In This Moment of Crisis, It’s Time for the Haitian Middle Class to Reflect and Act
By Daniella Bien-Aime
Haiti has seen a new level of chaos and disasters this week. Some observers have expressed they have never seen anything like it. Businesses, cars, hospitals, and government buildings have been destroyed by fire, while throughout the country, one can see images of burning tires and barricades.
The country has been on lockdown for the last few weeks. The coordinated efforts throughout the country spells danger for Jovenel Moise’s administration.
American citizens and Haitian-Americans have been trying to flee, but even Haiti’s main airport had a fire, so people could not leave the country. To say the country has become ungovernable is accurate. The masses have no choice but to stay put since they don’t have the luxury of being able to leave. Their only hope is to fight for the soul of Haiti as well as for their survival.
Jovenel Moise, a US-backed President, has been struggling to lead the known revolutionary island from the time he was selected as president — Moise is known for his friendly policies towards the United States.
Some would argue that is why, in spite of over a year of deadly protests and people dying on the streets, the US has turned a blind eye to the chaos. But things are quickly getting out of control. With more protests scheduled for the upcoming week, Haiti has the potential to explode if Moise does not leave the country.
Moise is dealing with multiple problems. According to the Miami Herald, he has been accused of money laundering, the Haitian currency has declined to a point where food has become more expensive, and the general insecurity has forced businesses to stay closed for days.
The reaction of the business sector has been telling throughout this crisis. Many business owners are actually experiencing what they see as an “economic injustice.”
An irony, given that this is what the poor experience daily and nobody has cared — at least not those who are able to afford a plate of food or have access to electricity. The words of Dr. Celucien Joseph come to mind here; he stated that when “when the poor cannot find food, they will eat the rich.” It is exactly what is happening as businesses are destroyed and lives are put on hold while the crisis continues.
Haiti’s professionals are upset that their lives are interrupted by demonstrations and the burning of businesses. They no longer feel free to roam the streets of Haiti because the country is so on edge. Some are upset that they have to resort to fundraising to rebuild their business.
Some of the professionals and business owners have failed to realize that they are at the point of asking people on social media for donations to start over because they have never bothered to acknowledge the economic violence that 95% of dark-skinned Haitians face daily while they remained silent.
And why have the professionals and business class remained silent?
Well, in their minds, if they have the opportunity to afford an inverter, if they can afford to put a small plate of food on the table and have the ability to put gas in the car, they don’t want to hear about the struggle of the poorer class. Responding to how disconnected the elites and business class are, a Facebook member by the name of Mirlande Delva said it best:
“I agree with what you said about the elite, but let’s talk about the so called middle class. A class that is only a figment of their imagination. Most are children of the masses who’ve “made it”. All of a sudden, because they have a job paying them peanuts, they can no longer relate to the plight of the masses. They remain silent because now they can send “their” kids to the “best” school so, the crumbling education system no longer bothers them. They are no longer in the dark, they have generators now, so the lack of electricity is no longer an issue. They can go to the Dominican Republic and the US for medical care, so the lack of a functional hospital is no longer an issue. Because of this attitude, they have been instrumental in helping the so-called elite in keeping the masses in bondage. They berate, belittle and criticize the masses on behalf of their bosses. Unfortunately, this past weekend the chicken came home to roost. You are correct when you said as the plane goes down none of us will survive.”
The contradiction of how people present themselves online and the realities have been surreal at best.
Some members of the middle class are resorting to fundraising to rebuild their businesses, but these are some of the very people who are striving to take photos with the money-laundering president to show people they have “clout.”
Here’s what I think is interesting.
For the last few years, a number of Haitian groups have been bringing foreigners to Haiti to do technology conferences in a country with no electricity and where the majority of the population are living in survival mode in terms of what they will eat the next day and where they’re going to get clean water.
Often, the foreign conference guests are treated like rock stars, many in the audience view these foreign invitees as Haiti’s saviors for business and innovation. There is a divide, and some Haitians make the observation that these events are for the Haitian diaspora and elites, and not for the poor.
There’s nothing wrong with those initiatives, but they have not made any tangible, beneficial impact on the population at large. To be sure, a small group of the business class and elites have seen some benefit, but if you read the narrative about these events, they sell it as betterment of the population.
Another interesting insight in terms of reality versus illusion is that the foreign guests are often millionaires, and at least one billionaire headlined these conferences. The paparazzi spirit is usually high. In fact these foreigners are celebrated and uplifted while the hungry masses are insulted, denigrated, and treated as annoying pests for even having demonstrations.
One Haitian who lives in Haiti and whose life is just as disturbed as the masses went on social media to ask what use are these “demonstrations? What have they ever accomplished?” Yes, a Haitian who currently lives in Haiti said that.
Why?
Because the demonstrations interrupt his day-to-day life. He failed to realize how poverty agitates the lives of the masses every day.
Some questions are in order for the Haitian middle class. How will technology take off in the country without electricity? Or does that not matter?
Also, with all these “high-powered” technology millionaires gracing the land of Haiti, why is there no major tech renewal movement that could lift millions of Haitians out of darkness and help provide electricity to the people? And if those relationships are real beyond the photo ops, how come these same individuals have to resort to common folks’ fundraising to raise a couple thousand dollars?
To clarify, I do sympathize with the small moms and pops whose lives are interrupted, but in a war, there are always innocent bystanders. The business owners who work hard to achieve success and then have to close because of the current crisis are also victims of the system. But the small elite that are more concerned about a building and have disdain for the dark-skinned masses is problematic. They are completely disconnected.
How have these tech meetings helped to move Haiti forward for the benefit of the masses and not only for a few individuals in Haiti and in the Haitian diaspora?
If these people’s networks are so strong in terms of the relationships, where are the tangibles?
How come these connections are not yielding millions of dollars in fundraising like the world witnessed when the Notre Dame Cathedral was burning down in France? If we remember, France was able to raise millions in just a few days.
On the reflection piece…
We must ask ourselves the difficult questions in order to make progress. Are these people really your friends or part of your network? If and when you are visiting the United States, do you have their direct phone number, and can you call to have dinner or lunch with them?
Do they know you by name without having to explain that it’s the guy or girl they met in Haiti? Do you have direct access to them? Or do you have to embarrass yourself by reaching out to them on social media, and then they ignore you — like you often ignore the people at the bottom of society in Haiti. The Haitians you couldn’t care less about because they are not your business and they don’t have money.
Do we really think these foreigners we are bringing to Haiti are friends of Haiti? Or are they just using you to associate themselves with Haiti? After all, Haiti seems to be a brand of “poverty” that almost every non-Haitian millionaire, and billionaire for that matter, wants to be associated with.
Look. I get it. Haiti needs to be transformed at every level. In fact, I am a strong advocate for Haiti’s transformation, but I don’t think giving foreigners the lead and pretending you have some deep connection to them make you more important than the masses.
And there is something fundamentally wrong with the professional and business class when they continue to be tone deaf to the form of poverty violence perpetrated against the masses.
They don’t understand that the masses are the foundation of Haiti. They are the ones who provide the culture, the way of life, the history, the language, the passion, and everything we know about Haiti. For the new generation trying to make money in Haiti, you need to understand something.
You cannot and you will never really win in Haiti unless the basic needs of the masses become the priority.
You will keep asking for donations whenever the masses decide to ask the government why they are living in such harsh conditions. You might as well help them get access to electricity, so together you help the country leapfrog into the 21st century with dignity while supporting economic stability.
The fundamental basics such as electricity, clean water, and food sovereignty should be the priority that the middle class Haitians should tackle. Even in terms of technology, the food aspect should also be a major focus.
Why? Because the masses are your market.
Here’s one reality you must face. The security and transportation in Haiti are not there yet to make the diaspora a viable market. Some will go but others will not travel to Haiti, at least not in the numbers you need to make a profit. And with Haiti’s constant instability, it’s often a wait-and-see situation.
So unless all efforts uplift the millions by giving them power to create their lives, these conferences will help only a handful. You help the masses to attain the basics, such as food sovereignty, electricity and clean water, and then you have the potential to create a long-term market and stability. It will be nearly impossible to grow a successful business in Haiti if the masses continue to live in the dark and in poverty.
The middle class’ destiny and success are tied to the poor.
I have seen conferences canceled or postponed. I have seen plans changed and income disrupted because the masses have the ability to bring the country to its knees, driven by their own pain, which everyone seems to ignore.
Some from the business class don’t get it. They think the masses are the government’s problem. This is true to a certain degree. But as a citizen, you have a low expectation of how your own government treats you. It is because of your silence that the government does not see the need to provide electricity, food, and clean water to the people.
Your silence has led to an environment that is unstable, where your own growth is also impacted. In case you didn’t pick up on it, that is probably what foreigners see and why they balk at the idea of investing millions of dollars in your venture.
You have to make the connection that the only way you’re going to rise is by lifting each other — and that includes the poor.
Let me share something with you as someone who spent years working for a few millionaires in my former life. When I say millionaires, I mean people whose bonus alone can buy a multi-million dollar home in the wealthiest boroughs of New York City. I’ve been around these people and to a degree, I’ve learned how they work and how they think and the kind of people they help. To be direct, they support their own, even if their own does not need help.
A case in point on how millionaires help other millionaires… well, in this case we’re talking about billionaires, but you get the point. Take the late pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide in a New York jail. He used philanthropy to get fellow billionaire Bill Gates to give him money for his passion projects.
Does anybody really believe that Mr. Gates needed Mr. Epstein to give money to a cause? Absolutely not! Mind you, this is after Mr. Epstein was convicted of a sex crime.
The point I am making here is that Mr. Gates would much rather engage people like Epstein than you, simply because they are part of the same money circle. Now, when you are chasing your tail, trying to get these people’s attention at the cost of shaming your people, it is a problem.
The reality is this: if you’re broke — even if you have a legitimate project and you have no criminal record and you have proven your worth to your community and you are a minority — oftentimes, it is not enough. If the millionaires do decide to help you, it is most likely because they are assessing what is in it for them and how they can exploit the potential investment where your percentage is not equal.
Hoping to be wrong with the fundraiser…
I do hope that these fundraisers will yield a huge success, where one of the connections can donate $100K or a million to your worthwhile project that will benefit a significant number of Haitians.
But I get the sense that these foreign philanthropists are smart with their money. They see Haiti as a risk and expect it to struggle with instability. These investors do not want to waste money, and rightly so. They know that as long as the masses are at the bottom, the country will continue to be unstable, and therefore serious investors will go to Haiti to take photos with the organizers and then forget about the country when they’ve left.
A sobering moment…
At the moment, it’s mostly the Haitian community that is contributing to these fundraising campaigns. And it is a group that many of the conference planners have looked down on in social media, because they’ve created an “us” versus “them” (those without a “network”) Therefore, those with more of a network are more important than those with none.
I hope this is a powerful lesson on loving and respecting your people first. This is how other groups succeed, and this is probably a strategy you should use to succeed too. Believe that your people can achieve great things as well as the foreigners.
I want to emphasize something here so it’s not taken out of context. I don’t think there is anything wrong with getting foreigners involved in your plans or strategy for Haiti; I just don’t think they need to be put on a pedestal.
Some additional food for thought to reflect on… Is the network you are bragging about coming through for you? Or is it mostly the Haitian people who are still supporting you? If you have a network of 20,000 people, why is it you cannot find at least ten people with $5,000 to $10,000 to donate to your cause? What does that say about your network?
Do they really believe in your vision? Or do they have no emotional or cultural connection to your cause? You need to think about those things. You also need to ask yourself, why am I so quick to open Haiti to them? What is in it for Haiti? What other Haitians with money have invested in Haiti? And why are these Haitians not giving you money?
A crisis is a great opportunity that can reveal how much someone values you and your work.
Your destiny is tied to the masses whether you like it or not.
You must deal with this fact and radically change how you work. It starts with self-awareness and a sense of compassion for those who are the rightful heirs of Haiti.
Here are some things I think you should consider going forward. First, start respecting Haitians the way you respect foreigners. You would probably get more support from the community and work collectively to make a bigger impact for the masses and not just the individual self.
Second, start by believing that an event does not need to be headlined by a “blan” for it to be validated. Capable Haitians are enough. Oftentimes, this is the same blan that is not returning your calls nor is enthusiastic about your Haitian causes. If they were, major changes would have been made, because they would have been to Haiti and witnessed the people’s conditions.
The bottom line is, work and respect your people. It’s the only way you are going to move Haiti forward. You cannot respect non-Haitians more than you respect your own. People see that. They may not tell you, but they see it.
As Haitians, we are not monetarily wealthy as a community, but we are rich in history, food, and culture. These riches can translate into monetary value that will enable you and millions of Haitians to stop begging or fundraising to rebuild your businesses whenever there is trouble in Haiti. What is happening in Haiti impacts you more than it does the masses. After all, the masses have nothing to lose to begin with. And your location does not protect you.
I want to close with this quote from someone I follow on Twitter. It summarizes the reality for all Haitians in Haiti: “What’s clear today, there is only one Haiti. You can live on top of the hills of Bourtiliers or in the slums of Site Soley, but when the sovereign hits the streets, everyone is affected one way or another. It’s our moment to have a country where every citizen can have a good life,” via @Ilio DUrandis
