"STAND WITH HAITI":24 cities and communities in solidarity with Haiti during Haiti Emergency Earthquake International Solidarity Week: A list of marches, demonstrations and events
A partial list of marches, demonstrations and
events:
1. New York City - Friday 1/29, "Stand with
Haiti" Mass March across the Brooklyn Bridge. Sponsored by New
York's Haitian community. Gather at 4 pm at Cadman Plaza Federal Building
in Brooklyn, and at 5:30 pm march across the bridge to the Federal Bldg at
Foley Square in Manhattan.
Earlier in the week, on Wed. 1/27, 5-6:30 pm, there will be a
demonstration for Haiti and Honduras at Union Square, sponsored by the
International Action Center.
2. Montreal - Mon. 1/25 at noon - Protest outside the
Ministerial Preparatory Conference on Haiti. The conference, called to plan
reconstruction financing for Haiti, will be attended by the foreign ministers
of the 3 countries that engineered the 2004 coup [US, France & Canada],
including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Bernard Kouchner. Protest
organized by Haiti Action Montreal, part of the Canada Haiti Action Network
(CHAN). Location: 999 University Street. Metro: Square Victoria. Theme of the
demonstration: Haiti needs emergency relief, not military
intervention! Protesters are also demanding a temporary loosening of
immigration controls to allow Haitians to enter Canada. ** [See below] Interest
in Haiti is high. The previous Friday nearly 400 people packed a theater at
Concordia University to see the film Aristide and the Endless
Revolution.
3. San Francisco - Mon 1/25, "Stand with Haiti"
demonstration 5 pm, Powell & Market (Powell Street BART), followed by a
march through downtown San Francisco. Sponsored by Haiti Action Committee, with
sound provided by the Answer Coalition. Demands include: Get water,
food and medicine to the people now! Denounce the U.S. for militarizing and
stalling the relief effort! Return President Aristide from forced exile in
South Africa, as the vast majority of Haitians demand!
4. Baltimore - Monday, 1/25, 6:30 pm, "Stand with
Haiti" demonstration in the well-traveled area near City Hall at 100 North
Holliday Street. Sponsored by International Action Center and the Bail Out the
People Movement. Demands include: Demilitarize the Haiti relief
effort!
5. Toronto - Thurs Jan 28 - 7pm. Eyewitness report from
Haiti by BC Holmes of the Toronto Haiti Action Committee, part of the Canada
Haiti Action Network. Event is being held at OISE, 252 Bloor Street West.
Report on an 11-day visit by a Canadian human rights delegation. Co-sponsored
by Pan African Solidarity Network.
6. Oakland, California - Two weekend concerts for Haiti
relief capped a week of activities in Oakland to support the Haitian
people.
+++ The Vukani Mawethu Choir and the musical group
Troublemakers Union packed the house at the Bay Area Christian Connection in
Oakland on Sat. 1/23, raising $4,000 for the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund and
$1,000 for Partners in Health. [Concert sponsored by Haiti Action Committee and
Vukani Mawethu.]
+++ The San Francisco Boys Chorus, with
mezzo sopranos Frederica von Stade and Zheng Cao, filled Oakland's
Cathedral of Christ the Light on Sun.1/24, in a concert to benefit Catholic
Charities' Haiti project. The event was sponsored by the Catholic Diocese
of Oakland, and the Bishop of Oakland spoke.
+++ Some 200 people came out in the rain on Martin Luther
King Day, to attend a candlelight vigil for Haiti outside the Oakland
Federal Building. Speakers included Congresswoman Barbara Lee, chair
of the Congressional Black Caucus; civil rights attorney Walter Riley, chair of
the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, just returned from Haiti where he witnessed
the earthquake; Rev. Phil Lawson, with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration
(BAJI); Sister Maureen Duignan, director of East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and
longtime friend of Haiti; Rev. J. Alfred Smith Jr., pastor of Allen Temple
Baptist Church in Oakland; Supervisor Keith Carson; and Pierre Labossiere,
co-founder, Haiti Action Committee.
+++ The Golden State Warriors basketball
team joined up with the Oakland Black Firefighters
Association to collect donations at the next two home games for Haiti
Earthquake relief. One of the recipients will be East Bay Sanctuary Covenant,
sponsor of the Haiti Rural Education Project. At the Warriors' home games
on January 20 [vs. Denver] or January 22 [vs. New Jersey], Oakland Firefighters
carrying firefighter boots will encourage fans to “Fill The Boot”
with donations for Haiti.
7. Miami - Mon. 1/25, 7 pm, meeting of a newly formed
committee called Haiti Solidarity, at Veye Yo, 54th Street and North Miami
Avenue, in the Little Haiti neighborhood. Members will discuss a proposal to
mount a demonstration in Miami to raise these demands: 1) Demilitarization of
US aid to Haiti and Prioritizing aid to the popular neighborhoods devastated by
the earthquake; 2) Cancellation of Haiti's debt [there is now a temporary
moratorium on repayment of the debt, but it has not been cancelled]; 3) Opening
of US borders to Haitians; 4) Restoration of Haiti's sovereignty.
Also in Miami, on Sat. 1/23, a fundraiser at the Tap Tap Haitian
Restaurant in Miami's South Beach neighborhood raised $1,800 for the late
Father Gerard Jean-Juste's What If? Foundation, which provides free meals
to children at St. Clare's Church in Port-au-Prince. [The St. Clare's
food program has just gotten back in operation after the earthquake, thanks to
the efforts in Haiti of Lavarice Gaudin, from the Veye Yo organization in
Miami, who has been shuttling truckloads of food and supplies from the
Dominican Republic.]
8. London, England - On Wed. 1/20 Global Women's
Strike called an emergency Haiti earthquake vigil, on the steps of St. Martin
in the Fields Church, Trafalgar Square. About 150 people, many of them Haitian,
attended. The vigil was called "to press for urgent relief and
rescue for Haitian people, not military occupation. As the US
military blocks supplies getting through, health providers estimate that 20,000
people perish daily whom they could save." Placards called for
the return of Haiti’s elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, removed
by a US Coup in 2004. Global Women's Strike leader is Selma James, widow of
C.L.R. James, author of Black Jacobins, the definitive historical
account of the 1804 Haitian Revolution that defeated Napoleon's army [then
the world's most powerful] and ended slavery in Haiti. Selma James says
that now, after the earthquake, "only Aristide has the mandate to
lead Haiti's recovery." At the Trafalgar Square vigil, Global
Women's Strike encouraged donations "to the long established Haiti
Emergency Relief Fund, dedicated to helping grassroots people. Funds go
directly to those in immediate need, beginning with women and children, without
taking any 'administrative cut'."
9. Johannesburg, South Africa (Auckland Park) - On
Mon.1/25 the radio station Channel Africa, affiliated with the South African
Broadcasting Corporation, will tape a program in the English language devoted
to the Haiti Emergency Earthquake International Solidarity Week, hosted by
radio personality Faz da Hall, for airing later in the week. The program will
discuss the many bottlenecks imposed by the US military, that have prevented
aid from getting where it is needed.
10. Detroit - Sat. 1/23, Emergency public meeting and
dinner for Haiti, at 5920 Second Avenue, north of Wayne State University
in Detroit, on the theme, "US Imperialism: No Friend of Haiti;
Humanitarian Mission or Military Occupation?" Speakers raised the demand
for the permanent lifting of the deportation orders on Haitians,
withdrawal of U.S. military troops from the country, and the return of the
ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was overthrown by the
U.S. and exiled in 2004. Sponsored by Workers World Party and the Harriet
Tubman School.
11. Bronx, New York - Sunday 1/24, 2:30 pm into the
evening, Benefit Concert in Solidarity with the People of Haiti at St. Margaret
Church, 940 East 156th Street in the Bronx. Sponsored by many organizations,
principally from the Garifuna community (immigrants of African
descent from Honduras and other Central American countries). Featured
performers include Tormenta Agrupacion, Amistad Garifuna, T.N.C Libana Maraza,
Paula Castillo, El Maestro and Alagany Band.
12. Richmond, California - The Richmond City Council
voted unanimously last week to demand immediate and widespread distribution of
water and supplies to the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. They
faxed letters to this effect to President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, Senators Boxer and Feinstein, and Rep. George Miller.
13. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - Mon 1-25, Haiti
earthquake relief fundraiser, at Lo Pub, Ellice & Kennedy. Artists and DJ.
Sponsored by Mass Appel.
13. Dublin, Ireland - Latin American solidarity activists
are meeting this week to form a countrywide action committee on Haiti. This
will be followed by a speaking tour in three cities of Ireland - Galway, Cork
and Dublin - featuring Elsie Haas from the Haitian community in Paris, and
raising funds for the Haitian doctors' association in France. Organizers
called for "ending the occupation of Haiti by foreign powers"
as a prerequisite for Haiti's sustained recovery.
14. Portland, Oregon -Sat., 1/23, Haiti-El Salvador
Dinner Benefit attended by 400 at Sunnyside Elementary School.
Sponsored by Salvadorenos Unidos de Oregon, Portland Central American
Solidarity Committee, and Portland Jobs with Justice.
The community event raised $2,500 for Haiti and El Salvador.
15. Philadelphia - Wed. 1/27, 4:30-6:00, Demonstration
for Haiti and Honduras on the steps of City Hall, 15th & Market. Sponsored
by the International Action Center. Held on the occasion of the inauguration of
the new "President" of Honduras, elected in fraudulent elections. In
both countries, US-backed governments have excluded from elections candidates
of the popular movements.
16. Galway, Ireland - Haiti activists will visit Galway
next week, on a speaking tour about Haiti, as solidarity efforts ramp up to
include other cities of the Emerald Isle in addition to the capital. Elsie
Haas, former director of the Haiti Tribune in Paris, will be speaking.
17. West Oakland - Haiti Relief Fundraiser Sunday evening
1/24 at the Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St. in the heart of the historic African
American community in West Oakland. Speaking are civil rights Attorney Walter
Riley, chair of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, who was in Haiti when the
earthquake struck, and Pierre Labossiere, co-founder, Haiti Action Committee.
Benefits the Haiti Media/Medical Team, which is being pulled together by JR, a
broadcast journalist and associate editor of the San Francisco Bay
View-National Black Newspaper, and his friend, a young doctor. They plan on
traveling to Haiti "to work in solidarity with the people, ministering to
their medical needs and reporting the truth to the outside world: the stories
of the Haitian people, from their point of view."
18. Buffalo, N.Y. - Wed. 1/27, late afternoon
demonstration for Haiti and Honduras, against the US military presence and
influence in both countries. Sponsored by the International Action
Center.
19. Vancouver, British Columbia - Fri 1-22, afternoon
panel discussion on situation in Haiti at University of British Columbia,
Freddy Wood Theatre. Sponsored by a university-wide coalition.
20. Boston - Sat., 1/23, Forum on Haiti featuring Claude
St. Germain, Fanmi Lavalas representative and exec board member, United Steel
Workers Local 8751 (Boston School Bus Drivers), and Larry Hales, a leader of
the youth group F.I.S.T. (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together). Speakers at the
Workers World forum, held at the International Action Center, 284 Amory Street,
denounced the fact that aid is not getting through to the people who need it,
and opposed the militarization of Haiti relief by US authorities. The School
Bus Drivers, a majority of whom are Haitian, have taken the lead in building
support in Boston for Haiti during this time, starting with an emergency mass
meeting at their union hall on the day after the earthquake.
21. San Jose, California - Monday, 1/25, 5 pm, Speakout
and leafleting about the situation in Haiti, at south end of Cesar Chavez
Plaza, corner Market and San Carlos, downtown San Jose, to reach many people
pasing by on foot and in cars.
22. Cork, Ireland - A three-city speaking tour next week,
including Cork and Galway, hopes to expand Haiti solidarity work beyond the
Irish capital of Dublin. Elsie Haas, from the Haitian community in Paris, will
cross the English Channel to make the connections.
23. Los Angeles - On Thurs, 1/21 Global Women's
Strike and the International Action Center sponsored a picket at the downtown
Federal Building, demanding that U.S. authorities in Haiti "Stop
Blocking Aid to those in Need". They also called for
"No militarization of aid to Haiti" and the return of
President Aristide to Haiti. SEIU Local 721 Latino caucus, the Answer
Coalition and the Filipino American organization Bayan USA participated in the
demonstration. These same organizations are planning a fundraiser for Haiti in
Los Angeles later in the month.
24. Joseph, Oregon - Vigil for Haiti, late afternoon on
Wed., 1/27, in the small town of Joseph.
** Note: A background document, circulated by Haiti Action
Montreal, in preparation for Monday's demonstration, cast a scornful eye on
the motives of the US, France and Canada in planning earthquake relief and
reconstruction in Haiti:
"Can these so-called Friends of Haiti be trusted now to respect the
best interests of the Haitian people? In the aftermath of the earthquake,
they've militarized the relief efforts, jeopardizing the lives of thousands
more Haitians who are desperately awaiting food and medicine, not soldiers.
They've refused to temporarily loosen immigration controls that might
alleviate the suffering in Haiti.
"The development they've controlled in the past have benefited only
the country's small, wealthy elite and foreign investors, while further
impoverishing the majority of Haitians. And they have not hesitated to brush
aside Haiti's democracy when it served their interests. Bay kou bliye, pote mak songe (Those who deal the blows forget,
those who carry the scars remember).
"There is a danger that these major powers will try to exploit the
earthquake to further narrow pro-corporate ends, if reconstruction of New
Orleans after Katrina and in Asia following the tsunami are any indication.
"But there is also an opportunity to help our brothers and sisters in
Haiti reconstruct the country according to their needs, to build back better,
to respect Haitian sovereignty, and to welcome homeless Haitians into Canada.
The true friends of Haiti must be in the streets on Monday, to demand that
reconstruction not be carried out at the expense of justice and
democracy."
