My name is Karl Beau. I'm a six-foot-two, big and rugged, dark-skinned young Black man of Haitian descent living in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. The international Haitian community is going through some tough times these days. My friends and I have formed a group at school to raise money for the Haitian community and help the relief efforts of the international community in our Caribbean nation's capital. So far, we've done alright. I want Haitians in the capital city of Port-Au-Prince to survive what happened to the town.
I also want to remind the international community that the Republic of Haiti has a government and we don't need to be taken over by the U.S. or any other foreign power who claim to have "our best interests" at heart. We're an independent nation and we're staying that way. Let's not dishonor the memory of the Haitian men and women who died in the earthquake by surrendering our republic to foreign powers. That's not what being Haitian is about. We endure hell on earth but hold our heads high.
I was watching the footage of Haiti's capital on CNN one morning when my girlfriend Nadege Etienne walked by. The big and tall Black woman with the huge booty from hell wasn't wearing anything at all as she walked into the kitchen to get a drink. Normally, the sight of a big beautiful Black woman walking around naked in my dorm at Carleton University would turn me on but these days I was depressed. My country was in trouble. And now the vultures known as America and France were circling around, doubtless wanting to usurp the Haitian Government's place and take over the island because they "cared for us".
I don't trust these imperialistic bastards. And the fact that America has a Black man as its current President doesn't mean Jack to me. My country has suffered at the hands of racists and imperialists before. The U.S. invaded in 1915, supposedly to remove a dictator and restore order. They stole a lot of gold from us and mistreated our citizens during that time. They stayed for almost twenty years then left a brutal military Haitian group in charge of the country, protecting the business interests of rich American corporations who had facilities in the country. In the 1990s they invaded again, supposedly to remove a dictator and restore order. They seem to want to stay in Haiti indefinitely. We're the poorest country in the Americas because they won't let us grow. They won't leave us alone. They're still making us pay for defeating the French slave-owners in the 1800s and proving to the world that white people aren't invincible.
I'm particularly weary of the French government's involvement in the rescue efforts in the Republic of Haiti. Haitians and Frenchmen have no love for each other. Read our history. The French think of Haitians as barbarians simply because we rejected the system of slavery. We don't need their help. I'm less suspicious of the Canadians. Of all the white countries around, they seem least bitten by the imperialism bug. I think many Canadians actually want to help us Haitians.
Lots of Haitians are living really well in Canada. The people of Haiti welcome their help. The U.S. and France, we don't trust. And with good reason. I don't want any foreign government to take over my country. I don't want the U.S. to usurp the authority of the Haitian President or the Haitian Government. Our people are shaken but Port-Au-Prince wasn't Haiti's only city. We have others. We have a government. We have leaders. The western powers who claim they want to help Haiti overcome the disaster caused by the earthquake should work with Haiti's government and Haiti's leaders, not act as conquerors taking over to save those who can't save themselves.
