Listening Party & Discussion @ Saje Lounge

Pelerin89 contributor Ferentz Lafargue will be hosting a listening party and discussion of his book Songs in the Key of My Life at Saje Lounge in Brooklyn New York.

See below for more details.

The Jacmel Music Festival

Being late seems to be my issue when it comes to news that is outside of pop culture's radar. The Marley brothers, as well as Les Nubians and several prominent Haitian bands will be performing in Haiti from May 25 to the 27th.

According to their website:

"The mission of Festival Mizik Jakmel is to reconnect Haiti with the outside world through music.
By providing enrichment and education through a high quality music event we will empower the Haitian people, stimulate the local economy, encourage global dialogue, educate, entertain and provide an amazing experience to all our audience. This event will promote a positive global perception of Haiti thus aid in it’s economic development through sustainable initiatives."


http://www.jacmelmusicfestival.com/

it was all a facade?/ Wyclef Documentary

i have confession, weeks ago i had begun writing my first entry on this here blog, but than i all but halted. Perhaps it was because i was in transition in my real life (new apartment, new job, etc.) or may be because i wasn't so sure, that in all honesty, that what was commenting on fit Pelerin. But here I am again, swimming through my thoughts, attempting to decide what is what.

the main author of this blog is bent on a mission now to move a movement -- environmental issues facing Haiti, an island i have never been to; but somewhere in me i feel a connection, a connection that could all be a facade once i step foot on it soil.

It's ironic that my main blog is called The Haitian Eclectic, but my mentions of all things Haitian come in spurts and stutters (i may be using those words incorrectly). Call it living and growing up in America under a very Haitian family that pushes for a sort of severing of ties from a home that the elders have left behind for many good reasons (political, economic, violence).

I have received a lot of smart remarks over the years from my parents and other native Haitians, for my growing interest in my heritage. Reactions that have slowly changed into a sort of respect such as the Haitian man i met at a pharmacy in Bedstuy who laughed in a "a young-Haitian-man-is-trying-to-speak-in-our-language-and-I-am-happy-that-he-is" way when i asked if he was Haitian in my terribly bad Kreyol. I knew that he was genuinely glad for my acknowledgment and rebutted my apology pertaining to my bad Kreyol. And as my lady and I walked out of there he asked if she was Haitian as well, slightly disappointed that she wasn't, but not, I think for any negative reason, but because perhaps he doesn't get to meet people my age going out of their way to "communicate."

But until next time, O revwa.


---------
Someone brought up something about a Wyclef Documentary, which peaked my interestand promptly disappeared into my subconscious until today.

Yéle (or Cry) Haiti (scroll down to find the article in the link), follows Wyclef Jean as he travels through Haiti, fulfilling his role as "ambassador."

related link: Yéle Haiti - Wyclef's non-profit organization

Staceyann Chin

A night with Staceyann Chin at the LGBT Center.

*COCKTAIL HOUR BETWEEN 6PM AND 7PM, PERFORMANCE STARTS AT 7PM*

Monday, May 7th, 2007
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street
6pm-7pm Cocktails
7pm Performance

$10

Immigrant Voices presents poet and activist Staceyann Chin

Immigrant Voices is a new series at the center: a chance to hear LGBT women from around the world read their work, and investigate the impact that specific immigrant cultures have had on the LGBT community. Staceyann Chin, poet, author, and immigrant, will discuss how being an immigrant as well as identifying as LGBT has affected their writing process.

A Tale of Two Cities

The recent story about the Haitian migrants found dead at sea reminded me of the dichotomous relationship between my home-ville of New York City and my natif-ville Port au Prince. In New York, the islands are the place we go back home to with our bags loaded down by sundry goods. We fly back to the islands renumerating cans of tomato paste, jars of oil, as a host of other fresh from Costco bulk items in containers that the inferma terra of the islands can not digest (i.e. recycle).

In Port au Prince, islands are places where people escape to in hopes of finding work, better living, and maybe if their lucky, a passageway to the United States.

This all makes me wonder, aren't we all somewhat dead at sea, marooned in Mee-ah-mee, Boo-kleen, BO-stonh and Ca-Na-Da and killing one dream so that we can solace in another.


Pelerin89

20 Haitian Migrants Die at Sea; 58 Missing

20 Haitian Migrants Die at Sea; 58 Missing
By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, May 5, 2007; Page A12


MEXICO CITY, May 4 -- At least 20 Haitian migrants died and 58 were missing Friday after an overloaded sailboat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands.

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter, accompanied by a helicopter and a C-130 plane, searched for survivors of the tragedy, which occurred during a dramatic upswing in illegal migration from the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The Coast Guard said 704 Haitians were rescued at sea in April, nearly as many as were taken into custody in all of last year, when 769 rescues were recorded.

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The 30-foot sailboat that capsized Friday was being towed to shore by a Turks and Caicos police boat when it flipped, tossing passengers into the sea, the Coast Guard said. The Associated Press reported that Turks and Caicos officials denied the sailboat was being towed when it capsized shortly after 4 a.m. a mile south of Providenciales island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Some of the recovered bodies were missing limbs, apparently from shark attacks. At least 63 passengers were rescued.

Coast Guard spokesman Dana Warr said that the sailboat, believed to be carrying 150 people, was dangerously overloaded and that there was no indication the police towboat was responsible for the incident.

"It would be difficult to assume responsibility on their part with 150 people on a boat that size," Warr said. "I don't think anybody on those boats is safe. There are no safety parameters by the Haitian government."

In a similar incident in March, the Coast Guard suspended a search for 49 Haitians whose homemade boat caught fire and sank en route from Cap-Haitien, a city on Haiti's northern coast, to the Turks and Caicos Islands. Only two passengers survived.

Haitians are typically sent back to their country after being taken into U.S. custody at sea or on land. The policy has been vigorously protested by Haitian activists who say their fellow citizens should be afforded the same treatment as Cubans, who are generally granted asylum if they reach U.S. soil under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy implemented during the Clinton administration.