Ayiti-Forgetting and Remembering

Ayiti-Forgetting and Remembrance
by D.G

Everyone now speaks of the earthquake which reduced Port-au-Prince to rubble,
yet no one remembers the earth shaking revolution in which the slaves freed themselves
and established the first black republic.
Media images of poverty and voodoo, are conjured in our minds, a poisonous magic
that distorts the truth,
of Haiti's rich culture and religious traditions.
The gods of Africa are demonized and despised ,
by those who serve the god of the slave masters.
We rage at the idiocy of one evangelist's words,
yet we still live in ignorance about this island,
the Europeans called Hispaniola, Saint Domingue, Santo Domingo,
once the richest jewel in the Caribbean now known for it's poor.
“discovered” by Columbus, but it is we who need to rediscover this island, where
gods and saints walk among men,
where the raga music of carnival plays,
the sensual rhythms of kompa,
the hard working mothers who keep a spotless house,
a land of vibrant color and beauty
whose true name is Ayiti,
land of mountains,
named by the first inhabitants
put to death by conquistadors' sword and cross,
enriched by the people of Africa who were enslaved
but had the strength to win their freedom.
We forget the exploitation of the isles resources, the occupation of U.S. Marines,
we choose to remember the negative,
and banish Haiti from history's narrative.
Rise Ayiti, from the ashes of history, from the ruins of defeat,
let us remember your glorious past and praise your future.
La Union Fait La Force!