Compromit of the Americas
Trinidad and Tobago "has committed US$1 million (TT$6.3 million) towards recovery efforts in Haiti, which is bracing for a huge death toll following Tuesday evening’s massive earthquake.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning said today the Cabinet has decided to provide the financial assistance to its Caribbean Community (Caricom) neighbour even though this country is facing a TT$7 billion debt."
Source: Trinidad & Tobago Express, Wednesday 13, January 2010
How can we dance when their beds are burning?...
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HAITI
By David Rudder
Toussaint was a mighty man
And to make matters worse he was black
Black and back in the days when black men knew
Their place was in the back
But this rebel, he walked through Napoleon
Who thought it wasn't very nice
And so today my brothers in Haiti
They still pay the price...yeah, yeah...
Chorus:
Haiti, I'm sorry
We misunderstood you
One day we'll turn our heads
And look inside you
Haiti, I'm sorry. Haiti, I'm sorry
One day we'll turn our heads
Restore your glory.
Many hands reach out to St. George's
And are still reaching out
To those frightened,
Foolish men of Pretoria
We still scream and shout
We came together in song
To steady the Horn of Africa
But the papaloa come and the babyloa go
And still, we don't seem to care...No, no...
Chorus:
Haiti, I'm sorry
We misunderstood you
But one day we'll turn our heads
And look inside you
Haiti, I'm sorry. Haiti, I'm sorry
One day we'll turn our heads
Restore your glory.
When there is anguish in Port au Prince
It's still Africa crying
We are outing fires in far away places
When our neighbours are just burning.
They say the Middle Passage is gone
So how come overcrowded boats still haunt our lives
I refuse to believe that we good people
Will forever turn our hearts
And our eyes...away...
Chorus:
Haiti, I'm sorry
We misunderstood you
One day we'll turn our heads
And look inside you
Haiti, I'm sorry. Haiti, I'm sorry
One day we'll turn our heads
Restore your glory.
Haiti, I'm sorry, sorry...
Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull
Thank you, David Rudder.
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.
Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare
6 comments:
Guanaguanare,
Many thanks for referring me to the article "Catastrophe in Haiti" by Ashley Smith. I would not have found it on my own, and so i would be so much less well informed about the roots of Haiti's ongoing problems.
Thanks for the calypso on Haiti. It is time that we stop blaming people for their poverty. I recently saw a documentary on the Discovery Channel and the conclusion from the archaeological findings and DNA points to the truth that our forefathers came out of Africa. Under our skin we are all African. This truth might help to reinforce the Christian and Spiritual truth that we are all children of God made in His image.
Thank YOU Louis, for your interest.
There is so much more to learn. Right now, while I support and praise wholeheartedly ALL efforts to provide immediate help to our neighbours in desperate need, we should not wait for the dust to clear to recognise all the usual jostling, posturing, propaganda and military buildup. Haiti's democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is saying that he wants to or will return to Haiti. This is an interesting development especially as he still has the support of many in Haiti.
Blessings
Charles,
I accept your thanks on behalf of David Rudder. I also appreciate your reflections on our common ancestry. A while back I wrote "Universal Aboriginality" as I tried to express some of what I think on the subject.
Your comment today is so uplifting. While I recognise the instinct to territorialise which manifests itself in ideas of gender, race, nationality, private property and even extends its reach to the management of the human soul and God, I also see very clearly the blindness, destruction and alienation that are often the results of this mindset for humanity and the greater animate entity within which we exist.
We will continue to think about and share these thoughts and questions, especially with the children.
Blessings
You don't have to be a genius...
"CARICOM BLOCKED...as US takes control of airport." By Rickey Singh, Barbados. Trinidad & Tobago Express, Sunday 17 January, 2010.
..."On Friday afternoon the US State Department confirmed signing two ’Memoranda of Understanding’ with the Government of Haiti that made ’official that the United Stateas is in charge of all inbound and outbound flights and aid off-loading...’
"Further, according to the agreements signed, US medical personnel ’now have the authority to operate on Haitian citizens and otherwise render medical assistance without having to wait for licences from Haiti’s government...’ "
"The Militarization of Emergency Aid to Haiti: Is it a Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?" By Michel Chossudovsky. GlobalResrearch.ca, Sunday January 17, 2010
"Ortega warns of US deployment in Haiti." By PressTV, Sunday January 17, 2010
"Haiti: getting the picture." By lenin. Lenin's Tomb, Saturday January 16, 2010
Some black humour for bitter comic relief...
"The U.S. Military in Haiti: A Compassionate Invasion." By Mark Thompson. Time, Saturday January 16 2010
OK, that's it! I am taking up a new position as reader in residence at Trinidad and Tobago News Blog. They are supplying the best updates and articles analysing the situation in Haiti. I am grateful for their vigilance.
Blessings
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