What can we do to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti? – Conrad Worrill
Many people have been asking, “What can we do to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti?” As you know, the Black population of Chicago has a special historical relationship to Haiti in as much as the real founder of Chicago, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable was of Haitian ancestry. He was among the first settlers of this region and was a leader of great economic enterprises.
Secondly, the successful Haitian Revolution that culminated in Haiti becoming an independent nation in 1804. The reason that Napoleon and the French agreed to sell their Louisiana territory in what is historically known as the Louisiana Purchase of 800 million acres of land to the United States because of the impact of the Haitian Revolution.
Thirdly, our esteemed elder ancestor, Dr. Jacob H. Carruthers, wrote a profound book on the Haitian Revolution entitled The Irritated Genie that I encourage everyone in the CCICS community to read or re-read as the case may be.
It is in this spirit that my organization, the National Black United Front, has learned that our sister in Haiti, Valerie Mawiyah Duperval, is safe. She contacted us early in the morning letting us know that she was safe and has been sleeping on the ground in Tabarre. For the past twenty years, Sister Mawiyah has dedicated her life to the cause of Haiti. At this moment, we are requesting that donations be sent to the following two organizations:
Haitian American Ministries, (Mawiyah’s organization),14619 Zenith Street, Houston, TX, 77045-6549. 713.433.9518.
Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti, Memo Line– Haitian Crisis Relief Fund,1227 Dodge Avenue, Evanston, IL 60202, Attorney Lionel Jean Baptiste. 847.424.0400. http://www.haitiancongress.org
In the coming weeks we will be prepared to instruct our community on donating non-perishable foods, clothing, and medical supplies. At this moment it would be premature to do this until the Disaster Relief Operation can get a handle on the devastation and set-up a system so that the materials sent can be properly received and dispensed.
Finally, we must give special thanks to the 344 Cuban doctors and the expert disaster relief teams from Cuba and Venezuela governments that have already hit the ground running in Haiti and are not receiving any media coverage for their efforts. Many of whom are of African descent.
Please allow the spirit of the crisis in Haiti to enter your soul as we give them all of the support we can possibly render at this hour of severe crisis.