IIGive me your rich, your famous,
your anti-Black, yearning for
white supremacy ..... We'lIleave
the light on for you. II
( ) I Jill i ( J II S / \;' i C l' '.\
_____ ..
By Munlia A1?u-Jant�
"Constitutions are made of
paper; Bayonets are made of
iron"
- Haitian saying
Haitian President Jean Ber­
trand Aristide, the first demo­
cratically elected head of state
this century, is still in a militar­
ily-imposed exile, one that has
lasted over 2 1/2 years; one that
may endure longer than his very
presidency itself.
Pere Aristide,. a Roman
Catholic priest once given to the
Salesian Order, won an over­
whelming popular vote in De­
cember 1990, roughly 68% of the
electorate, in the presidential
election, one borne on the flow of
Lavalas (Creole for "flood" or
"avalanche") 'springing from
mass discontent with the Hai­
tian political-military-economic
order.
Aristide, a follower of Libera­
tion Theology (the doctrine that
true Christianity must side with
the poor vs. the wealthy and that
oppression must be met by lib­
eration), sparked a powerful
mass movement that his follow­
ers called La revolution sans ar­
mes (The Unarmed Revolution),
and one that nt shock waves of
alarm through the small, but
powerful, Haitian elite.
For although the Duvaliers
(Francois and Jean Claude)
were no longer in power in Haiti,
the system that reigned for four
decad ,Duvalierism, was still
entrench d. Th leaders of the
economic elite, the business
class, th church, and the mili­
tary opposed Aristide and all he
represented bitterly and re­
solved to tifle th priest­
turned-politician from h
exercis of pow r.
ARI T D , although bril­
liant and a gift orator, was a
political neophyte, unschool d
in th vils m n .were capabl of
in the pursuit of power, nd
while hi support among th ris­
ing tid of Haiti n asantry
gr w, 0 too did his 0PI?O i ion
ari - nd th op 1 Ion had
th guns.
Th lit cl saw th grow-
ing Laoalos mov ment
ourc ofdr d, nd heir I
lato r fl c th
From Death
Row
by stymieing Aristide's every ef­
fort to consolidate presidential
power and security.
The army's traditional role,
protection of the largely mulatto
elite from the African flood,
kicked back in after a briefbout
of confusion caused by Jean
Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier's
ouster, and those Aristide
looked to for support, ran him
out of the presidential palace,
and into Venezuelan exile.
Today, Pere Aristide is a
President without a country, nor
has he a cabinet, and these he
counts as friends, the feckless
Clinton administration, issue
impotent press releases pro­
claiming " upport," while the
CIA lobs "head grenades" at the
. media, questioning Aristide's
"mental tate."
THE U .. D T CE it­
self from the suggestion of mili­
tary action in Aristide's behalf,
while hailing a Haitian embargo
on goods, food and medicin ,
that kill over 1,000 infants a
week.
Ari tide, as a liberation
theologist, has spoken out in th
past gainst the dual imperial­
i ms, both political and lig­
ious, vi ited against hi
homeland, " ... the colonial ys­
tern, having di appeared from
all the continents, endures in
H iti. Th logy serv to 'zorn­
bify' th peopl 's spirits i ord r
to subjugate th m mo readily
to traditional overeignties"
(New YorkR view of Books, Nov.
1 ,1993.
And it is precis ly this anti-
imp ri 11 pirit that cau
U. . pau ,that par CIA p y­
chob bbl, nd that qui tly
wi h th little lack, cour -
t would just go aw y
Lester's World
com
Identiti can often h nd
empo er u . In my own family,
"nam • ha conveyed incred­
ible psychological and cultural
po er. Our nam make certain
statem nts about tradition and
heritage, our aesthetics nd
of coll ivity, our vision
and ultimate purpose in life.
At the age of nine, my great­
grandfather Morris Robinson
was sold on an auction bloc in
W t Point, Georgia, in 1854 -
sold by his own white, slavemas­
ter father. Th white owner who
purchased him was named Ma­
rable. So Morris Robinson be-
Y T D UG •
was nam for Sojourner
Truth, the great abolitionist and
freedom fighter for our people ..
The name itself has influenced
"Soji" to become a poet, a young
public speaker, and to partici­
P te in public demonstrations-
-.':'
.... ,.
..
, .: ; .: "�-t : .; •
... .;.....,.'.-.....-::.� �
A GUN AN TURN. LITTLE
PUNK INTO A BIG /\1. tN ...
man ri n .
But that hould only b th
beginning, not th end, of our
interaction nd exploration of
ch ot r' valu , traditions
and cultures. No ingle group
has monopoly on "truth", "wis­
dom" or "beauty." No culture
should ever measured in hier­
archical terms, as being "high"
.... Au ........... ca .... L ,
attacked feminism
a "thr t" to Black manhood,
and ev n justified bo r Mike
Tyson's rape of Black woman.
A central theme of such rhetoric
- the exism, anti-Semiti m,
homophobia, an� reactionary
nationalism - is hatred.
But what bothers African­
Americans and other people of
color i that the demands for us
to condemn Farra han are
rarely replicated among hi
when they must confront their
own hate-filled demagogu .
WHEN E ATOR Fritz
Hollings of South Carolina de­
cribed African diplomats as
"cannibals", the Senate aid
nothing.
Why the double-standard on
hatred?
Farrakhan' popularity i
rooted in the deep dissatisfac­
tion and alienation felt within
the African-American commu­
nity toward white power. De­
spite all of our efforts, we am
losing ground in the struggle for
equality. Our "race" becomes the
ential vehicle through which
we k to assert our humanity
and struggle for self- pect.
Yet if we define our politics
implistically, as a narrow defi- ...
nition of ourselves - whether as
African-Americans or Latinos
only, or working people or
women only, or Christians or
Jews only - we surrender any
hope for creating an agenda to
liberate all people who are op­
pres
Dr. Manning Marable is Direaor of
the IMtitute for Research: in AfrU;aA­
American Studies at Columbia Uniuer­
ity. New York City. "Along the Color
Line" appear' in ouer 250 publication.
and is broadcast by 75 radio tation. ..
(III/RIll),)
Readers Write
In his new book, A Way Out
Of No Way, r memb ring th
civil rights movement and his
participation in it, Andrew
Young recalls th Birmingham
of old. He rememb rs w h n th
Southern Christian d rship
Conference (SCLC) mad the de­
cision to concentra i fforts
in that ci y, all th taft' w
f; rful.
He n r calls how r. King
joked about who w ing to
giveupth ir life in Birmingham,
even delivering atiri I ulo­
gies for ch of th staff.
But th Birmingham of today
i a diffe nt city. It is city with
an African American mayor nd
a majority - Black ci y uncil.
Instead of Bull onn r h d­
ing th poli force, n African
American, Johnni Jo on is
today, th poli chi f of an inte­
grated force. CI rly, chan has
taken pla in Birmingham.
By Bernice
ARn .'1' ,
mayor m t irnm -
owell Jackson