found a great article in the jamaican observer (clip below)summarizing disaster relief in haiti in the past year. to date, only 5 percent of the rubble has been cleared and over 800,000 people still live in tent cities. international goverments haven't met all their aid promises, and haiti is still working under capacity, with 30 percent of government staff having died in the quake.

i find it disheartening how easily the world mobilizes to war, while lagging to save lives. a year later, let us remember and reverence the people who perished in the earthquake, and those still trying to rebuild their lives and society. --AL.

"The reconstruction effort overall is hampered by the failure to deliver or spend billions of expected dollars in aid.

The United States had originally pledged $1.15 billion for 2010, but moved nearly its entire pledge to 2011 following delays in Congress and the Obama administration.

Clinton was supposed to take care of the governments. But as the year came to an end, even the United States — whose secretary of state is his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton — had paid just a fraction of what it promised, pushing off nearly $1 billion in money pledged for 2010 to 2011."

had a great time at a concert for haiti up at harlemstage last weekend. came to see emeline michel and dj jephte guillaume, the latter of whom holds the distinction of producing the single most expensive song i've ever purchased (Blue and Deep, $3.99 on Traxsource).

i'm a slave to a good beat.



the vibe at 134th and amsterdam was infectious. haitians collectively remind me of my crazy aunty (don't we all have one?) -- loud, gregarious, maybe even obnoxious, if she weren't so much fun to be around.

ran into miss bruno sisters marjory and shirley, repping ayiti as fashionably as ever. so good to catch up with them. shirley said she's starting the master's filmmaking program at london film school in the fall. so good to hear, since it's one of the schools i'll be applying to now that i've decided i'm never (ever ever) going back to nyu, but would still like a degree.

so sad to hear that they are discontinuing their clothing line and focusing on art installation pieces (will be exhibiting in s.africa late fall), using the ubiquitous immigrant bag as a canvas. i'm sure it will be brilliant, although i'm still a little disappointed that i never got my so-called scarf while they were still making them.

Haiti, we are still with you.

Attended the most fabulous benefit concert last night, "Lift Every Voice," organized by my sister--a Brown alumna and former director of a cappella group Shades of Brown. There was a band, fancy hors d'oeuvres and all the feel good jams from Marvin Gaye to Beyonce.

It was truly special to see her taking center stage and singing again. She said something very touching at the beginning about how the earthquake survivors, having lost the most important people in their lives, could be seen walking through the streets of Port-au-Prince singing. That if they could sing, then surely she could, too. There was such a tremendous outpouring of support from Brown alumni, family and friends that the grace came full circle.

And Shades alum Gordon Chambers--a Grammy-winning songwriter--who was hawking his CDs at 50% off, gave me the strangest case of Eddie-Murphy-Coming-to-America-Sexual-Chocolate deja vu. LOL!

If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you might have heard me mention that the theater company where I work has been producing a documentary about UN Peacekeepers for some time, working with Director Fisher Stevens, who recently won a Best Documentary Oscar for The Cove.

We filmed some of the documentary at the UN mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, that collapsed in the recent earthquake, and returned to Haiti to shoot some additional footage of the disaster recovery. This clip just went up on YouTube last week.



It still plays like a PSA for the United Nations. When I mentioned to Fisher that he might consider adding in the perspectives of the Haitians they seek to help in a more robust way, it was like the thought had never occurred to him. "That might be interesting," he said, his eyes glazing over in that Hollywood way. That was the end of the discussion.

I think that a lot of documentaries set in poorer nations tend to treat their local subjects as objects of observation--a shadowy backdrop, if you will--rather than real people with hopes and needs. The tendency for this is even more pronounced in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas.

Although I can't deny the good that can come of this project, I hope that it will become a lot more balanced in terms of representing not only the point-of-view of the peacekeepers, but also the people they help on the ground. I think if it doesn't, it will likely fail in its aim to bring attention and understanding to one of the most complex peacekeeping/rebuilding efforts in history.

I've finally been kicked out of NYU. Not literally, of course, since I'm technically on academic leave. But over the course of the past two weeks I have slowly been losing access to online research databases, academic calendars, and now my e-mail. It feels so sudden! although it has been almost four semesters since I went on leave.

My 9-to-5 brings a certain clarity to these circumstances.

The director of our documentary project just came back from Haiti with some footage of the UN and other relief organizations. Today I was trying to find the correct application to read a certain type of media file on his hard drive, and I couldn't figure it out. I had no clue. Had never even seen this type of file before. Found myself cursing under my breath, asking why the hell I left film school, wondering what other technologies have passed me by. I find that, when it comes to technical things, you only ever know as much as you learnt or thought yourself capable of learning in school. But I digress.

I wanted to share a clip from the Haiti footage that made me smile. I'm quite sure I'm not breaking any rules posting it here (my boss doesn't know about non disclosure agreements), but I also hope that vous pouvez parler un peu francais. No subtitles here!



I also came across this other Haitian relief documentary online, chronicling the activities of the Red Cross.

The main problem with this Red Cross project, and also what my boss is trying to do, is that the production time is far too short. The relief effort will likely take a decade to bear fruit, and most filmmakers' attention spans--not to mention that of the public and the media at large--are simply not long enough.

But what's really fascinating is that Haiti's only film school, the Cine Institute in Jacmel, was completely destroyed and yet the students continue to make films in the aftermath of the quake. All but one of the sixty students survived, and they found six working cameras buried in the rubble that they are now using to film recovery stories. Folks have been sending donations, and I'm starting to think my next ten relief dollars should go to them.

Attended a great Haiti benefit last night presented by the Global Syndicate, in partnership with a dozen other organizations, to benefit the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, Yele Haiti, Project Medishare and others. Apparently they raised $125K before the event even started, which was great since there were no explicit instructions to donate at any point during the night.

GS was started by Bobby Kennedy III, also the emcee, and the evening had appearances by New York Governor David Paterson, Robert Kennedy Jr, assemblypeople (Hakeem Jeffries repping Fort Greene/Clinton Hill), and a few actor types (Anthony Mackie among them).

I've actually never been to an event with Gov Paterson before. He's quite charismatic in his own peculiar way--blind, though energetic, a powerful alpha male. Same day the earthquake hit his son was arrested for playing craps. In true Paterson form, he seems patently unfazed by it.

Even more interesting for me was being surrounded by all that political energy in the wake of Obama's State of the Union address. I purposely didn't watch it and, when my sister asked why, said I was tired of people "blowing smoke up my a*s." She was as shocked as I was that I said it, revealing some of my recent ambivalence/disillusionment with him.

She then berated me, asking what I was doing for healthcare reform and the economy (I thought, what can I do?), indicting people for electing the man and then leaving him to do all the hard work himself without support.

I thought about it the rest of the day, how to stay engaged with the political process, and I came to the conclusion that I'm not really political. I'm not an organizer or activist or lobbyist, not a political junkie. At my last job, working on a political documentary, I got tired of the daily back and forth between the right and left, the play by play of all the petty disagreements, the backroom dealings. I watched it all unfold like a literal movie, unwilling to accept that this is the way democracy really works.

As such, my main interest in Obama was not his politics (I was even a little suspect at the electoral hardball that got him the Illinois Senate seat). I was more interested in his messiah-like ability to inspire millions of people to greater levels of civic engagement.

In many ways his rhetoric echoed the liberation theology I imbibed as a youth (Howard Thurman, MLK, Gandhi, Sojourner Truth). And I thought Obama could mean really great things for America, for foreign policy, for the world. I even almost followed him, and I'm not a follower by nature.

Seeing the liberal/moral backsliding in the past year has left me feeling somewhat betrayed. Maybe I just need to get over it, but I can't help wishing he'd take the hardline for justice (on Gitmo and universal healthcare, among others). I think time will tell what his legacy is, but it's a little problematic that I've disengaged, though still aware, so soon.

I think the real cost of political capital is hope.

i rarely blog real-time, so this is a rarity, but just watched the hope for haiti benefit concert on tv. it was a long day at work finishing up the invites to the un screening that my boss is taking with him to sundance, but in effect haiti's been on my mind all day today.

at first i thought it was the most unparalleled cast of characters i've ever seen--bill clinton, madonna, denzel--and then i thought half the actors were probably on a detour from sundance and would be flying off in a matter of hours. but i have to say the song choices were excellent--J-Tim on Hallelujah? brilliant. but to the point of this blog, watching wyclef rap up the show (dug his haitian flag/scarf), caught my homie Tiga backing him up on percussion. this dude plays about fifteen instruments, including the dijeridoo, and I didn't even recognize the horns he was blowing after he dropped the djembe.

i've been thinking abt him and all my other haitian friends, wondering how their families are doing, and failing to pick up the phone. busy busy busy, i always stay, but it's a nervous energy. i have a feeling that huge holes have opened up in people's lives that will never be filled. even my coworker lost a college friend at home for the holidays with family in Port-au-Prince.

big ups to the little boys and girls rescued from the rubble who never gave up hope. we're all praying for you.

I had to go to work today, on MLK Day no less, and there was some petty foolishness going down at the office. I got so caught up in it that, in a call on my lunch break, I started yelling at a switchboard operator about why the doctor's office was closed before 5PM when I needed to make an appointment. She reminded me that it was a holiday, and I responded apologetically, saying I was stuck at work and stressed and could she please forgive my temper. She didn't.

When I got back to my desk, I found a "sip of living water" in my inbox. A writer friend of mine sends these weekly prayers, nondenominational, drawing from Rumi, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Gospels and Vedas, or her own verse when the spirit moves her. I can't tell you how much I look forward to this water for my mind every week, especially when I get bogged down in the physical realm -- caught up in my job, the things I have or don't have.

It's so easy to lose sight of the agape that MLK spoke about, the universal love that envelops and nurtures us all the time. Every day is a struggle to grow in that love and peace and resist the temptation toward inner spiritual violence. I apologize again for displacing my frustration on this woman. Tomorrow, by grace, I will be better.

This is a prayer for Haiti, but also for any and everyone, myself included, who needs a gentle reminder.

Senye, ede nou pa atache ak batanklan.
Nou ka gen kat wob jodi a,
men petet l’a gen yon jou
ke nou pa gen ditou.
Ede n’ atache nou a pawol Bondye.

Lord, help us not to connect ourselves to things.
We may have four dresses today,
but maybe there will be a time
when we won’t have any.
[Instead] help us to connect ourselves
to God’s [unchanging] Word.

- Haitian Kreyol Prayer

I work at a theater company that is producing a documentary on the United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti. The UN lost a bunch of peacekeepers in the earthquake, and also in a plane crash in Haiti last October. Again, I really have to hand it to the folks who maintain peace and stability around the globe for their courage and bravery. It has always been my secret dream to be a peacemaker--not a peacekeeper, per se, with a blue helmet and a gun, but someone who travels the world sowing seeds of peace in a global culture of violence, mistrust and hatred.

Before posting any links, I will disclaim by saying that my company's mission is to use art/culture as a tool for diplomacy. I find that the daily implementation of that mission falls far short of the lofty vision, which is often a source of frustration for me--especially when my boss is the type fond of walking about with his chest puffed out about how much he's changing the world. At any rate, he met with the Secretary General on Friday to discuss the company's continued relationship with the UN, which is a very positive thing given how busy the SG is with Haiti right now.

If you visit our YouTube channel, you will see clips from the concerts we produced for them last year (most either before I worked there or while I was away at my writer's residency) in addition to the trailer for the documentary--which may or may not be useful to watch, given that much of it is unnecessarily self-serving.

I'm posting a clip of Angelique Kidjo from our Tribute to Peacekeeping concert. I love love love her, and she talks a bit about her goodwill mission to Haiti with UNICEF last year. Please keep in mind that: The views represented in the trailer and the vids are not representative of my own, but rather those of the company and our creative partners. Wish I didn't have to say that, but I guess until I work for myself I'll have to. :)

There's a really amazing thing happening with Wyclef at the moment surrounding media reports about his NGO Yele Haiti, saying that the money may be a little funny.

Wyclef posted a heated response vid on YouTube denouncing the accusations and saying how he's been digging up children's bodies, and how could anyone question his integrity. I know he is doing great work, but the donations will still likely take awhile to get to work on the ground given the online/cellphone donation system he's using.

It's a shame that it had to get so dirty, though.

Clef performed at Calabar Carnival...I heard Akon was there too...although I didn't get to see the show. I was so heated since we spent the better part of the day waiting for the damn parade to start. In the end, my cousins just wanted to go home and not cap the night off with a show. Only problem was someone blocked our car in on the street and my cousin Mimi had to break in (they left their Mercedes window open), put the car in neutral, and have me and my cousin Yaya push it out of the way. By the time we got on the road and I started talking about going to the stadium, nobody was trying to hear me.

I caught this vid online though, looks like the show was FIYah. He's always been one of my favorites.

I am saddened and stunned by the magnitude of the Haitian earthquake disaster. Port-au-Prince is in near shambles and some 300,000 of its residents are displaced. I'm not sure what role global warming plays in all of this, but I like to think the entire world is slowly ending and we are all bearing witness, standing dumbly by.

Ushahidi is doing great coverage, and I've been following some live tweets from the ground. Some are really horrifying. I try to stay away from raw video or news reports, still get shivers from the vids I saw of the Ninth Ward and the tsunami, bloated corpses floating in the water.

It's clear that hundreds and thousands of people are buried under piles of rubble. I give thanks for relief workers because it takes a special person to look devastation in the eye and soldier on--I'm simply not that strong.

Just learned that you can donate relief money to Haiti at the Whole Foods checkout counter. I'm not entirely sure what AmeriCares does, but I was so excited to give my $5 that I barely paused to ask whether or not the money will simply pad some administrator's pocket. Wyclef is also taking money through his Yele foundation. If you have some other great relief links, feel free to post.

There are several hoaxes floating around online, namely that JetBlue and American Airlines are flying nurses free to Haiti--which is NOT true, however AA is reportedly flying Red Cross relief workers free of charge to nearby DR. I don't know what social underbelly creates hoaxes around natural disasters. Humanity.