2010

Was Brazilian Diplomat in Haiti Fired for Slamming UN and NGOs?

December 29, 2010
The Special Representative for the Organisation of American States (OAS) Ricardo Seitenfus was fired 24 hours after he gave a candid interview to the Swiss newspaper Le Temps on Monday December 20, 2010. "Imposed" UN troops, NGOs that exist only because of Haiti's misfortune and the role international capitalism plays in Haiti's ills were among the topics he spoke about.

Was he relieved of his duties because of his comments? Investigative journalist, author and Haiti relief worker Georgianne Nienaber weighs in via the The Huffington Post.

100 Shows for Haiti in January to Benefit Two Relief Organizations

100 Shows for Haiti logo December 26, 2010
"Do YOU for Haiti," is the call to action spoken by political punk band Cipher on the 100 Shows for Haiti website. This coming January, activists, artists, and regular people from around the world are working together to put on simultaneous events on and around January 12th, the day of last year's devastating Haiti earthquake, to raise money for two Haitian relief organizations: Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees and One Hundred for Haiti.

We invite you to visit their website and find out how it works. Perhaps you can create an event of your own to help in the cause. Or maybe you can attend an event; there is a list by state and country of participating shows.

Listening to Haiti’s ‘Other Voices’

Journalism is supposedly the first draft of history, but when it comes to the Haiti earthquake of 2010, Assistant Professor of Romance Languages and Literature Regine Jean-Charles only hopes the subsequent drafts are better than what she’s seen thus far.

The American-born daughter of Haitian immigrants who returned to their native country, Jean-Charles says media coverage in the aftermath of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake — which killed an estimated 230,000 people and left at least a million others homeless — has, however well-intentioned, helped reinforce longstanding negative stereotypes about Haiti.

Check out this great article from the Boston College Chronicle.

The TRUTH Exhibition at Urban Zen Featured Lomax Material

December 16, 2010
Donna Karan, Andrew Harrell, Kerry Kennedy and famed shutterbug Marc Baptiste hosted a gathering entitled The TRUTH Exhibition at Urban Zen last night to remind folks not to forget about Haitiand to celebrate the island nation's cultural heritage. John Hood's interview got with the Port au Prince-born photographer Baptiste appeared in the Hood's Nite Talk column on NBCNewYork.com.
Read his interview here.

Alan Lomax in Haiti: ‘Humongous riches from the poorest country’

December 15, 2010
We call him Guru Gage, but his full name is Gage Averill. He is the writer of the GRAMMY-nominated Album Notes for the Alan Lomax Haiti: Recordings for the Library of Congress 1936-1937 box set. The Green Family Foundation is very proud of having worked with Gage on this amazing piece of cultural and musical history. Canada's The Globe and Mail has a great article about Gage that explains how he conducted research and wrote the liner notes for the Haiti box set. Read it here.