Jul 9

Jul 9 Relief for Haiti

Demonstrations, Public Declarations, Protest

Sunday morning generally is not the best time to stage a demonstration. Many people are in church. Others are still soundly asleep following a night of frolic and debauchery.

Despite that potential impediment, members of Chicago’s Haitian community staged a demonstration in Daley Plaza at 11:30 AM today. The timing was not of their choosing. Gregory Toussaint, senior pastor of Miami’s Tabernacle of Glory Church, organized a worldwide effort to demand relief for Haiti. Demonstrations were scheduled throughout the United States, Canada, and France, as well as in Haiti, with the timing set to coincide with a speech Toussaint would be given at 1:30 PM CST. It would be broadcast to all satellite locations.

When I first entered Daley Plaza, i immediately concluded that the organizers were spot on when it came to attire. Most of the demonstrators were dressed in white t-shirts, with a blue and red logo brandishing the words “Relief for Haiti” in a paintbrush-inspired font. The same script and colors were incorporated into matching banners. The organizers also handed out small red and blue Haitian-flag pennants, so the entire effort was color coordinated, creating a unified look.

As I walked around Daley Plaza before the announced start time, I paid particular attention to the music blasting from speakers located on a black RAM pickup truck. To the uninitiated, the music probably brought Reggae to mind, but the tempo was faster and the mix was lighter. I am certainly no expert, but most likely I was hearing Haitian Kompa or Compas music—the latter is probably the correct spelling. In any event, the rhythm cut through the hot air, creating a cool vibe that had many in the crowd dancing or twirling in place.

Despite the festive atmosphere, the demonstrators had gathered to highlight the serious issues facing Haiti and its people. Their focus was on the increasing prevalence of gangs in Haitian society, and the violence perpetrated by them.

There is currently legislation pending in Congress—Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act of 2023—addressing those gangs. One of the demonstration’s primary purposes was to urge Congress to pass the bill. With over 2,000,000 people of Haitian descent living in the United States, Pastor Toussaint and other diaspora leaders hope grassroots lobbying efforts like today’s coordinated demonstrations will speed passage.

This bill requires the Department of State to provide an annual report to Congress on ties between criminal gangs and political and economic elites in Haiti. The bill also requires the President to impose visa-and property-blocking sanctions on certain individuals identified in the report if appropriate under specified U.S. laws.

Among other things, the report must: (i) identify prominent criminal gangs in Haiti; (ii) list Haitian political and economic elites that have links to criminal gangs; (iii) assess how collusion between Haitian political and economic elites and criminal gangs threatens the Haitian people and U.S. national interests; and (iv) assess what actions the governments of the United States and Haiti could take to address those threats.

According to a press release, over 110,000 people signed a petition in support of the legislation during a single week.

Despite the likely hit to attendance, the Chicago demonstrators acquitted themselves well. When the march left Daley Plaza, headed to Michigan Avenue, there were probably 125 people in the formation. By the time the group reached Federal Plaza, the number had grown to 175 people—some of the demonstrators most likely came directly from church services.

Unfortunately, there was one noteworthy snafu. Before Pastor Toussaint’s speech was broadcast, four or five local people spoke to those assembled in Federal Plaza. Rather than setting up a podium, the organizers positioned those orators on the north-end of the block, along the sidewalk, which meant that a row of trees and concrete benches stood between those speaking and those listening in the plaza. While some demonstrators were attentive, many simply milled about in the sun. There was little apparent connection between those holding the microphone and their intended audience.

The organizers were relying on the sound system positioned on the RAM truck, which was parked on Adams. The sound system was presumably being powered either by the truck’s battery, or a power pack, which likely accounts for the odd positioning of those speaking relative to the people in the plaza. For their next demonstration, the organizers would be wise to raise the necessary funds to rent a portable sound system, as well as a podium to elevate those addressing the crowd.

I would have stayed for Pastor Toussaint’s speech, but I needed to head north for the Ukrainian demonstration scheduled to begin at 2:30 PM. As I walked north up Dearborn, I had only one question: Would the Ukrainians put as many people on the proverbial board today as the Haitians did?

Post Script. I subsequently found Pastor Toussaint’s speech online. One thing is for sure: Toussaint is a charismatic speaker. During his 32-minute address, Toussaint asked all those present in Miami and the satellite sites for unity, “What are the politicians doing? What are the bourgeoisie doing? What is the international community doing? We are asking the wrong question. What are we doing? That’s the real question.”

Toussaint then urged people to vote, but not to “sell your vote. Your vote is your conscious, and your vote is your country.”

He then turned to the immediate problem facing Haiti—the two types of bandits: bandits in sandals and bandits in suits. For him, the far more pernicious bandits are the ones in suits, because they use the bandits in sandals as the means to increased wealth. To combat the vandals in suits, Congress, according to Toussaint, must pass the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act of 2023.

Toussaint then demanded that Haitians be given a seat at the table where Haiti’s fate is determined. According to Toussaint, “If we are not at the table, we are on the menu.”

He then finished his remarks by defining the current generation of Haitians at the “Joshua generation. We are in the wilderness, but we can see the promised land: the new Haiti.”

He then repeatedly asked, “Do you see it?,” finally concluding, “Haiti for Christ. Christ for Haiti.”

Interestingly, when he was speaking about the pending legislation, he spoke in English, as if he were addressing Congress. At other times, he spoke in either French or Haitian Creole. I don’t know either, but I suspect it was Haitian Creole because that is the language of the people.

I certainly hope he visits Chicago for a rally.

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