I am overflowing right now, like a river too full to know which way to go. Since I happen to be, like you, a pond walking around in semi-permeable sack, I have the potential to make my flood purposeful. Haiti, Ayiti, has been forced from our collective buried trunk of things we treasure yet wish to forget. Yeah, I just said that. Without Haiti, there would be no African Diaspora Dance studio. Katherine Dunham may have well continued to be a ballerina, trying in vain to become a prima in stories that did not reference her. Instead, Ayiti opened its doors to her and took her in, even as she worked a bit to betray it with her US State Department connections. Dance and the Cold War. It feels like another tale, but it is not. This is a tale that we are in the end. And since we citizens of the United States of America are in this tale and have wagged the various dogs that have ravaged the resources of Haiti, we are certain that we must respond to the people who are Ayiti, returning the miraculous energy that they have shared with the world through their magnificent art and dance, and exquisite business skills that were marshaled by France in the 1960s as various Departement d'Outre Mer began to shift into independent nations. Independent. The citizens of Haiti have been independent since 1804, and ruthlessly charged with theft ever since then. Below are lists of ways for you to return some of this ill-gotten cash of ours to a few of its rightful owners. I would love for this to not be a rant steeped in socio-political analysis, but I am flooding with memories of all the times in my lifetime alone (I just turned 40) that Haiti has been abused by the US and international agencies, making it very difficult to even have a government. The earthquake, Aganyu, has awakened us/US from the sleepwalking we do through this hemisphere. We cannot reasonably expect ANY PLACE to have quick, rapid, efficient response to major natural disasters if we are unwilling to prevent perverse, inhumane man-made ones. Those buildings needed repairs. There should not have been one hospital in a city of the size of Port-au-Prince. I know: shoulda coulda woulda. But now that our ponds are sloshing about in our insides, we must seek equilibrium or be undone. Equal. Liberty.
Afrolicious. Afrologia. Afrodelic. Afropoesia. Afrologica. How big is your 'fro? Fractal, improvisational, polemical, but always moving with spirit and in service to lifting us all up! That's the Logic of the Afro--sign up, read up, be up, act up--you can move mountains, now make it beautiful.
Agape International Spiritual Center has chartered a plane that is leaving tonight to Haiti to take supplies to Hope Hospital. They have a particular need for children-focused supplies, especially baby formula and aspirin. Your packages must be received by 5 PM @ 5700 Buckingham Parkway in Culver City. http://www.USFCH.org for info on hospital. If you are in the area, this is a good one to rally for.
YeleHaiti: Wyclef is under fire, but you know what? His is a great example of micro-financing in a non-traditional format. To be sure, they have to watch their overhead, but his organization is on the ground and many of the more traditional ones are not even there yet. http://www.yele.org/ There is a fund JUST for relief for the earthquake. He is headed back and forth, helping in the rescue efforts with his own hands. It is an easy donation: text YELE to 501501 to give $5.
Medecin Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders: They, too are already on the ground and are waiting for their portable hospital to show up. They also have a specific fund just for the earthquake in Haiti, but if you read carefully, they will also use some of that money for other disasters that are not making the news. I gave to them anyway because they are good at what they do and great with their funds. http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=4157&cat=field-news&ref=home-center-relatedlink
Red Cross: It is unclear to me how much space is between them and failed US governmental policies; aid is often used as a diplomatic tool. They have set up specific cell phone initiative as well: text HAITI to 90999 to send $10 to efforts on the island. https://american.redcross.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ntld_nolnav_text2help
Causes on FaceBook: Causes has set up a special action page that has a few other groups listed. They are selling virtual gifts that you give to friends on FB that become actual items needed on the ground.
Every bit helps, some bits more than others. if you can, consider giving a largish amount to a medical organization and then several small donations via cell phone. Keep track, less you end up giving your bank a couple of gifts in overdraft fees.
If you, too are full to overflowing and want to come be in moving community to release and give thanks for Ayiti, join me in an MLK Holiday dance jam/class, Monday January 18th, 7 PM at Studio Moon, 1327 1/2 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA. The door is in the back, next to Intelligentsia Café, in the parking lot which is parallel to Electric Ave. $5 donation. Contract. Release.
I am looking forward to hugging you tomorrow. If you know of other relief efforts, please bring details with you to our gathering. I will have a laptop set up for live donations. And don't forget, the plane is leaving tonight for Haiti, sent by Agape spiritual Community. You have until 5 pm to get your donation up to the Center.
in love,
Anna B
ps: here is an interesting game to teach children about children's lives in Ayiti that i came across in preparing this for you. could we dare to make one that show what life could be like as conditions improve?
AND SOME ACTION
I just got wind of this so this is a blog post with an addendum. the universe shows it knows.-a
Hi,
Like millions of people around the world I've been shocked by the terrible events in Haiti.
Only now is the true scale of the disaster emerging. Reports now suggest as many as 50,000 people may have died, with hundreds of thousands made homeless.
The work ahead to recover from this tragedy is immense. So here's our goal: $890 million for Haiti. That’s how much Haiti owes to the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, and a handful of others.
Sign the petition below to ask Haiti's creditors to act quickly and cancel Haiti's debts:
http://one.org/us/actnow/drophaitiandebt/index.html?rc=upgradeaidmailto
As Haiti begins to rebuild we can help by lifting this debt.
Together as ONE we can make a difference!
Thanks!
