Girvan a friend of Haiti

Myrtha Désulmé, Guest Columnist

The Haitian community salutes the memory of the illustrious Norman Girvan, who always stood on the right side of history, and of the issues, and never failed to honour or defend Haiti and her people.

While Caribbean politicians have coined the abhorrently callous term of 'haitianisation' to describe all of the most catastrophic pitfalls facing their nations, Caribbean scholars and intellectuals have invariably paid tribute to Haiti's glorious revolution, and upheld the country as the venerated liberator of the hemisphere, which continues to pay the price as sacrificial lamb for the freedom of us all.

Space does not permit to name the myriad luminaries of intellect and learning who have caused rivers of ink to flow in praise of Haiti, but from Marcus Garvey to Lloyd Best, Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, Franklin W. Knight, Clinton Hutton, John Maxwell, and Hilary Beckles; we can name but a few C.L.R. James' seminal novel, The Black Jacobins, recounts Haiti's unparalleled 1804 revolution, Alejo Carpentier's Kingdom of this World, the reign of Haitian King Henri Christophe, and Edouard Glissant's play celebrate the life of the immortal Toussaint L'Ouverture.

Norman Girvan hails from this hallowed tradition.

On January 26, 2010, two weeks after Haiti's cataclysmic earthquake, he gave a lecture at a panel discussion on the earthquake:

"Much of the discourse on Haiti since (and before) the earthquake of January 12 has been ahistorical and decontextualised. I cringe every time I hear that Haiti is 'the poorest country in the Western hemisphere', that it is 'plagued with corrupt and tyrannical governments', and other stereotypes so beloved by the Western media; sometimes reproduced uncritically by our own media houses."

Subliminal message

These phrases, repeated ad nauseam, are meant to instill and internalise a view that the Haitian people are uniquely responsible for their own poverty and poor infrastructure. They carry a subliminal message which, in turn, is employed as a political weapon.

Haiti, the first and only self-liberated colony of enslaved persons of African descent in the American hemisphere, is proof of the inherent incapacity of black people to run their own affairs without the extended tutorship of the white world; and of the folly, not to say the futility, of defiance of an imperial order.

That heroic defiance was, of course, symbolised by the victory of Toussaint's forces against the armies of Napoleon, and the unilateral independence of January 1, 1804.

Three weeks later, on March 15, when he gave the introductory remarks at another panel on the earthquake. He started out by stating:

"We are all Haitians now ... . The catastrophe has turned the spotlight on Haiti's past and present as an integral part of our collective experience as Caribbean people."

He explained how the devastation was the culmination of 200 years of isolation, extortion by France, military interventions, foreign-backed military coups, imposition of neo-liberal policies, and state decapacitation by international financial institutions and aid donors, and that these facts had all served to integrate Haiti into our collective sense of self.

"With the knowledge that the trials of the Haitian people are our trials, the struggles of the Haitian people are our struggles, the fate of the Haitian people is our fate, we know that we cannot let them down in the face of this catastrophe, for if we do, we let down ourselves. The spirits of Toussaint L'Ouverture, C.L.R. James, and, yes, of Rex Nettleford, walk amongst us. There is a clear and present danger that the catastrophe may become the occasion of a recolonisation or internationalisation of Haiti. We must ensure that this does not happen."

I was honoured when, in January 2013, he wrote to invite my Haiti-Jamaica Society to become a founding contributing organisation of his '1804CaribVoices - Pan Caribbean Voices For Integration and Social Justice' (www.1804caribvoices.org), a new web forum aiming to give expression to the many voices calling for a united and sovereign Caribbean with social justice, responsible governance, and sustainable living. He even named it in honour of the Haitian revolution.

Civil-rights delegation

He supported the struggle of the Haitian people to end the United Nations occupation, and most recently, championed the cause of the Haitian descendants born in the Dominican Republic, and denied citizenship by the country of their birth.

In November 2013, he led a civil-rights delegation that met with the CARICOM Bureau, consisting of the chair of CARICOM and Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar; the president of Haiti, Michel Martelly, and the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, who were meeting in Port-of-Spain, with CARICOM secretary general, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, to discuss the issue. They presented two petitions protesting the ruling, while Norman declared:

"We cannot countenance, without the most vigorous opposition, the further institution of a state of social genocide and apartheid in the heart of our own region. It renders an already-marginalised section of the Dominican population even more vulnerable to acts of daily discrimination and abuse based on the colour of their skin and the sound of their names.

"We cannot let down our brothers and sisters in the Dominican Republic, integral members of the regional family. CARICOM has a historic opportunity to demonstrate its relevance to, and its caring for, the citizens of the region, and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe."

Language of solidarity

He also advocated for the vocabulary of 'assistance' and 'relief' to be replaced by the language of 'solidarity' with Haiti:

"Solidarity is not about charity. It is not about international trusteeship. It is not about recolonisation. It is not about military occupation. It is not about telling people what to do. The basis of solidarity is respect. Respect for the equality and dignity of each individual, and for the sovereignty of the nation. Respect for the inherent capacity that resides within each person. Solidarity seeks no material gain from giving, for it springs from consciousness of a shared humanity. It is about giving support without imposing or intruding. It is about offering scholarships, not sending arrogant and patronising consultants. It is about sending doctors, not soldiers."

Dearest Norman, we shall never forget you. Your words will echo through the ages. Your lessons in courage, demonstration of solidarity, and affirmation of Caribbean patriotism will forever be a lamp unto our feet. History will pay tribute to your valour.

Myrtha Désulmé is president of the Haiti-Jamaica Society, Haitian Diaspora Federation rep for the Caribbean & Latin America, and VP for Advocacy & Public Policy. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and myrtha1804@gmail.com.

CAPTION: In this September 30, 2013, Haitian Maria Julia Deguis looks out from her home in Los Jovillos village, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. A law passed by Dominican Republic legislators on Wednesday, May 21, 2014 creates a path to citizenship for the children and grandchildren of tens of thousands of migrants who came from neighbouring Haiti to work. It follows an international outcry over a court ruling that left many essentially stateless. - AP