Haiti: As Big Media Pulls Out, Stories Still Need Telling

There's been a great deal of concern over mainstream media's coverage of the recent earthquake in Haiti and its aftermath. From the blogosphere, to the alternative news circuits, to the average kitchen table, many folks were asking difficult questions about what was and wasn't showing up in television and radio broadcasts and in newspaper spreads.

"Racism", "sensationalism", and even "staging" quickly became a part of those discussions.

I wrote a rant - okay, two rants - not long ago about the treatment of Haitians in the press - and failures of the mainstream press in accurately covering the many sides and contributing factors of the story. I was one small voice in a very loud chorus - and if I weren't, I'd still stand by said rants.

Nevertheless, a lot of us were disappointed when the New York Times reported yesterday that many large, highly resourced news services and corporations were "Pulling Out" of Haiti - even though we already knew the deal.

Why? Because loathing the methods of newsgathering in much of the media is like hating the postal service in your neighborhood.

The service is crappy most of the time - and you wish the employees were still wearing appropriate uniforms - but you still can't help but depend on it.

Sure, we understand the nature of the news (and advertisers) these days - and we understand the nature of consumers. News networks can't necessarily afford to take up further residence in Haiti. We get the advertising dollars model. We comprehend viewer burnout.

But many of us also understand that as newspapers, radio services, and television network programs continue to consolidate, shrink, and cut corners, pulling out really means pulling out. Even 20 years ago, we could depend on regional and international reporters, or at least stringers, who could keep us abreast of notable stories around the world. Those days are largely gone.

Concerned Americans looking for news, analysis, and commentary have to work harder and harder to access it - it's become an elite exercise for bloggers, academics, and those who have the time to find a BBC or AP wire story and a world map.

Always, and certainly right this minute, that's a problem, because we need some big eyes and ears in Haiti - even those that don't see or hear so well.

Under-resourced activists, educators, writers, bloggers, and citizens sitting in their offices in, say, Durham, still depend on the "big" news. We watch/read/listen to it, and then we turn around and talk behind its back. Of course, big news operations are also watching the influential bloggers and alternative journalists - and demonstrating the same snarky behavior (some in new, sparkly blog posts).

That's what frenemies do. And when it works, it works.

Michel Martin spoke to this relationship yesterday in her commentary titled "Why We Hate (And Thank) The Media In Times of Disaster" on Tell Me More. She offered a sharp rebuttal to those hatin' on the "MSM" - Mainstream Media.

"Some of the first people in have been who?" she asked. "Reporters - working for the biggest news outlets. They are the ones who are there, often before virtually any representative of government was there..."

"I have to say it annoys me when I get these smug posts from the bloggers and activists who are all promising to go in 'after the cameras leave' and 'stay after the cameras have gone'. I ask these people, if the cameras and microphones weren't there, would you be going at all?".

She makes a solid point - she's Michel Martin, after all (Much respec'. You can hear the entire commentary below - and I highly recommend Tell Me More).



But at the end of the day, I have to argue that it wouldn't matter to me if those telling the story were mainstream journalists, underground reporters, or intrepid bloggers, so long as the stories got the attention they deserved. Storytellers are important, but the power and reach of the platform, unfortunately, are still the biggest factors in whether the word gets out.

I appreciate Ms. Martin's inquiry, but I think folks like me are asking another, more troubling question:

Two weeks-months-years from now, when hundreds of thousands of children are still vulnerable to suffering from injuries, hunger, grief, and loneliness, who will bear witness loud enough to be heard?

Who will spur us to humanity, and compassion, and action (and yes, perhaps, to more angry blog rants)?

*Image Credits: Associated Press. Earthquake Survivor Camp
J.J. Guillén/European Pressphoto Agency. Journalists at camp in Port-au-Prince

Mourning 3 Giants in the Haitian Women's Movement

Sadly, three of the most critical leaders for women's rights in Haiti have been confirmed lost in the last week's earthquake.

Myriam Merlet, founder of Enfofamn, was remembered on Democracy Now's January 19th broadcast, where Eve Ensler called her a "great feminist" and a "radical feminist". Merlet was the founder of Enfofamn, a media-driven organization for women's rights. She's known for her commitment honoring trailblazing women in Haiti's history and for her work in bringing a Vagina Monologues project to Haiti.

More about Merlet in the video below.




Founder of Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen (Solidarity with Hatian Women), Anne Marie Coriolan, has also been confirmed dead. Known for her work in establishing rape as "an instrument of terror and war", as opposed to a "crime of passion" she is thought to have been critical in ensuring a new level of awareness around issues of justice for women.

Magalie Marcelin, an actress, lawyer, and activist who founded Kay Fanm, a women's-rights organization, crusaded against rape and violence against women and cofounded a women's shelter. Rememered in a Miami Herald article among Haiti's "biggest thinkers", Marcelin is remembered as one who "played and important role on behalf of society". Among other efforts, a Facebook Group has been founded in her memory.

Peace to these three women-warriors. Despite the difficulties and concerns that abound now, history gives us hope that new leaders will rise from the ashes to continue their important work.

But in the interim, so many in a nation mourn.

Photo of activist Myriam Merlet, from CNN.com

Haiti's Aftershock: The Media, "Looting", and the Crime of Bad Journalism

When news of this morning's aftershock in Haiti - which measured 6.1 on the Richter scale - broke this morning, hearts around the world sank. It happened at around 6AM, EST, when many folks were encamped for the night in streets , on park lawns, and wherever else they could rest. Many of us know that, "aftershock" or not, 6.1 is deadly magnitude, much more significant than a mere tremor. It's easy to imagine that another quake - like the one that struck today - is the worst nightmare of those who survived last week's monstrous event, to which at least 200,000 women, children, and men are said to have lost their lives.

In the early hours of the morning, some frightened survivors reportedly took to the street seeking safety, answers, and resources.

To put it mildly - it's disheartening when so many news organizations take this opportunity to focus on the "looting" and "lawlessness" emerging in specific parts of the country after Haitians who have been more than patient have been under-served and "under-relieved" in large part because of the militaristic, racist approach that seems dominant and rampant.



Gee, I'm not sure what folks are expected to do when staring death in the face. I suppose that the lawful, responsible thing to do would be to let your family die while you wait for the ever-elusive aid buggy. I mean, are these the same reporters who failed to report on the rape of resources and infrastructure in Haiti in recent years (decades)? Did they miss all of that "looting and lawlessness"?

Or do "looting" and "lawlessness" only come in certain pocketbook sizes and colors?

Smells a lot like Hurricane Katrina coverage - not that this is news. Maybe it smells worse, as some folks are arguing that even CNN star Anderson Cooper can't get it together. What's going on?

Not to beat a dead Fourth Estate or anything, but are these some of the same trifling reporters who haven't filed one sorry enterprise story on the history and legacy of Haiti - it's struggles, triumphs, battles with foreign powers, and internal strife?

Let me be clear. I'm not hating on journalists. I've done the newsroom thing. Truly, there's a lot of love here.

We all understand that, realistically, there will always be groups of people - including gangs, police forces, and governments - who take advantage of chaos to enrich themselves. The biggest victims of these actions are always the weakest in the society - children, elders, pregnant women, the disabled. But there certainly is a difference between criminal activity and the actions of any sane person in a dire situation hoping to secure food, water, and needed supplies.

Unfortunately, you'd think some reporters don't know the difference, to let the reporting tell it. I'm still wondering how it is that the same outlets who haven't managed to report on humanitarian aid failure suddenly have so much time, tape and copy to spend on violent, chaotic looting pieces. And many who did manage (bother) to get some coverage on the issue of increasing desperation and relief/aid challenges as recently as a few days ago missed the point (and the messaging).

You don't have to be a Haitian, an aid worker, or a journalist to understand the glaring undertones of statements about "security", "certain elements", and "these kinds of people" in answer to questions about the slow dissemination of assistance to Port-Au-Prince, Jacmel, and throughout the countryside.

You don't have to be a Person of Color to get it, either. So let's not pretend.

Funny: Folks in the news industry - particularly those in print - spend a lot of time trying to figure out why their readership is down.

Could it be that folks are looking for reporting that

• gets to the heart of the matter?
• avoids the trite rehashing of racist/sexist/classist stereotypes?
• employs folks with just a little bit of cultural awareness (and maybe even a few folks of Color)?
• actually provides a little bit of context?

Is it possible that readers keep checking out because the press keeps getting it wrong?

"No, that can't be right. We couldn't possibly be the problem. Maybe we oughtta just blame the internet."

Photo Credit: Ariana Cublios, AP

Kid Prodigy Triple Majors at Morehouse - Blogger Reconsiders Her Life

If you have a moment for a warm story, you may want to check out Stephen Stafford II, a 13-year-old budding scientist and Morehouse student who has apparently been flooring his professors for some time now. Not surprisingly, Stephen is a product of rigorous home-schooling. His main teacher - mom, is interviewed in the piece, as is his father, Stafford, Sr.

Nothing like parental units/guardians full of love and on a mission to do the best for their kids. The story also points to a lot of community support. Looks like it's paying off. Stafford will receive both his high school diploma and his bachelors degree(s) - in math, computer science and pre-med in 2012. Then it's off to Morehouse Medical School.

Er...
I need to go rethink some things and like...get into another degree program or um...work on a couple more books or something. Clearly, I've been wasting valuable time.

Immortal Technique & Afghani Orphans Project featured on "The World"

Okay, family. I'm guessing that at least some of you are music fans and that the rest of you may know that I am an obsessive Public Radio listener. You'll indulge me in my sharing, then.

Immortal Technique, the Peruvian born free-agent rapper and political activist whose “government name” is Felipe Andres Coronel, was recently featured on Public Radio International’s “The World”as the Global Hit. The segment focused on Immortal Technique's work in raising $50,000 to open an orphanage in Afghanistan. Later, he traveled to the country to get the project off the ground. If you dig underground Hip Hop, or even if you don't, you may dig this.

(As a sidenote: shout out to the folks at The World, or to photographer Cary Stuart, for embedding the credit in the image. Freakin' Brilliant.)

Farewell To Teddy Pendergrass - The Love We Lost

Soul Legend Teddy Pendergrass has died, according to ABC News. Reportedly, he suffered from complications related to a recent operation on his colon. He was 59.

For many of us, “Teddy P.” has lived as an elusive legend on earth for much of our lives. We heard of his storied greatness from the old folks who had laughed, loved, danced, and made babies to his music. We held our breath with our Mamas and watched the old footage of the beautiful man in well-fitted show clothes – his mahogany skin gleaming and his rich, husky voice reaching into our souls. We wept a bit with the grown folks when the Teddy Bear wheeled onto the stage during increasingly rare performances.

In his days with Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and in his all too brief solo career, Teddy Pendergrass made an indelible mark on the Soul Music genre and on the African American Vernacular Culture.

He enjoyed extraordinary success, selling over 10 million records in a decade and packing out venues with sizzling women-only concerts.

Teddy P. urged us to authenticity - taught us to “Be For Real”, and urged us to “Wake Up, Everybody”. Later the same day, the Teddy Bear crooned to us. In his charming way, he got us to “Close the Door” and “Turn off the Lights”. And he couldn’t stay on our bad side. He’d lure us back, moaning “Don’t Leave Me This Way”, girl, and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” baby.

It’s true that, in many ways, we lost a bit of Teddy P. after the severe March 1982 car accident that paralyzed him from the chest down and led to lingering hate-fueled speculation about his passenger, transgender drag performer Tenika Watson.

We always hoped that he’d return to us for good. Every now and then, until his official retirement in 2006, he did. Sure, devotees wanted more. But it was a blessing to at least have him with us, and to catch a glimpse from time to time.

For years, Pendergrass’ music was almost enough. Occasional performances were almost enough. His being in the same dimension was almost enough.

But now he’s become The Love We Lost. Too Soon. And for Teddy P.’s true fans, nothing is enough.

Rest in Peace, Teddy Pendergrass.















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Especially as we grapple with realities of the earthquake's wrath in Haiti, and challenges here at home, there's no better time to heed Teddy Pendergrass' words and "Wake Up, Everybody" and "build a new land". The song is performed here on Soul Train.



Turn off the Lights



Be For Real



Here, Teddy P. fronts Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes on Soul Train.


The Love I Lost

Haiti: What We Should Know Now (but aren't being told by mainstream media)

For many, the earth is still shaking.

Sites like 99Problems.org have posted the videos and images that continue to tell the harrowing story of the earthquake that hit Haiti late yesterday afternoon.

Tragic facts continued to emerge throughout the night, as aftershocks and news of death and destruction rocked Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. Hundreds have been confirmed dead, but there are many still trapped in the debris of buildings that collapsed around the area.

Unfortunately, as demonstrated by blogger Allison Kilkenny, the press hasn't done a stellar job of providing historical context about the small island nation. That's problematic, because there is a great deal of work to be done there. Because the history of slavery is so denied and ignored in our culture, many Americans don't even understand how the African-descended population in Haiti (and throughout the Caribbean and South America, for that matter) came to be there.

Journalists are presenting the rehashed story of a hapless, poor black nation that audiences are so familiar with.

Few, however, have mentioned Haiti's history as the first independent black nation established in the western hemisphere after a bloody but successful revolt of enslaved Africans against their French slaveholders. The leadership of Toussaint L'Ouveture and the work other warrior strategists in the late 1700s led to the establishment of the nation in 1804, about 60 years before slavery was abolished in the United States.

That made Haiti a target not just for jilted France, but for the wealthy United States, whose leaders chaffed at the possibility of a free black nation so near the American south. In fact, they had good reason to worry.

There were indeed enslaved and free blacks who escaped or relocated to Haiti. There were also enslaved Africans who were forced to travel with white owners escaping the revolt, and ended up in places such as Mississippi and Louisiana's Orleans Territory. Finally, there were aristocratic blacks - often of mixed ancestry and with ties to French slaveholders - who were identified as the enemy of the enslaved blacks. Many in this group also fled to free states in United States (See Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, for example.)

All of the cross-pollination could be dangerous for the U.S. economy, which relied almost entirely on the boons slave labor - whether it was admitted or not.

(Let's not be fooled by the early abolition dates or the so-called liberal politics in states like Massachusetts. The lucrative textile industry, for example, was built on the backs of enslaved men and women who planted, cultivated, and harvested the cotton that fueled it.)

The Haitian Revolution helped to inspire a number of revolts and movements among enslaved and free blacks in the U.S. Charles Deslondes, the enslaved African man (often falsely identified as a free) who led a "slave" revolt in January of 1811, was born in Haiti, and had come to Louisiana as the human "property" of his white slaveholder, a white refugee who had escaped to Louisiana. Black Nationalists such as David Walker, author of the militant Appeal...to the Coloured Citizens of the World (1829), were directly inspired by it. The uprising became the center of celebrations and commemorations - sometimes secret - among blacks in both the American south and north for decades to come.

Even in 2009, Haiti would represent an extraordinary political threat if it were flourishing. It's no wonder the United States and France have had their foot on Haiti's neck - militarily, economically, and politically - since 1804.

Yes, we've have a lot of multi-government sponsored humanitarian presence in Haiti in recent decades, but you don't have to suffer through (the not-so-subtly-racist-condescending-heavy-handed-liberal-fantasy freakfest known as) Avatar to sniff out the potential rats there. One could step back a little further, and read about our military history in Haiti since.

A quick review really aids an understanding of why Haiti is the poorest country in the Northern hemisphere, and why it has long been the anchor of the dirty corporate practices of child labor-exploitative companies like Disney (and those that have followed). It will also clear up some questions about our actions in Grenada back in the 1980s - don't get me started.

(I'd really, really, like to talk about disgusting ironies related to Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" here, but you'd all think I'd taken a complete left.)

Add to that a discussion of the myriad internal challenges, not limited to the country's environmental vulnerability (a product of Haiti's rampant deforestation) along with serious class stratification, and we might truly have a better handle on things.

But information is only useful if we do something with it. And there's a great deal to be done.

Images Credit: Associated Press. Second image is a "before and after" of Haiti's Presidential Palace.

Thoughts, Prayers are with Haiti as News of the Earthquake Pours In

Many of us have been terribly saddened by the news of a massive earthquake in Haiti. The severe quake hit Haiti shortly before 5:00PM, hitting 7.3 on the richter scale and causing a hospital in the Port-au-Prince district to collapse. Santo Domingo, in the neighboring Dominican Republic, has also been affected. Tsunami watches remain in effect. According to the (UK)Telegraph, thousands may be dead.

President Barack Obama made a brief statement following the earthquake:
“My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake. We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti.”

According to Time Magazine, the Department of State, USAID and the United States Southern Command is preparing to administer humanitarian aid.

Katie Couric spoke with Raymond Alcide Joseph, Haiti Ambassador to the U.S., who provided a dire update, calling the quake a “catastrophe of major proportions”. “Please tell the world Haiti needs them right now,” he said. You can view the video below.

Americans with ties to friends or family in Haiti have been frantic, seeking news and calling loved ones. Other well-known personalities have been sounding the alarm here in the U.S. This tweet came from Wyclef Jean: "Haiti just got hit with a Major EarthQuake please call your family out there Now."

On Facebook, Twitter, and other forums, there has been an outpouring of support, prayers and information. Some looking to help have turned to charities that have announced intentions to provide relief.

Certainly, at this point, information is the most critical need. But in the days, weeks, and months to come, it will be the job of the community to ensure that the parties with an obligation to act and to stay the course on awareness, relief and rebuilding in Haiti stay the course. And lest we forget who those parties are at the moment, that would be our government, the U.S. corporations who continue to profit from unfair labor practices in Haiti, and humanitarian aid and charity organizations. That would also be you and me.

Peace to Haiti.

Image of an injured person being carried from the wreckage after the Earthquake in Haiti.
*Credit: Associated Press/Radio Tele Ginem)