bright lines » Politickin'

Haiti, the earthquake, and my family, by Edwidge Danticat

nandininessa — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:16:44 +0000

Beautiful words about her family, life and death, by writer Edwidge Danticat in the New Yorker.

via Haiti, the earthquake, and my family: newyorker.com.

Tonight–Live Art, Music & Haiti Benefit at Sucre in BK

nandininessa — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:08:07 +0000

From Toni Morrison’s “The Site of Memory”

nandininessa — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:11:17 +0000

“You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. ‘Floods’ is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding, it is remembering. Remembering where it used to be. All water has perfect memory and is forever trying to get back where it was. Writers are like that: remembering where we were, what valley we ran through, what the banks were like, the light that was there and the route back to our original place. It is emotional memory–where the nerves and the skin remember how it appeared. And a rush of imagination is our ‘flooding’…’

Beautifully spun words, by Ms. Toni Morrison. In honor of the struggle that’s going on in Haiti now. Remembering that we all connect to primordial memories of being uprooted, the landscape we breathe in & witness, the homes and ports in which we welcome strangers, and the eternal rebuilding.

10 Things the U.S. Can and Should do for Haiti

nandininessa — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:38:48 +0000

I’m reposting this brilliant list.

By Bill Quigley of the Louisiana Justice Institute

One. Allow all Haitians in the US to work. The number one source of money
for poor people in Haiti is the money sent from family and workers in the US
back home. Haitians will continue to help themselves if given a chance.
Haitians in the US will continue to help when the world community moves on
to other problems.

Two. Do not allow US military in Haiti to point their guns at Haitians.
Hungry Haitians are not the enemy. Decisions have already been made which
will militarize the humanitarian relief – but do not allow the victims to be
cast as criminals. Do not demonize the people.

Three. Give Haiti grants as help, not loans. Haiti does not need any more
debt. Make sure that the relief given helps Haiti rebuild its public sector
so the country can provide its own citizens with basic public services.

Four. Prioritize humanitarian aid to help women, children and the elderly.
They are always moved to the back of the line. If they are moved to the back
of the line, start at the back.

Five. President Obama can enact Temporary Protected Status for Haitians with
the stroke of a pen. Do it. The US has already done it for El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Sudan and Somalia. President Obama should do it on
Martin Luther King Day.

Six. Respect Human Rights from Day One. The UN has enacted Guiding
Principles for Internally Displaced People. Make them required reading for
every official and non-governmental person and organization.
Non-governmental organizations like charities and international aid groups
are extremely powerful in Haiti – they too must respect the human dignity
and human rights of all people.

Seven. Apologize to the Haitian people everywhere for Pat Roberts and Rush
Limbaugh.

Eight. Release all Haitians in US jails who are not accused of any crimes.
Thirty thousand people are facing deportations. No one will be deported to
Haiti for years to come. Release them on Martin Luther King day.

Nine. Require that all the non-governmental organizations which raise money
in the US be transparent about what they raise, where the money goes, and
insist that they be legally accountable to the people of Haiti.

Ten. Treat all Haitians as we ourselves would want to be treated.

Bill is Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a law
professor at Loyola University New Orleans. He is a Katrina survivor and has
been active in human rights in Haiti for years with the Institute for
Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

Great Firewall of China

nandininessa — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:26:10 +0000

Photo: a makeshift commemoration to Google, in front of its Beijing office. Don’t go Googz!

Claiming cyber attacks by the Chinese government, hacking into the accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google declared they would stop cooperating with Chinese Internet censorship and abuse.

Contributing to the Relief Effort in Haiti

nandininessa — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:40:12 +0000

Here’s a list of agencies you can donate to, compiled by the NY Times. I chose Partners in Health, endorsed by writer Edwidge Danticat.

January 13, 2010, 1:34 AM

Haiti Disaster Relief: How to Contribute

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

For readers interested in contributing to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti, here is a list of contact information and links for some agencies that plan to provide relief.

The New York Times does not certify the charities’ fund allocations or administrative costs. More information about giving, for this and other causes, is available online from the GuideStar database on nonprofit agencies.

AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
45 West 36th Street
New York, NY 10018
(212) 792-2900

AMERICAN RED CROSS
Text “HAITI” to “90999″ to make a $10 donation.
2025 E Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
(800) REDCROSS (733-2767)

AMERICARES
88 Hamilton Avenue
Stamford, CT 06902
(800) 486-4357

CONCERN WORLDWIDE US
104 East 40th Street, #903
New York, NY 10016
(800) 59-CONCERN

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
(800) 736-3467
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, MD 21203-7090

CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DISASTER INFORMATION
(703) 276-1914

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE
122 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10168-1289
(877) REFUGEE

MERCY CORPS
Dept. W
P.O. Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208-2669
(888) 256-1900

OXFAM AMERICA
226 Causeway St., 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02114-2206
(800) 77-OXFAM (776-9326)

THE SALVATION ARMY
615 Slaters Lane
P.O. Box 269
Alexandria, VA 22313

SAVE THE CHILDREN
Haiti Earthquake Children in Emergency Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
(800) 728-3843

SAMARITAN’S PURSE
P.O. Box 3000
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 262-1980

WORLD VISION
Haiti Earthquake Relief
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, WA 98063-9716
(888) 511-6548

CARE
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
(800) 521-CARE (521-2273)

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA/MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF)
333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10001-5004
(888) 392-0392

INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES
P.O. Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
(877) 803-4622

PARTNERS IN HEALTH
P.O. Box 845578
Boston, MA 02284-5578
(617) 432-5256

UNITED NATIONS CENTRAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
380 Madison Avenue, 6th floor
New York, NY 10017

U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF
125 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
(800) FOR-KIDS (367-5437)

Update: Haiti on Twitter

nandininessa — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:19:19 +0000

Here’s a list of Twitter accounts covering the earthquake in Haiti, compiled by the NY Times.

http://twitter.com/nytimes/haiti-earthquake

Below, more from troylivesay, a missionary based in Port-au-Prince. If you want to follow his tweets, as I’m doing, click here.

troylivesay

“Will be silent for a while now. More when we can”

6 minutes ago.

“Just experienced a stronger aftershock. It had calmed.”

8 minutes ago.

“The Haitian people are out praying together–aftershock happening right now.”

22 minutes ago.

“For those who don’t know–Haiti does not enforce building codes”

23 minutes ago.

Haiti

nandininessa — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:31:29 +0000

The first black republic in the Western Hemisphere. More recently, plagued by food riots, natural disaster, corruption. And now, an earthquake of 7.0, with aftershocks at 5.7 and 5.3. The damage that’s been done is horrific, and it doesn’t seem as though there are definitive numbers confirmed of folks who have been killed. Everything I’ve been reading thus far refers to the mayhem and destruction that’s unfolding in the aftermath of the initial earthquake. This is so terribly sad.

As of 11:24 PM, Courtesy of NY Times’ Lede Blog and Twitter.com (Click the red for the latest information)

Haitian Twitter uswer, Frederic Dupoux @fredodupoux — writes that, “no phones are working,”

He also writes in two updates posted within the past hour:

Just came back from Caribbean Super Market. It looks like ground zero. people are trapped it’s dark we need light and cell phone service.

It’s really ugly, just like in a bad dream. people need help, get out and help!

troylivesay ( A Christian Missionary working in Port-au-Prince)

“Tipap made it home from Carrefour – saw many dead bodies and injured along the way – said most buidings w/more than one story are down”
“In our area mostly exterior walls fallen – people afraid to re-enter their homes…”
“I’ll stop in on borrowed internet later again if possible”
“we can’t get through to the other orphanages/ministries here – no phones and lots of panic – all the Heartline people and children are ok”
“I can’t imagine the devastation this has caused to such an overly stressed city – I think it will be suffering for quite some time.”
“most people are staying outside in our area – aftershocks are still continuing…a neighbor was in a school that collapsed”
“Phones and internet are mostly out – we don’t have either at home – radio says the Palace fell down and buildings fell down all along Delmas”
“Just experienced a MAJOR earthquake here in Port au Prince – walls were falling down. – we are ALL fine – pray for those in the slums…”

Seun Adebiyi’s Story

nandininessa — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:58:22 +0000

The story of Seun Adebiyi’s search for a bone marrow transplant is awe-inspiring. At 26, he has a rare form of lymphoma and leukemia, and the transplant can give him a lease on life. He hails from Nigeria, recently graduated from Yale Law School, and hopes to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics (the sport: Skeleton.)

Here’s a video by Seun, in search of bone marrow match:

For more information on leukemia and registering to see if you can be a bone marrow donor, visit:

www.dkmsamericas.org

While they just had a drive on January 10, you can STILL be a donor.

Seun Adebiyi’s blog gives up to date information on his training/competition record, his reactions to chemotherapy, and interesting experiences.

Blessings, Seun!

Daily Rotation: Pistolera’s “Policia”

nandininessa — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:48:47 +0000

Pistolera’s accordion-driven cumbias reside on the border ‘tween Brooklyn & Mexico. Here’s their video for “Policia” from their record En Este Camino:

Check them out at the 92Y Tribeca, this Friday, 1.8.10 @ 8 PM. San Francisco agency Trouble Worldwide & NYC world label Barbès have brought together a motley of bands that crisscross borders, sounds, and sensibilities!

For the band’s website: http://www.pistolera.net/