However, running to prevent from getting popped in the poon poon has never been my objective.

But three years ago, I made an oath to myself that I would never attend another West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn when I almost lost my shoe from running away from a stampede.

The next day I heard someone got chopped with a machete and of course they were shooting.

I have to shake my head. My West Indian Folk are taking this Wild Wild West shit to another extreme. Carnival in Brooklyn is now a cross between a bad day in a favela and a heavy metal rock concert. According to news reports, 48 people were shot, 8 of the shootings ending in death, 2 of them were cops, and in a 24-hour period, 24 people were shot.

I’m sorry, that shit is unacceptable. And if they didn’t put West Indian in front of parade, you would’ve thought it was us regular cotton pickers. But, not today, the Caribes represented like a muhfucka. When they say “lik shot” on di soca song, it doesn’t mean to bust a cap.

Okay my West Indian massive, lemme school you on something you may not know about America. You see America operates very well with division. For the past decades, America has divided people of African descent with one of their tactics by saying that one group has a “better” culture than the other. Or that black Americans don’t have any culture, while other black people from other countries could come to the US and thrive because of a strong sense of cultural self.

Native blacks were stereotyped as lazy, criminals, and deviants. And one of the reasons was because of a pathological cultural-less existence.

Then there were those who perpetuated the myth (meaning niggas), and those who believed (meaning migratory niggas).

It’s just like European immigrants. As each came to America, the various groups were labeled as the new niggers until they were knighted into whitedom. Polish, Italians, Irish, Eastern European Jews, Russians, you name it, had to fight for their validity. Then they all settled into a prescribed white Americanness mixed with the cultural remnants of the home country.

What people don’t see in the hybrid existence is the liqueur of Americanness that poisons the sensibilities. It ghettoizes some, while paving roads for other groups. And as a result, the American dream for blacks immigrants results in a few who make it, while the rest are absorbed into poverty and inner city blues or create a West Indian/African version of a ghetto.

The children of children whose parents migrated, get lost and caught up in being half of one world and half of another, and nobody can make much sense of the madness that comes with hybrid identity. The most disturbing part of it all is that, the dominant culture doesn’t give a fuck if you are from St. Lucia or St. Louis, you are just another nigger with a funny accent.

From a persona stance, you kind of don’t fit anywhere. You are too black to be a true American, and too American to be a true West Indian; however, these children have the thickest Caribe accents I’ve ever heard, as they bounce between patois and the King’s English.

And they are not national accents that distinguish an individual from Antigua, or Trinidad, or Haiti. Everyone just sounds, West Indian. What the fuck is that type of accent? Ask Nikki Minaj or Foxy Brown, they perform it very well. Seen.

You can’t also ignore the fact that a culture of violence is bubbling overboard in countries like Jamaica, Trinidad, and Nigeria. A manifestation of globalization at its best — the have not’s of the country still not having, but still wanting what they think every one in the “rich” world has. Of course, violence, and how it becomes a part of reality has a deeper explanation. I know, I know. Just throwing a bone out.

But my W.I. massive remember that the tap of Americanity you drink is laced with a reality that you are sipping a deathly elixir that is so sweet, you don’t know that you are slowly dying.

As of late, we’ve seen a resurgence of the labor movement of sorts. Unionized workers all across the country have banded together in a show of solidarity. As they fight to maintain not only their collective bargaining agreements, in most cases, they’re also fighting to maintain their dignity hearkening back to Martin Luther King Jr’s show of support for Memphis sanitation workers. As these various movements across the country grows, the story of one particular group of workers paramount to the success of our future isn’t being heard.
Hundreds of teachers from the Caribbean claim that New York’s Department of Education (DOE) lured them to city schools with false promises of green cards and financial aid. In a massive rally on the steps of City Hall in lower Manhattan on Sunday, the teachers, supported by the New York-based Association of International Educators (AIE) and the Black Institute, demanded immediate action and response to what they described as “the lack of support from the DOE, which has resulted in the 10-year uphill battle to get on the right path to permanent residency.”

AIE chair, Judith Hall, said that the teachers have been treated as “indentured servants.”

“How is this possible when we were chosen because we were the best and brightest our countries had to offer?” she asked.

“This is an egregious situation, and we are demanding redress on the city, state, federal and international levels,” she added.

A report released on Sunday by the Black Institute on behalf of the AIE, entitled, Broken Promises: The Story of Caribbean International Teachers in New York City’s Public Schools, claimed that the Caribbean teachers were first lured to New York by promises of continued educational opportunities, housing assistance, and a path to permanent residency in the United States.

It said the teachers “uprooted their families in the hopes of redefining a better future.”

Recruited by New York City Public Schools, beginning in 2001, the AIE said it was formed by Caribbean teachers, “who continue to feel victimized.”

The association provides them with a support group, as well as the opportunity to combine efforts to find a solution.

The AIE said, in early 2001, when the U.S. economy was booming and there was a teacher shortage, more than 500 teachers from the Caribbean came to New York City schools to work.

After almost 10 years, the AIE said most of the teachers still lack green cards, adding their immigration status “makes it impossible for their spouses and children to work.”

The teachers are, therefore, demanding a meeting with Schools Chancellor Cathie Black and legal assistance from the Education Department.

President and founder of the Black Institute, Bertha Lewis, said the Broken Promises report highlights the “hidden nexus of education and immigration reform.

“These teachers were recruited to teach in some the most difficult and poorest school districts.  They did what was asked of them, and they deserve to be treated fairly and humanely,” she said, adding, “promises were made, promises were broken; this report calls upon the DOE to keep its promises.”

Trinidad-born Antoinette Nesbitt, who came to New York in August 2001, said she is frustrated and outraged by the lack of respect shown to Caribbean teachers.

“Teachers are professional role models for school children every day in the classroom, yet this process of our teachers obtaining green cards has been drawn out over many years because the Department of Education chosen attorneys have classified us as unskilled workers,” said Nesbitt, who has been teaching special education at Public School 276 in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn ever since her arrival here.

“This classification is costing us financially. We have to pay visa-related fees annually, and we experience lost income because our spouses and dependents are unable to work,” she added, fearing that she and her colleagues would be deported back to the Caribbean if they are laid off because of a lack of green card. (source)In any discussion centered on education or education reform, it is always noted that our teachers are undervalued. Which is a shame in itself here in these United States of America, supposedly in the wealthiest nation in the world. But to recruit teachers from other countries – the best of the best in their field of occupation – and not hold up on your end of the bargain, only to have them existing pretty much as undocumented workers is just down right ridiculous. It’s especially ridiculous in this supposed land of opportunity and the free.

Yet in 2011, these teachers are treated like slave labor, fresh off the Middle Passage. The difference being, they were invited here, and are actually card-carrying union members. It’s a shame they’re good enough to educate children, but not worthy of being respected as professionals. Instead, by virtue of being from third world countries, they’re treated like migrant agricultural workers. As a son of the Caribbean, and also of Caribbean educators who came before me, this is truly disappointing. What’s next, undocumented doctors and nurses? One has to wonder, were they recruited from Europe would this be an issue?

Checkout the clip and spread the word, will you?

“Stability of markets depends on countries like Haiti remaining poor, Europe, US’s commitment is to their own subsidies only” – Nicole Lee (President of TransAfrica Forum)

BIO: Nicole Lee is the President of TransAfrica Forum. She has worked as a human rights attorney in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.Nicole Lee lived in Haiti where she worked for a human rights organization that investigated and prosecuted the human rights violations by the military during the 1994 coup.

Back in the day I could remember as an immigrant from the Caribbean myself when “being Haitian” was the butt of all jokes. What can I say, everybody has to have somebody to pick on I suppose. Considering that Haitians have been placed in such an inauspicious position among us West Indians and practically everybody in the western hemisphere if not the world. It’s really great to see the outpouring of support here in their darkest hour. It truly gives me hope and a renewed sense of optimism that one day, the realization that we’re all citizens of the world becomes obvious. So much so that we may never compromise the humanity of others as we all share space on this planet.

Honestly, my mind has been all over the place as I watch the portentous media coverage. Watching from a distance as we sit comfortably in our lives, I guess we can agree that there’s a sense of helplessness which overtakes our being. A feeling which compels us to act with the greatest of humanitarian spirit, hence the outpouring of support financial and otherwise. I have some thoughts swimming around in my head about this event, but before getting to them, I just want to say that it is truly awesome to see that within the first 48 hours of the earthquake, people have donated funds to the Red Cross in record numbers. Numbers that have surpassed the initial 48 hour response period in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the Tsunami in Miramar back in 2004.

All of that said, I couldn’t help but to notice a few things in the media that was, how should I say,  pretty typical? I can’t remember the name of the reporter but the first thing that jumped out at me were the images of Haitians being referred to as refugees. Yep, refugees in their own country; didn’t we learn anything from Hurricane Katrina, geniuses of the media? Lemme guess, next you’re gonna show us images of Haitians “looting” and well, “certain people” unlike them, would be trying to survive as they forage for food and water, right? Hopefully the media has received the memo on that one for it not to happen again.

And what’s up with the talk about the prison being demolished by the quake in Port-au-Prince, and the possibility of lawlessness as a result? No shit, the prison? Was it necessary for that bit of useful information to hit the airwaves? Oh no, those savage animals from the prison are gonna be raping little girls, sticking needles in dolls, and sacrificing babies with their Voodoo ritualistic devil worship as they wait in the Superdome!

Y’all just had to go there, didn’t y’all…

Look, Haiti and Haitians have had their share of trials and tribulations; we know this. But constantly reminding me and everybody else that “this is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere,” doesn’t sit well with me. If it wasn’t for the earthquake would anybody be focused or concerned about how poor Haiti actually is? Oh yeah, and then there’s the “why are they so poor,” question. Good question only if in the answer they tell you just how much the U.S. and France and just about everybody else has had a hand in it. But no, that’s never mentioned and sadly we’re left with the perception of Haiti being a country of lazy shiftless Negroes beyond help by David Brooks in the New York Times….

Shiftless Negroes who if it wasn’t for slavery would never be working or gainfully employed; Negroes who are comfortable making less than $2 a day. You know, sorta like these poor Negroes in America? And what does the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation do? They suggest that president Obama reach out to George W. Bush (remember that guy?) to assist in efforts in addition to other suggestions in a post titled Amidst the Suffering, Crisis in Haiti Offers Opportunities to the U.S., the pushing of unpopular pro-corporate policies just like they lined out for a post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Looking at the picture of those dead children in Haiti above, I guess it’s safe to say that the saying “when there’s blood on the streets, buy property,” holds true in this capitalist opportunistic society of ours.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE