The Diaspora needs to organize and build the country.

[Senou]

The Diaspora needs to organize and build the country. We need to hear from you


Vision & Action
“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-T.S. Eliot (Poet, critic, and editor) -------------------------------------

“ Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference."
- Joel Barker (President, Infinity Limited, Inc., internationally known consulting firm)

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We can come up with some serious initiatives of the Diaspora to first make our life better where we live and assist in the building of our homeland.

What have you seen from my generation? Our discussion does not start with Dr. Duvalier and his son Mr. Jean-Claude Duvalier and ends with Dr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide. However, we are striving to find a way as how to make our life better in the U.S., how to help promoting our native country and assisting the land of our mother and father. Now, the second generation is coming to the mix and Haiti has a wealth of unused resources of cadres and experts living in the Diaspora.

We have three generations of Haitians who still do not understand how to work collaboratively with each other. The future belongs to the younger generation and therefore, that generation must be at the table. That generation as the necessary skills to connect Haitian Nationals across the globe and the younger generation will be the catalyst in organizing the Haitian Diaspora in the United States and the world.


There is a reason why we are living in the Diaspora; one day, you will come to the assistance of the mother land and we need to do so with a Diaspora Initiative.

We need to launch a Diaspora Initiative

But, we need to organize ourselves and put structure in place quietly first. We need to be focus. We need to use the UPS approach and the Obama approach and do not let anyone intimidates with name recognition, title and so on. You have seen many self-appointed Black Leaders (just because they were walking with Dr. King) who did not support initially the Obama Presidency but they joined at the end of the race. Do expect others to join at the end of the race.

We are at the defining moment of our existence as a proud nation, as the fist black independent nation in the world. We built the Citadel without any outside funds and still today, it is the most famous monument in this continent. The new Haitian generation born outside of Haiti, you are the descendent of great warrior such as Toussaint Louverture, Dessalines, Petion, Capois La Mort, Henri Christophe and so on; again the new Haitian generation, you are the descendent of great builder such as King Henri Christophe, He built the Citadel.
Go to Haiti, go visit the citadel, l’Ester and other places and when you comeback, you will be among the first to reach others to come up with a plan to build Haiti.

We need to focus on the positive, do not say anything about the United Nations, OAS or whatever; do not say anything about past and current government and whoever who is going to be elected. Please, respect people name and treat everyone with respect. What you are going to do can be stopped with other forces with the complicity of your own brothers and sisters; so, you need to use your brain and use the same technique Dr. King had used.

Our generation must organize the Haitian Diaspora.

The Haitian Diaspora is not limited to the United States but Haitian Nationals living across the globe. First, we need to organize the Haitian Diaspora within the United States and since we live in the United States, a democratic country; the team that will represent the Haitian Diaspora in the United States must be voted by you.

To do so, we have to change the way we act and operate in a democratic country.

Change is a process and not a one time event

An organized Haitian Diaspora can influence the U.S., Canada and European policy toward Haiti and it can influence the Haitian government and it will be able to assist Haiti. Also, an organized Haitian Diaspora in the U.S. can support the Haitian-American candidates who are running for public office. By the way, 4 Haitian-Americans are running in Florida; please, support them.
Again, if we were organized, those Haitian Candidates could have been known nationally and received support from the 2 millions of you living in the U.S.

If the State Department or the Governor of your state has a desire to communicate important information to the Haitian Diaspora: Whom they will call?
Without ambiguity, you should know that person within your state and whoever who will represent you nationally and all willing people shall play a role in the selection process.

1 Each state shall select a team of 5 people to represent the state: all the 5 people shall come from different area and they cannot be part of the same group.

We need to divide the United States into 5 Regions

Western Region (One representative) Northern Region (One representative)
Eastern Region (One representative) Southern Region (One representative)
Midwest Region (One representative)

Each Region will then select a Regional Delegate and these five Regional Delegates are ipso facto the legitimate elected leaders of the Haitian Diaspora in the U.S.

The National Representative Member shall be voted by all.

We need to call a Diaspora Forum with willing people to start the Process. A few folks will present a few Diaspora Initiatives. That forum shall be held at a Universal Day. It cannot be held during Daytime on a Saturday.

NB: We need to organize ourselves under the principles of the democracy and invite the OAS, the United Nations and any other entity to listen on how to build Haiti and not the other way around. We can build Haiti and don’t ever forget that you are the descendent of Toussaint, Dessalines, Christophe, Petion, Capois la Mort and so on …, you are the grandsons and the granddaughters of great warriors and fighters. We believe in your ability and capacity to make history and you are going to make history. The whole nation is hurt and it is your duty and your moral responsibility to fix it and you will. Remember May 18, remember Nov 18 and remember Jan 1.

Joe Alfred
Joe_alfred@yahoo.com

[Tayi]

And remember January 12. Senou that was a beautiful reflection on your part. I can sense the fire in your passion. I appreciate that you put action as priority in this dialogue. That initiative sounds like an exciting idea but It would be good to get all diaspora together to discuss these issues, in cooperation with the established consulates we already have in the country. Perhaps the first step would be (after prayer of course ) to call for a national conference for the whole Haitian diaspora (we can start in the US) and/or we could even try to organize an international conference held in Haiti, the one country that most Haitian diasporas can travel to. You know, I feel really strong about the last point: Let us gather in HAITI, the motherland where we can be re-inspired and mobilized. Perhaps then, our president can do that for us, call all Haitians to return to motherland to reflect with her and about her on how to go forward. At that meeting we can have different tracks for the different diaspora countries and share ideas on how to best be organized in the diaspora. Just throwing out some ideas. I like where you're going with this.

On a slightly different note, I think the administration should invite young Haitians living abroad to come participate in the rebuilding of the country in Haiti. Many Haitians would respond positively and go offer their expertise in their particular fields. I think and hope so. Surely those same people would not always need to wait for an invitation but such an invitation could stir up a new sense of mission and utility for the country.

Tayi