By Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul It was a rainy day in March, when Jean René Suprena listened intently to Jeremy Jong,…
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Latest News, Special Reports
The Haitian Clergy’s Role in Advancing Civil Rights
While the church’s impact in African-American communities is seen, both politically and socially, in many black enclaves across the country, you’d be hard-pressed to say the same for the Haitian-American community. Which is why a group of lawyers and pastors in New York City is looking to change the script by writing a new one.
News, Special Reports
Farmworker-turned-activist uproots injustices and sows hope
When Myrto Cesaire approached a friend to inquire about local jobs, the friend mockingly suggested that “farm work” was her…
Special Reports
Attacking domestic violence in the Haitian community
Author’s note: For this year’s Women’s History Month, celebrated during the month of March, and International Women’s Day, which was…
Special Reports, Women & Children
Women Farmers and Land Grabs in Haiti: An interview with Iderle Brénus
By Beverly Bell
In Haiti, the majority of the people working the land are women. Not only are they there during planting, weeding and harvesting, but they also play a role in transforming and marketing food products. They’re involved in the entire agricultural production process. This is why we call women the poto mitan, central pillar, of the country.
Special Reports
Jovenel Moise Seizes Land From Haiti Peasants
By Joshua Steckley and Beverly Bell
Jovenel Moïse, President Michel Martelly’s handpicked successor, dispossessed as many as 800 peasants – who were legally farming – and destroyed houses and crops two years ago, say leaders of farmers’ associations in the Trou-du-Nord area. Farmers remain homeless and out of work. The land grabbed by the company Moïse founded, Agritrans, now hosts a private banana plantation.
Special Reports
The Blood of the Earth: Agriculture, Land Rights, and Haitian History
By Beverly Bell
Yesterday, Jan. 12, on the sixth anniversary of the 7.0 earthquake, Haitians mourned the countless lives lost. Among the many aftershocks they face is disaster capitalism, in which the Haitian elite and foreign corporations – backed by the US government, World Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank – are grabbing lands for extraction and mega-development projects. Ricot Jean-Pierre, social worker and program director of the Platform to Advocate Alternative Development in Haiti (PAPDA), tells how inequitable control of land has devastated the vast majority throughout Haitian history, from enslavement to today.
Special Reports
UN Peacekeepers Sexually Abused Hundreds In Haiti In Exchange For Food And Medicine, Report Says
(AP) – Members of a UN peacekeeping mission engaged in “transactional sex” with more than 225 Haitian women who said they needed to do so to obtain things like food and medication, a sign that sexual exploitation remains significantly underreported in such missions, according to a new report obtained by The Associated Press.
The draft by the Office of Internal Oversight Services looks at the way UN peacekeeping, which has about 125,000 people in some of the world’s most troubled areas, deals with the persistent problem of sexual abuse and exploitation.
The report, expected to be released this month, says major challenges remain a decade after a groundbreaking UN report first tackled the issue.
Special Reports
How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti and Built Six Homes
The Red Cross received an outpouring of donations after the quake, nearly half a billion dollars.
The group has publicly celebrated its work. But in fact, the Red Cross has repeatedly failed on the ground in Haiti. Confidential memos, emails from worried top officers, and accounts of a dozen frustrated and disappointed insiders show the charity has broken promises, squandered donations, and made dubious claims of success.
The Red Cross says it has provided homes to more than 130,000 people. But the actual number of permanent homes the group has built in all of Haiti: six.
Immigration & Migration, Special Reports, TPS
A Second Chance On Immigration
When discussing immigration in America, most automatically think of those from the Spanish-speaking community. The face of the immigration debate in America is often times a Latino, mainly because of Mexico’s proximity to America. However, there are additional stories to be told, including that of the Haitian community in different states across the country.