condolences to the president's friends and family, who are living with the pain of losing their loved one.
President Moise, as you meet your maker, may the earth rest lightly on you!
I encourage all of us to pay our respect in ways that we feel are appropriate. Jovenel Moise is no more and how we respond will not reflect on him but on our own humanity and commitment to justice, especially for those with whom we disagree.
President Moise, as you meet your maker, may the earth rest lightly on you!
