I have just read the account by Sokari about Randall Robinson's book: Unbroken Agony and I cannot help but wonder how does one collectively keep walking away from one of the most exemplary rupture with dehumanization. The Africans who had been enslaved simply said: NO MORE. Yet, 200 years later, it seems easier to find excuses about why one keeps treating the people of Haiti as if they were not worth anything. Peter Hallward wrote an essay about how the media decide who counts and who does not: almost on the same night Maddie (the child who disappeared while her parents were having dinner) disappeared, a boatload of Haitians on its way to the Turks and Caicos Island capsized. Close to 100 people lost their lives, but, for the international media which decide what is news worthy and what is not, it was as if those lives never even existed. That was at the beginning of May this year. As Peter Hallward points out, quoting from survivors, the boat did not capsize on its own: a coast guard boat did everything to prevent it from getting on shore. I do not think ev en Pbn carried that story at the time. I hope a correction will be made.

I am not saying here that the life of a 3 year old white English child is not as precious as the life of Haitians trying to find a way of making a living in a world context which is dictating that they do not count. In fact, it now turns out, that Maddie may have been the victim of one or both of her parents. One should stop speculations on this particular case right here for the time being, since examples of how uncaring the system has become can be seen everywhere, every day. The tragedy is the extent to which people who see themselves as good people keep acting against their own conscience, whether in relation to one Maddie or to one Haitian.

The way Aristide has been denounced is not unlike the way Lumumba was denounced in the DRCongo, back in 1960-61. Then, too, it was easy, given the media context. In fact, the so-called elite of the Congo did its best NOT to save Lumumba's life, but to make sure that even his body leaves no trace. Today, with Aristide, the denunciation was as virulent and vicious. Someone (from the group of 184) going as far as saying that he is not a Mandela. To which one should say: and a good thing too. There has been one Lumumba, there has been one Mandela, one Aristide. Each one has and is carrying the torch of emancipation as far as he could/can. Isn't the collective task one of making sure that the torch stays alive? Isn't the task one of never letting go of the objective of complete emancipation? What would be the ethical equivalent, in today's world, of what the Africans did in Haiti, from 1791 through 1804? Shouldn't one ask oneself if what kept Aristide going beyond the formalities of being a catholic priest, was a call which has continued to vibrate in Haiti to this day, namely to bring to an end a mentality which continues to rationalize, with impunity, that some lives do not count as much as others.

Thank you Sokari for bringing attention to this unbroken agony.