It’s safe to visit Haiti
At least, some parts…
Dear friends,
As you may know, some time ago I wrote a series of articles on Haiti to introduce the country in a positive way, instead of the usual media horror show.
Of course, the capital, Port au Prince, is a battleground between the National Police and a coalition of brutal gangs. But much of the nation is safe to visit, especially the north and south. Check out this video recounting a recent visit to Cap Haitian, the second-largest city in Haiti.
Yes, you can fly there. While the main airport, Toussaint Louverture in Port au Prince, is closed for now, you can visit Cap Haitian (like our friend above), and Les Cayes and Jérémie in the south on international flights.
If you followed my series on Haiti, you will see how beautiful the country is.
If you are wondering why Haiti’s politics is so bad, don’t point fingers. Because if you’re an American, four fingers point back to you. While you might not like Al Jazeera, this interview with a Haitian scholar spells out why the United States just can’t seem to stop interfering in the country.
Some people in the US have started to perform “land acknowledgements,” which are a way to remember the original natives of North America. For instance, I was born in Newport, Rhode Island, whose original inhabitants were the Narragansetts. Indeed, my home was on Narragansett Bay…
On January 1, 1804, the triumphant former slaves who had driven out the most powerful army of the time, Napoleon’s, founded a republic—the first black republic and the first founded by freed slaves. They decided not to call their land “Saint Domingue” anymore, nor “New Africa” or something. They chose the name “Haiti.” That was the name used by the Taino, the natives who welcomed Christopher Columbus in 1492. By 1804 there were few survivors, for the Spanish eventually massacred about a million.
But the new republic chose their name for their new country, Haiti, the Land of mountains, in the Taino language. Talk about a land acknowledgement! And talk about a people who did something like that. Imagine if we called my hometown “Aquidnic,” the Narragansetts’ name for the island of “Rhode Island.” It is called Aquidneck Island, but not the town of Newport…or Middletown or Portsmouth, the other island cities.
You need to meet the people who could do something like that, even when the rest of the enslaving world was trying to snuff out their new republic.
So let’s start planning to visit that country, whose people’s will to survive and thrive despite everything will inspire you. And maybe we can bring them hope that Westerners will begin to wise up about The Land of Mountains.
