Haitian Beatz

As the Haitian people welcome a newly elected president, a need for dialogue suddenly arises. Many of

us envision to join forces, coordinate our efforts, understand the issues, take responsibility for our

actions, face the multidimensional crisis to which we have all contributed—with the prospect of regaining, somewhat, control of our Haiti, a country beset by violence, natural and man-made disasters, hunger, anger, diseases for much too long.

The following dialogue between Writer/Publisher/Economist Rose Nesmy Saint Louis and Dr. Paule Bros will hopefully inspire ideas, trigger thinking, unveil shared insights as a collective mind or a national consciousness is urgently needed to offer Haiti the in-depth assistance, which she thirsts.

1) PB- What are your thoughts on our newly elected President?

RNSL- With President Joseph M. Martelly, something new is taking place in Haiti, for the better or the worse. Let’s simply hope the former will prevail. Our poverty-ravaged Motherland cannot endure anymore suffering. As a nation, we’ve reached the bottom of the abyss: broken nation-state, deforestation, epidemics, malnutrition, food riots, kidnapping, lawlessness, corruption, institutional collapse, economic freefall, moral decline, and millions of urban and rural masses socially excluded. In the background of that macabre painting, I also see a vibrant culture and millions of dynamic but alienated and disoriented youth trying to pull the country up. Obviously, Haiti’s descent into hell had started long before Martelly was born.

2) PB- Could you please elaborate on such a strong statement?

RNSL- This is a national problem, the national cross that we, all Haitians, have been carrying. Contrary to what many believe, Martelly is one of the cross carriers, like all of us. He is not the cross builder. That said, it would be absurd to crucify him in an attempt to wash two hundreds years of our collective deadly sins. The Haitian people seem to understand that very well. Disillusioned, they bitterly rejected the past, with everything and everybody it stands for. They tossed the electoral coin: Head, the past, a bad certitude; tail, the future, the uncertainty, the unknown, the unpredictable. They took a slim chance with Joseph Michel Martelly by condemning the past, Mrs. Mirlande H. Manigat. It was a ‘’whatever-happens-happens” vote, a “hopeful desperateness,” a ‘’you-never-know reaction,’’ ou pa janm konnen in Haitian Creole. The Martelly phenomenon is the end of Haiti’s twentieth century’s moral double standard in politics. I do believe that corrupt politicians—who mismanage the country, betray our ancestors, promote foreign occupation, accept child slavery, and spit on Haitians’ human dignity—are far