In November 2011, the group performed a poem montage on the Champ-de-Mars for the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (in collaboration with the
Haitian grassroots women’s organization KOFAVIV, Komisyon Fanm Viktim pou Viktim).
KoJePens members have been hard at work on a play, a comedy about NGOs and domestic
servitude, and just submitted some texts for a Haiti-focused edition of Callaloo literary
magazine.

The following are short performance pieces by several young artists involved in Konbit des
Jeunes Penseurs. Special thanks to Laura Wagner for all her hard work and dedication in
translating all the performances. For more information on Konbit des Jeunes Penseurs, please
visit their website: http://storiesfromhaiti.wordpress.com.

Élie Dupalis performing Geto (Ghetto)

Assephie Petit-Frère performing Fanm (Woman):

Gerty Metellus performing Twòp poum pale (Too Much for Me to Say):

Bazelet St. Louis performing Wi 2 mil 10 (Yes, 2010):

Bazelet St. Louis performing Plezi Pa m’ (My Pleasure):

Listen to the radio piece here!

Lena Jackson, co- Director and co- Director of Photography for the Democracy in Haiti film, arrived in Haiti, for a second time, just before the highly anticipated second round of presidential elections took place.
In this report she summarizes the political climate and shares stories from the Democracy in Haiti production team.

[Election Poster found in Port-Au-Prince.
Photo Credit: Lena Jackson]

Lena Jackson, April 6th, 2011, Guatemala:

A lot has changed in Haiti since the first round of the presidential elections in November; a lot hasn’t. There has been an air of uncertainty leaving many people unclear about how the tense political climate would play out after the upheaval that unraveled after the early December announcement that Mirlande Manigat and Jude Celestin would compete in the spring run-off for the nation’s next president.

Things were hot when I arrived in Port-au-Prince in mid-March. The second round of the elections was just around the corner and two former presidents were either back in the country or en route. Jean-Claude Duvalier (aka Baby Doc), the former President of Haiti who ruled the country from 1971 until his overthrow in 1986, had made a surprise comeback in January after living in exile for 25 years. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the liberation theologian turned Haiti’s first democratically elected president, who had also been in exile since he was forcibly removed in 2004, was planning a contested return to the country, against the advice of the American government and much of the international community. American progressives Danny Glover, actor, and Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now, escorted him back days after I landed and days before the March 20 election date. The cholera epidemic, which has been plaguing the country since late 2010, was starting to show signs of slowing down and reconstruction efforts by the Haitian government and the many international aid organizations that have been in the country since the January 2010 earthquake were making slow and steady movements forward. In late February, in a decision made by the OAS and other factions of the international community, Jude Celestin was disqualified from the 2nd round. The race would be between Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly, leading many to question its legitimacy and fairness. Would the election results be representative of the wants of the Haitian people or of the international community?

On one of my first nights back in PAP, Peter Berlus, Mackendy Jeune and I hit downtown to shoot the Michel Martelly concert, which would be one of his last hoorahs before ending his campaign efforts. He was joined by Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel (both formally of the hip-hop trio The Fugees) and spoke to a crowd of thousands of fans. The crowd was vibrant and passionate and made up mostly of young people, who could probably relate more with a former Kompa singer than Manigat, a former first lady, senator, and law professor. There was tet kale (Martelly’s campaign slogan, which means “bald head”) fever that night and all over the city of Port-au-Prince. People wanted change and were putting their bets on Martelly.

[Martelly Election Posters.
Photo Credit: Lena Jackson]

We took to the streets on Sunday, March 20, Election Day. We arrived at a polling station at around 9am to find crowds of people waiting outside (they open at 6am). Peter and Mackendy scouted the situation and discovered that people were outside because ballot sheets had not yet been delivered. Minutes later, a storm of UN tanks came rolling down the street. Getting out of their armed cars, the MINUSTAH representatives explained the situation to everyone waiting and assured them that the necessary supplies were on their way. About half an hour later, more cars pulled up and the crowds of people that were gathered in the streets now rushed to the front gates of the station, eager to cast their ballots. Aside from this slight misstep, everything seemed much calmer than the fervor that took the streets last Election Day. There was no 2pm press conference called to contest massive fraud, people still waited hours to vote, but not for as long, and by 5pm, when voting stations were beginning to close, streets were relatively quiet for Port-au-Prince. Now came the wait.

[Boxes of votes. Photo Credit: Lena Jackson]

After the elections were over and the wait was on, we focused our attention on our characters. We were able to reconnect with many of the artists we followed during my last trip and have been following since. From Jerry, the PAP-based graffiti artist, to EUD, one of the few female MC’s in the Haitian rap game, to Jonas, a singer, musician and young activist, these talented artists seemed more motivated to work on their art given the rather crazed societal context.

[A recent piece by M. Jerry Rosembert. Photo Credit: Lena Jackson]

[Hip hop artist, EUD. Photo Credit: Lena Jackson]

[Young musician and activist Jonas Attis. Photo Credit: Lena Jackson]

Jerry was painting more than ever and was getting commissioned by all sorts of people for various campaigns; EUD had just wrapped two albums, and; Jonas was not only recording but working as a youth volunteer for the election council. Whether the election results and the new president will bring change is unclear, however, these young people were taking action in their own way and inspiring others around them.

We were also able to re-visit a young writer’s workshop, KoJePens — the Konbit
des Jeunes Penseurs (Gathering of Young Thinkers in English), run by two young women, one American, one Haitian. The group meets every Saturday afternoon for several hours and was formed by these two women, Laura and Marlene, who simply gathered young, interested men and women from Marlene’s Cite Soleil neighborhood, and started meeting to share their experiences in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. The group focuses mostly on writing short stories and poetry. These kinds of things are popping up everywhere in Haiti. Young people, frustrated by the current situation and the unreliability of the Haitian government and international organizations, have turned to each other. We can only hope that these sorts of grassroots projects will continue to grow and merge to form a stronger youth coalition that will help change the course of the country.

[Young female poet and student, Assephie Petit-Frère. Photo Credit: Lena Jackson]

However, not all young people have these sorts of outlets. Jerry is one of the only, and certainly the most popular, graffiti artists in Haiti. As mentioned before, EUD is one of the only female MC’s in the country. Young people are still grossly disenfranchised, which is probably why, at least from my experience in Port-au-Prince, Michel Martelly was the buzz. There is a huge sense of frustration and discontent amongst the majority of the Haitian population, especially the youth, who feel very disconnected with the establishment. Martelly, for some reason or another, represents a rebel, a political outsider, who may or may not be able to shake things up and really invoke some change. A lot of the support may be bogus and unfounded, for Martelly is a far cry from an angel, but the youth’s attachment to him reminds me very much of my generation’s attachment to President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. After years of feeling underrepresented and a growing apathy towards politics in general, Barack Obama brought a new light to the political table. He was running on a campaign of change and was targeting young people, who he knew wanted to see this change most of all. Popular amongst the poor and younger generations who want to see that kind of change as well, Martelly has vowed to focus more on education, reestablishing the Haitian military, and a proper distribution of the billions of dollars of aid money promised to the country over a year ago.

Two days ago, preliminary election results came in, saying that Michel Martelly had had a landslide victory against Manigat, getting nearly 68% of the vote. Although Martelly has been thought to be the favorite over the last few weeks, lots of people were still unsure about what the results would be, given the large percentage of the population without voting cards and the overwhelming majority of people eligible to vote who did not actually go to the polls. However, Monday’s announcement speaks incredible truth for the desire to change. Manigat may have been a more qualified candidate, but Martelly was a new face, a face that many Haitians feel they need.

The final results will be announced in another two weeks. Things are taking longer this time because the Electoral Council wants to make sure that as few irregularities occur as possible. If Martelly ends up with meaningful ways to transform the country and being the clean politician he is claiming he will be, fantastic. However, I have a feeling most people aren’t going to be relying on that. Young Haitians will be relying on their spray cans, their words, their music, themselves, because these are the things that have gotten them through their lives so far and will continue to get them through. Many of the young people I talked to and interviewed have a tremendous amount of hope in themselves and their abilities; however, they realize that change will not just come from hoping. It comes from a continued effort in organizing at a grassroots level. It comes from properly guided foreign assistance that actually reaches the Haitian population, instead of going through layers upon layers of bureaucracy, and that provides educational training and job opportunities. It comes from a sustained, systematic approach to agriculture that both trains Haitians in integrating new techniques with new machinery and allows them to become self-dependent. And at the most basic level, it comes from a focus on rebuilding the public education system, to create an educated class of Haitian people that will be devoted to work towards infrastructure development. Change can come to Haiti, and with the majority of its population being under 30, it is up to the young people to take those steps forward. Haiti’s future is dependent on it. After hanging out around some pretty inspiring young folks during my time in Port-au-Prince, I have faith that this change will come, but it may not come from a Carnival singer or a professor, it comes from within.

[Kids roller blading and playing soccer in front of the Cathedral, which was destroyed by the earthquake.
Photo Credit: Lena Jackson]

Please visit Democracy in Haiti on Facebook for MORE PHOTOS

Written by Lena Jackson, in Guatemala.

[En Francais un peu plus bas]
In October 2010, Haitian NGO APROSIFA (with the support of ALTERNATIVES) invited the Montreal-based hip hop super group Nomadic Massive to come to Port Au Prince and conduct arts workshops with young aspiring artists living in the neighborhood of Carrefour Feuilles. As an exercise both in empowerment and healing, the week of workshops resulted in a unique and powerful learning experience for both Nomadic Massive and the participants. This short is the 1st of a series of shorts documenting this project, and a model of youth development that should be replicated around the world.

DP/Editor… Magee McIlvaine
Director… Magee McIlvaine
Sponsors… Nomadic Massive, APROSIFA, ALTERNATIVES, Nomadic Wax
Translation…. Diegal, Vox Sambou, Magee McIlvaine

nomadicwax.com
nomadicmassive.com

En octobre 2010, Alternatives et son partenaires haïtien APROSIFA invitaient à Port-au-Prince le super groupe de Hip Hop montréalais Nomadic Massive pour tenir une série d’ateliers avec de jeunes musiciens et artistes du quartier populaire de Carrefour-Feuilles.

Puissant et salutaire, l’exercice bénéficia autant aux jeunes participants haïtiens qu’aux membres du groupe !

Ce film est le premier d’une série documentant ce projet, un modèle pour le développement des jeunes qui devrait être repris partout sur la planète.

réalisation et montage :
Magee McIlvaine Director…
Magee McIlvaine avec le support de Nomadic Massive, APROSIFA, ALTERNATIVES, Nomadic Wax

Traduction…. Diegal, Vox Sambou, Magee McIlvaine

Lena Jackson, co- Director and co- Director of Photography for the Democracy in Haiti film, arrived in Haiti as the nation readied itself for the first round of presidential elections scheduled for Nov 28th, 2010.

Here she summarizes the production phase of the film completed in December 2010. A second phase of production for the film is planned for the second round of the vote, to be held in March.

[Haiti skyline. Photo by: Magee McIlvaine]

Lena Jackson, Jan 27th, 2010, Guatemala:

I arrived in Port-au-Prince, the bustling capital city of the small Caribbean island of Haiti, a week before the monumental presidential election was scheduled to take place. Under the auspices of Nomadic Wax, a global hip-hop production company and record label that dedicates itself to disseminating underground music around the world, I was on a mission to capture what life was like in Haiti, through the eyes of its youngest, and also most vulnerable and populous, citizens. Within hours of landing, I had gotten together with a Haitian team, who I’d be working with for the duration of my two-week stay, and figured out a plan of action for our documentary film project.

To give you some background on the project, the idea began through a meeting between Vox Sambou, a Haitian-born emcee/activist, now based in Montreal and Magee McIlvaine, Creative Director of Nomadic Wax, who met and brainstormed about a potential documentary project around music, youth, and politics in Haiti, possibly during the presidential election, slated for November 28, 2010. The project’s intentions were to bring awareness to the positive things that people in Haiti are doing in spite of all the negative media that constantly surrounds the country. We thought it necessary to focus on young people, given their utter importance in future progress of the island nation. Additionally, young people, not only in Haiti but across the world, are often not heard, not given a voice, not given a chance to show the kinds of contributions they are making in light of hardship, and we wanted to give the youth of Haiti a chance to express themselves and their views.

[Lena Jackson, middle, on site in Haiti. Photo by: Mackendy Jeune]

The first person who I had the great fortune of interviewing was the talented graffiti artist, Jerry Rosembert. Jerry, a 25 year Haitian man, who has dedicated himself, especially since the earthquake, to painting in public spaces around the city, is poised, eloquent, and most impressively, down-to-earth. While I don’t speak Haitian Creole, which was most definitely a setback and the most challenging part of the trip, I was lucky to be paired with a trio of talented filmmakers and activists, Mackendy Jeune, James Berlus, and Peter Berlus, who conducted all of our interviews.

Along with Jerry, our other central characters were EUD, a stunning female emcee and model, and Rodlin, a young student and poet, who had just moved to Port-au-Prince from his hometown of Lembe, in the northern part of the country, in hopes of attending university. As a film team, we wanted a story that would encapsulate life as a young person in Haiti, but also wanted to focus on the inspiring things young Haitians were doing to uplift themselves and their country, and these three are excellent examples of young people who are doing exactly that.

In addition to Jerry, EUD, and Rodlin, we met and interviewed several other young artists, musicians, politicians, writers, and activists, who, in spite of all the daily challenges that they face, were doing important, inspirational work. Having these daily interactions, whether it was conducting an interview, listening to music, or watching an emcee battle, was the most meaningful part of my journey. On top of being in a Haiti at the height of political uneasiness and social upheaval, I was able to meet and become friends with people who believed that they and their brethren would be able to change the course of their country’s future with the work they were doing. Considering Haiti’s current circumstance, this faith was a commanding force that moved me and will hopefully move audiences and fellow Haitian people to persevere and have hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

[Rodlin. Photo by: Mackendy Jeune]

In between interviews and jam sessions, we also tried to get a sense of the political climate. With 19 candidates running for president, a few of which were early front-runners, including a former Carnival singer, Sweet Mickey, a former First Lady, Mirlande Manigat, and the hand-picked successor to current president Rene Preval, Jude Celestin, tensions were high throughout the country. Streets were covered with posters and flags with candidates not only for president, but also for deputy and senate. Young people roamed the streets with t-shirts and hats of candidates, who were paying them to distribute flyers and information, in hopes of encouraging other young people to vote for them. Trucks covered in these posters passed by blasting a not so varied assortment of Rara music with messages that backed the different candidates. A few days before Election Day, we were driving downtown and ran across a large rally where people were condemning the arrival and spread of Cholera. The Friday before the election, NGO workers were put on a weekend lock-down and everyone stocked up on supplies in preparation for things to potentially be closed for the next few days, depending on the madness that could arise. No one knew what to expect.

[Voting box. Photo by: Mackendy Jeune] [Campaign Posters. Photo by: Mackendy Jeune]

[Polling stations. Photo by: Mackendy Jeune]

On the Sunday of the election, streets were relatively quiet. Roads were closed to most people, except those who had special permission, such as the press, dignitaries, etc. We started taking footage of different polling stations around the city to get a feel of the voting process and how people felt about the election. After covering several stations, we rushed to the Karibe Hotel in Petionville after hearing on the radio that 12 of the 19 candidates were holding a press conference to object to the election results due to massive fraud and irregularities. After the conference was over, several of the candidates took to the streets to march to the Central Electoral Office (CEP) to protest the impending results. I, like many other people I talked with, agreed that the elections were most probably filled with fraud and irregularities, but had to wonder why these candidates waited until Election Day to raise the question.

[Voting. Photo by: Mackendy Jeune]

The week after the election, things were calmer, but there was still a level of mystery in the air. People were uncertain as to what would happen, as the results were not to be announced for a few weeks. People complained about the corruption and the inefficiencies, making me wonder why there was even an election to begin with. If everyone knew that things would not be carried out in a democratic way, why waste all of the time, effort, and most importantly money on something like this in the wake of Cholera and a country that has made very little reconstructive progress since the earthquake on January 12th. However confused or frustrated I may have felt was irrelevant, because at the end of the day life continued. People kept playing music, kept making graffiti, kept writing, the young people of Haiti kept faith alive that they would get through this, like they had every other obstacle thrown in their path.

I left Port-au-Prince the week after the election. Two weeks is not nearly enough to get a full grasp of the situation at present, but it was enough to meet some very motivating people and capture some of their thoughts on the intricacies of life in the ever-changing, ever-complicated, ever-beautiful country of Haiti. It was also enough time to appreciate the meaning of collaboration. Although I was the one with the camera, the film could have never been made without the partnership of our Haitian team, who had most of our on the ground contacts, access to transportation, and language ability. Being a foreign woman, who doesn’t speak the language, and is carrying around a huge camera, can be a daunting thought, however, the project was able to take precedence over all of those potential fears because of the support of Mackendy, James and Peter. They have continued to film and keep up with our characters and the political status, and will wrap the project for us after the 2nd round of the election is over.

Written by Lena Jackson, in Guatemala.

For more information, please visit www.democracyinhaiti.com

Below is a selection of Rodlin’s poetry:

Kado Bondje
By Rodlin

Grenn je n mèt fiskare lesyèl

Nou mèt chache ziltik lonbray

Menm anba bra n

Nou p ap fouti jwenn lakontantman

Kado Bondye pa pou tout moun

Jou n bare lalin nan libètinay

Nou mèt konnen zetwèl nou fin file

Dènye jou n se nan men lèzòt

N ap pase l

© 2011 Rodlin

Gift of God

By Rodlin

Our eyes could be fixed upon the sky.

We could look for shadows for eternity

But under our arms we could never find happiness

The Gift of God is not for everyone

The day we catch the moon in depravity

We would then understand our shooting star had gone

We will spend our last day in the hands of others

Nomadic Wax, Vox Sambou and ProVision