but last night, on the 5th anniversary of the canadian funded coup d'etat that removed the democratically elected jean bertrand aristide from his job providing education to haiti's poorest citizens (an act that would eventually negate all the efforts to maintain a sweatshop slave mentality in the population), i accepted a ride from some friends to watch kevin pina's movie. i had previously spoken with him on my radio show, had listened to him speak on friends' radio shows at cfuv, so i knew what i was in for. still, it's absolutely devastating to realize the extent my government, the french government, and the united nations will go to keep those black people in their place as slave labourers. it's no big surprise that the american government was involved, war is pretty much the only industry they export anymore (although i've heard their largest export is actually garbage), but it was rather, um .... there really aren't words to describe how i feel after watching the united nations 'peace-keepers' standing by while haiti's police shoot (presumably with american made weapons .... do they make weapons, or just design them and then have them built in china?) into crowds of peaceful protestors who were guilty only of showing their undying support for their ousted leader, mr. aristide.
kevin's travelling across canada this week, in an effort to educate canadians (with a haitian woman at the helm of canada's military) about where our taxpayer dollars are going, about how our international reputation is decidedly shattered, about the on-going saga of the first nation in history to survive a slave revolt (they kicked out the french in the early 1800s) only to find themselves at the centre of a battle to keep those n-words in their place. that's the unspoken subtext to what's going on in haiti --- just as the cubans have never been forgiven for their successful peoples' revolution throwing the gambling empire into the sea, so the haitians cannot be allowed to succeed in their efforts to self-determination. with the capitalist empires finally (though not surprisingly) reaching the natural end of their greed and consumption cycle, one wonders whether an american president of african descent will find a way to build an economy on something other than war. so far he's bombing the crap out of pakistan, he's increased military spending, and he wants more troops in afghanistan.
i can see america's olympic mountains from my little office here and, although some of my dearest friends live over there, i don't hold out much hope for them, for any of us. sad, isn't it. i'm just glad i don't have any kids or grand-kids to worry about. it seems the global warming future, with its empires and weapons manufacturers, is gonna be a scary ride. last week our own rcmp were on the streets of victoria ticketing street-looking people for jay-walking. maybe they're raising money to pay for their olympics, maybe they're preparing us for the inevitable police state that will keep us in our place. in any event, it's my understanding that you do not have to present identification to police unless you're driving a motor vehicle, or are charged with some crime.
the police, the patriarchal authorities, they thrive on intimidation. check out kevin's film and see what they're up to in haiti.
