"Ten Things the U.S. Can and Should Do For Haiti"

by Bill Quigley

One. Allow all Haitians in the US to work. The number one source of money for poor people in Haiti is the money sent from family and workers in the US back home. Haitians will continue to help themselves if given a chance. Haitians in the US will continue to help when the world community moves on to other problems.

Two. Do not allow US military in Haiti to point their guns at Haitians. Hungry Haitians are not the enemy. Decisions have already been made which will militarize the humanitarian relief – but do not allow the victims to be cast as criminals. Do not demonize the people.

Three.Give Haiti grants as help, not loans. Haiti does not need any more debt. Make sure that the relief given helps Haiti rebuild its public sector so the country can provide its own citizens with basic public services.

Four. Prioritize humanitarian aid to help women, children and the elderly. They are always moved to the back of the line. If they are moved to the back of the line, start at the back.

Five. President Obama can enact Temporary Protected Status for Haitians with the stroke of a pen. Do it. The US has already done it for El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Sudan and Somalia. President Obama should do it on Martin Luther King Day.

Six. Respect Human Rights from Day One. The UN has enacted Guiding Principles for Internally Displaced People. Make them required reading for every official and non-governmental person and organization. Non governmental organizations like charities and international aid groups are extremely powerful in Haiti – they too must respect the human dignity and human rights of all people.

Seven. Apologize to the Haitian people everywhere for Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh.

Eight. Release all Haitians in US jails who are not accused of any crimes. Thirty thousand people are facing deportations. No one will be deported to Haiti for years to come. Release them on Martin Luther King day.

Nine. Require that all the non-governmental organizations which raise money in the US be transparent about what they raise, where the money goes, and insist that they be legally accountable to the people of Haiti.

Ten. Treat all Haitians as we ourselves would want to be treated.

Too LIttle Too Late? Maybe, Maybe Not,

Published on Saturday, January 16, 2010 by CommmonDreams.org

Too Little Too Late for Haiti? Six Sobering Points

by Bill Quigley

Point One. $100 Million - Are You Kidding Me?

President Obama promised $100 million in aid to Haiti on January 14, 2009. A Kentucky couple won $128 million in a Powerball lottery on December 24, 2009. The richest nation in the history of the world is giving powerball money to a neighbor with tens of thousands of deaths already?

Point Two. Have You Ever Been Without Water?

Hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti have had no access to clean water since the quake hit. Have you ever been in a place that has no water? Have you ever felt the raw fear in the gut when you are not sure where your next drink of water is going to come from? People can live without food for a long time. Without water? A very short time. In hot conditions people can become dehydrated in an hour. Lack of water puts you into shock and starts breaking down the body right away. People can die within hours if they are exposed to heat without water.

Point Three. Half the People in Haiti are Kids and They Were Hungry Before the Quake.

Over half the population of Haiti is 15 years old or younger. And they were hungry before the quake. A great friend, Pere Jean-Juste, explained to me that most of the people of Haiti wake every day not knowing how they will eat dinner that day. So there are no reserves, no soup kitchens, no pantries, nothing for most. Hunger started immediately.

Point Four. A Toxic Stew of Death is Brewing.

Take hundreds of thousands of people. Shock them with a major earthquake and dozens of aftershocks. Take away their homes and put them out in the open. Take away all water and food and medical care. Sit them out in the open for days with scorching temperatures. Surround them with tens of thousands of decaying bodies. People have to drink. So they are drinking bad water. They are getting sick. There is no place to go. What happens next?

Point Five. Aid is Sitting at the Airport.

While millions suffer, humanitarian aid is sitting at the Port au Prince airport. Why? People are afraid to give it out for fear of provoking riots. Which is worse?

Point Six. Haiti is Facing A Crisis Beyond Our Worst Nightmares.
"I think it is going to be worse than anyone still understands." Richard Dubin, vice president of Haiti shipping lines told the New York Times.

He is so right. Unless there is a major urgent change in the global response, the world may look back and envy those tens of thousands who died in the quake.
Wake up world!

Bill is Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. He is a Katrina survivor and has been active in human rights in Haiti for years with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. Quigley77@gmail.com

Haiti needs our help...

Please help the earthquake victims in Haiti...

 Or send your contributions to 

Bassin Zim EDF

PO Box 360125

Brooklyn, NY 11236

Telephone: (917) 378-2192

Email:seeds@seedsforhaiti.org

Bassin Zim EDF is a non-profit organization that provides short term aid to disaster victims, and supports long-term agricultural and environmental improvement in Haiti . Bassin Zim EDF supports peasant organizing, education, and women owned businesses, and serve as a conduit for financial donations to Haitian organizations.

Green Party Black Caucus (GPBC) Protest Odious Redemptionist-era rulings being invoked by the Department of Justice

The BLACK CAUCUS OF THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES (GPBC) in a letter of protest to Attorney General, Eric Holder registered their strong objection that in this case of controversy an Assistant United States Attorney in the Department of Justice in argument before the Appellate Court has invoked odious Redemptionist-era rulings of the Supreme Court that reestablished white supremacy and overturned Reconstruction. A position that denigrates the memory of that provision of the constitution that gave full expression to the founding principle of our nation for which that "band of brothers" of European and African descent "gave the last full measure of devotion" in the United States Civil War.

Asa Gordon's  Oral Argument on Democratizing the Electoral College, a major voting rights civil action  endorsed by the Green Party Black Caucus in 2004, has been scheduled for oral argument in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (No. 09-5142) on Thursday, January 14, 2010.

The civil action, Gordon v. Biden (formerly Gordon v. Cheney), addresses the mal-apportionment of Electoral College votes, voter dilution by race and/or party affiliation with the popular vote misrepresented by the winner-take-all system of allocating electoral votes. The civil action seeks relief against the Vice President who presides over the tabulation of "unbound Southern electoral states" who by practice, unsupported by state or federal statute, traditionally award Presidential Electors on a "winner-take-all basis" in violation of the mal-apportionment penalty clause pursuant to Amend. XIV§2 as implemented by 2U.S.C.§6. All Court Documents, links, Green Party of the United States Press Releases and other materials related to the action are available online at http://www.electors.us.

"This is an unconscionable position to be taken by the Department of Justice under the leadership of an Attorney General of the United States of African descent serving in the Administration of the first President of the United States of African descent", say Black Caucus officials in their letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Gordon filed the Democratizing the Electoral College Civil Action on July 28th, 2008, to commemorate the Century and Two Score years anniversary of the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Good Luck Linda Thompson, You Claimed it

Harrisburg Mayor-elect Linda Thompson's inaugural ball expected to draw hundreds | Breaking Midstate News...: "Harrisburg Mayor-elect Linda Thompson's inaugural ball expected to draw hundreds
By DAN MILLER, The Patriot-News

January 02, 2010, 12:00AM"