Today, any human being with half a heart is thinking about the suffering people of Haiti. Here are some initial links:
Make aid donations via the organization Madre.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide--the rightfully elected president who was ousted, kidnaped and forcibly flown out of the country in a coup not only orchestrated but openly carried out by the U.S. in 2004 and who now lives in exile in South Africa--mourns "a tragedy that defies expression."
The brilliant Haitian-American novelist Edwidge Danticat was on Democracy Now this morning.
The Brooklyn-based newspaper Haiti Progress does not yet have anything posted online, but we should keep checking, for this organ of the Haitian left will be one of the best sources for accurate information. I'm sending all solidarity to my sisters and brothers at Haiti Progress and in the Lavalas movement.
I'll also be checking Granma for Cuba's response, which will undoubtedly be substantial material aid unless the U.S. blocks it.
Why is a natural disaster so much more devastating for some countries than others? It's an apt moment to return to the collection Haiti: A Slave Revolution for some of the answers, rooted in history.
