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Haiti’s Fanmi Lavalas and the Black Panther Party
September 26, 2016
In 1969 I decided to join the Black Panther Party and commit myself to a lifetime of revolutionary struggle. In the early 1990s I became a supporter and advocate of Fanmi Lavalas. Lavalas means a cleansing flood that would wash away political corruption and Fanmi means family. I saw the similarities in practice of our Panther and Lavalas activists, whose dedication to the liberation of our peoples and provision of essential goods and services were paramount and well worth any risk to our lives.
Haiti: Why is it important to remember Sept. 30, 1991?
September 4, 2016
Sept. 30 marks the 25th anniversary of the coup that overthrew Haiti’s first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was the candidate of Haiti’s popular movement Lavalas in the 1990 presidential election; he won with 67 percent of the vote. Aristide’s Feb. 7, 1991, inauguration marked a huge victory for Haiti’s poor majority after decades living under the Duvalier family dictatorship and military rule.
The Haitian Revolution and the origin of the Dominican Republic
August 16, 2016
BlockReportRadio.com interviews author and professor Dr. Gerald Horne about his new book, “Confronting Black Jacobins”. We discussed the Haitian Revolution, the origins of the Dominican Republic, and the doubling in size of the United States. We talk about Haiti’s role in abolishing slavery in the western world. We talked about the role that Washington, London, Paris, and Madrid played in warring with the abolitionist nation. We talked about how Haiti and the U.S. both had plans to relocate U.S. Negroes to the Dominican Republic, at different times for different reason.
Talkin’ with author Devyn Benson about ‘Antiracism in Cuba: The Unfinished Revolution’
August 2, 2016
“Antiracism in Cuba: The Unfinished Revolution” by author and professor Devyn Benson is an impressive study on the history of racism and Black organizing in Cuba prior to the 1959 revolution and right after it. I talked with author Devyn Benson about racial nuances as we discussed Black Cuban history. Check her out in her own words in this exclusive interview.
Haitians at DNC: Where is Haiti’s $6 billion?
July 30, 2016
Haitians at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia are trying to bring attention to Haiti, where Bill and Hillary Clinton are accused of defrauding the country of billions in earthquake relief money and destabilizing the nation’s economy and state institutions. Mainstream media has moreover tried to ignore this most significant part of the Clintons’ background. It is where Bill and Hillary Clinton spent their honeymoon. But since then, the poor island nation has become a source of undue enrichment for friends and family of the Clintons and for the Clintons themselves.
Human rights watchdog IACHR opens case against violations caused by Chalillo Dam in Belize
June 25, 2016
In an important decision, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has opened a case against the Government of Belize regarding the controversial Chalillo Dam built on Belize’s Macal River in 2005. The decision is in response to a petition from The Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy filed in 2004 on behalf of the Maya people and those living downstream of the dams who say their rights have been violated.
Support free and fair elections in Haiti; stop the attacks on Fanmi Lavalas
June 17, 2016
On June 7, the office of Dr. Maryse Narcisse, the presidential candidate of Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who publicly endorsed her, was sprayed with gunfire. This blatant violence against the movement that has long represented Haiti’s poor majority sparked outrage in Haiti but was met by silence in the mainstream media in the U.S.
Nou pap obeyi! Defying the international voter fix and forging unity and solidarity with Haiti
June 10, 2016
In the wake of the failure and collapse of the U.S. imposed dictatorship of Michel Martelly in Haiti, and as conservatives from the U.S. to the U.K. are being investigated for fraudulent electoral practices, the grassroots people of Haiti continue to escalate their fight for liberation, solidarity and dignity. Rocking the streets with “Nou pap obeyi!” (“We will not obey!”) illegitimate officials imposed by foreign colonizers, Haitians have fought on all levels to return governance of Haiti to its people.
Haiti’s Election Verification Commission a step in the right direction
May 17, 2016
Democracy has been sorely missing in Haiti ever since the 2004 coup d’état backed by the U.S., France and Canada, which ushered in a two-year reign of terror, followed by the unjust exclusion of Haiti’s largest and most popular political party, Fanmi Lavalas, from participating in any elections until August and October 2015.
Honduran movements in mobilization one month after brutal assassination of Berta Caceres
April 13, 2016
In Honduras, one month since the assassination of Berta Caceres on the 3rd of March, tens of thousands of African and Indigenous Hondurans and those in solidarity have taken to the streets throughout the country with deep sadness and in resistance to the neo-colonial forces at fault for her murder. Impunity is rampant since the 2009 coup d’état, supported by then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
10 easy steps to understanding the protests in Brazil from the bottom up
March 30, 2016
To really appreciate the untold factors boiling just beneath the surface of the current wave of protests, one must understand that Brazil is a rich nation filled with poor Black and Brown people. Rarely are they seen at the protests demanding the impeachment of President Rousseff and besmirching the image of ex-President Lula. How does the country’s mainstay allure, racial democracy, deflect and misinform us about the current wave of protests against the only aspect of Brazilian life that is truly democratic – political corruption?
Hillary Clinton’s dark drug war legacy in Mexico
March 26, 2016
Mexico, John M. Ackerman wrote recently for Foreign Policy, “is not a functional democracy.” Instead, it’s a “repressive and corrupt” oligarchy propped up by a “blank check” from Washington. Since 2008, that blank check has come to over $2.5 billion appropriated in security aid through the Mérida Initiative. Clinton’s State Department overlooked human rights abuses and corruption while keeping a lucrative flow of contracts moving to U.S. security firms working in Mexico.
Half the story has never been told: Commission of Inquiry into the death of Walter Rodney was a farce
March 25, 2016
This article was prompted by the unrelenting campaign by friends and associates of the late Dr. Walter Rodney, to maintain the false accusation that Forbes Burnham ordered Walter Rodney’s assassination. Many of these academics and commentators are not Guyanese and do not fully understand the circumstances in 1980 that led to Walter Rodney’s demise. The adage, chanted by Bob Marley, that “half the story has never been told” is 100 percent correct.
The Cuban Embassy’s First Secretary Miguel Fraga in a candid Block Report Radio Q&A
March 22, 2016
At Merritt College, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party, on the 74th birthday of its co-founder, Huey P. Newton, the African American Studies Program fittingly hosted a talk by the recently opened Cuban Embassy’s First Secretary Miguel Fraga, where he spoke on Cuban-U.S. relations. Afterwards, he and I continued to talk about the embargo, U.S. relations with Haiti, Venezuela and Bolivia, funding of Radio Marti, and the dissipation of the radical Latin American bloc of nations opposed to U.S. aggression and hegemony in the region and in the world.
¡Berta lives! The life and legacy of Berta Cáceres
March 16, 2016
I began writing a eulogy for Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores years ago, though she died only last week. Berta was assassinated by Honduran government-backed death squads on March 3. Like many who knew and worked with her, I was aware that this fighter was not destined to die of old age. She spoke too much truth to too much power. Long may Berta live, in the hearts, minds, passions and actions of all of us.
Haiti rises: a time for solidarity
March 1, 2016
The voice of Haiti’s popular movement at this critical period in the country’s history has never been clearer. For the past several months, since the discredited legislative and presidential elections of last August and October, mass, vibrant protests for the right to a free and fair vote and against foreign intervention have been a relentless force, in the face of heavily-armed and well-financed adversaries and mounting repression.
The longest trade embargo in the history of the world
January 23, 2016
The title of this article is a quote on a large billboard in a municipality of Habana. The citizens of the U.S. must end the embargo against Cuba, the longest trade embargo in the history of the world, in spite of an indifferent and uncaring U.S. Congress. We will also take back our constitutional right to travel to Cuba at prices more reasonable than the prices I paid a charter air line service.
Congresswoman Waters urges Secretary Kerry not to support flawed elections in Haiti
January 22, 2016
Congresswoman Maxine Waters sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry on Jan. 21 expressing deep concern that the electoral process in Haiti has sharply deteriorated and been rejected by most sectors of Haitian society. Presidential run-off elections in Haiti are currently scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 24. She warns that forcing demonstrably flawed elections on unwilling voters risks disaster for Haiti and discredit for the United States.
Haiti still marching to overturn stolen election – new surge in mass resistance to US-UN interference
January 16, 2016
Black Lives Matter – from Haiti to the Bay: Join the Haiti Action Committee pre-MLK March protest in solidarity with the fighting people of Haiti on Monday, Jan. 18, 10 a.m., at the Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay St. (12th Street BART), featuring drummers and a report from Haiti by Pierre Labossiere; then join the Martin Luther King March at 11 a.m. in Oscar Grant Plaza.
From Georgetown to Ferguson – Black Lives Matter
December 26, 2015
The Organization for the Victory of the People (OVP) vehemently condemns the police executions of Tucville youths Edgar Blackman, 22, and Sherwin James aka Tupac, also 22. While we welcome President David Granger’s response to the killings with his call for “more criminal arrests rather than killings,” the situation on the streets requires urgent, immediate and decisive action.
