Guelmana Rochelin
What A Haitian Entrepreneur And Haitian-American Nurse Can Teach Us About Identity
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“I am a woman first. And then a strong Haitian woman.”
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“I’m very comfortable with my femininity and my assertiveness. In Haitian culture, women are the center of the household; providers and caretakers. Just because I can cook at home doesn’t mean I can’t run a multimillion dollar business. Feminism, to me, is the freedom to be a complex, multidimensional individual without living my life in silos."
Guelmana RochelinGuelmana Rochelin, Founder & CEO of Mana S.A.
Johaida Jean-FranoisJohaida Jean-Franois, Labor & Delivery RN at Boston Medical Center
From government officials to late night comedy hosts, there has been a lot of conversation around Haiti. But, hearing from those who know it best may offer other narratives on Haiti and on identity. Meet Guelmana Rochelin and Johaida Jean-Franois. One is a Haitian immigrant who returned home to build a company, Mana S.A., in Port-Au-Prince. Another is a first-generation Haitian-American who deftly weaves her values into the work she does as a Labor and Delivery Registered Nurse at Boston Medical Center.A Tale of Two LivesGuelmana tells a story of growing up in an idyllic community in Côteaux, Haiti. “…Tranquil, warm, and family-oriented…My great-grandmother lived with us and the entire extended family all lived a stone’s throw from one another.” Even after her family immigrated to the United States and put down roots in Philadelphia, her passion and love for Haiti never abated. In fact, she was so certain of her future, upon becoming a naturalized citizen, she told her parents, “You guys are taking something from me. I can never be President of any country now.” Luckily, she had other ideas of how to impact Haiti. After attending Villanova University and Harvard Business School, she worked at Goldman Sachs and co-founded a healthcare company with her sister, Affinity Healthcare Solutions. But the lure of Haiti always beckoned. Eventually, on a visit back to Haiti, she realized it was time to return and began to build a venture that would provide economic opportunity to the Haitian community, Mana S.A. The idea came from Guelmana’s realization that the small purchasing power of most Haitians made it hard for many to buy a box of cereal. She also observed some very enterprising merchants buy a box of cereal and then sell individual servings of cereal on the side of the road. And with that, Mana S.A. was born. Guelmana imported machines from around the world, built her own production line, created the cornflakes at the facility, and began to make individual servings of cornflakes. And as we learned on Conan O’Brien, many find the cornflakes pretty tasty. Guelmana’s hope is that by providing employees a living wage – one that enables them to not only feed their family, but also invest in their children's education, she will help lay the foundation of Haiti’s future.Johaida’s story begins in Everett, Massachusetts with deep roots firmly entrenched in Haiti. Her mother worked in the telecommunications industry in Haiti and upon immigrating to the U.S., transitioned into healthcare. As the matriarch of the family, her mother served as a spiritual pillar, as well as a constant source of inspiration. According to Johaida, “I have never seen her struggles, but I have always seen the result of her struggles. And they were always good.” Growing up, Johaida was reminded in ways glaring and subtle that she was different. Sometimes it was the bottle of Malta in her lunch as opposed to her fellow students’ Capri juice pouches. Or the incredulous remark when a person with long hair and light skin was discovered to be of Haitian descent. She channeled her frustration and anger in those experiences towards her education. Johaida graduated from Rivier University, successfully passed the NCLEX-RN, her nursing boards, upon first attempt, and following her mother’s footsteps, entered the healthcare industry. She wanted a community focused on the care of others, not dissimilar to the community her mother experienced in Haiti. Johaida chose to work at Boston Medical Center because as the largest safety net hospital in New England, BMC serves a very diverse population. According to their website, 57% of patients are from under-served populations and 32% of patients do not speak English as a primary language. Despite the numerous languages heard throughout the halls of BMC, as Johaida says, she speaks a universal language: comfort in holding a patient’s hand, care in rubbing a patient’s back, and safety in reassuring eye contact.
Being Haitian, Being a WomanI am always curious to see how women live their multifaceted identities. And it was not surprising to see that Johaida and Guelmana had differing views on how to live their complex identities.For Johaida, she emphatically said, “I am a woman first. And then a strong Haitian woman.” Much of our conversation centered around her work caring for so many new women and newborns. Being surrounded by such diverse women going through a common experience drives her strong gender identity.Guelmana’s answer was more complicated. “I’m very comfortable with my femininity and my assertiveness. In Haitian culture, women are the center of the household; providers and caretakers. Just because I can cook at home doesn’t mean I can’t run a multimillion dollar business. Feminism, to me, is the freedom to be a complex, multidimensional individual without living my life in silos."Both emphasize the importance of choices and the refusal to be categorized and put into a box. And despite their different professional paths, both live lives infused with passion, surrounded by community, and guided by family. Johaida and Guelmana approach their multifaceted identities differently, but one common aspect of their narratives holds true – they have a lot of pride in the strength and resilience of the first black republic, Haiti.By: Peggy Yu for Forbes.com | February 1, 2018
GOP Lawmaker Matt Gaetz Slams Haiti: ‘Sheet Metal And Garbage’ Everywhere You Look
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z31C6I9YUbg[/embedyt]Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) slammed Haiti on Tuesday, saying the country is covered with garbage and that conditions there are “disgusting.”
Gaetz was defending President Donald Trump, who last week reportedly dismissed Haiti and African nations as “shithole” countries while meeting with lawmakers to discuss immigration.
Trump has denied the comments.
“I would not pick those terms, but I would say that the conditions in Haiti are deplorable, they are disgusting,” Gaetz told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. “I mean, everywhere you look in Haiti, it’s sheet metal and garbage when I was there.”
Earlier in the conversation, Hayes tried to engage Gaetz by asking how he’d feel if someone used Trump’s reported language to describe Florida.
“If I called ― and you’ll forgive me for using the language of the president ― but if I called Okaloosa County a shithole, you’d understandably be upset with that, right?” Hayes asked.
Gaetz, whose district includes much of Okaloosa County, replied:
“Yes; I could also prove you wrong, because I could bring you to Okaloosa County and show you that it’s the home of the most beautiful beaches in America. I don’t know that in Haiti they can make the same claim.”
Trump’s comment set off protests by the Haitian-American community, including a demonstration outside Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Monday.
“I don’t want my kids to grow up thinking their parents are from a shithole country,” protester James Leger said, according to NBC Miami. “We’re asking you to apologize to the Haitians.”
Another protester wanted to remind Trump that Haitian immigrants contribute to America.
“The president does not understand us,” Jean Bruny, a Haitian pastor in West Palm Beach, told the Palm Beach Post on Monday. “We are not coming here to do any bad thing, we are coming here for a better life and to help our family in Haiti. We pay taxes, we buy houses, we contribute to the United States.”By: Ed Mazza for HuffingtonPost.com | January 16, 2018
Trump meets with GOP Haitian-American congresswoman amid fallout from obscene remarks
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uvlvxiKec8[/embedyt] (CNN)Republican Rep. Mia Love discussed immigration with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office for half an hour Tuesday, just two days after she said she believed the President made racist remarks about Haitians during a meeting with lawmakers.
"This morning's meeting was substantive and productive. We discussed the importance and urgency of finding a solution for DACA recipients, on enhancing border security, and on implementing reforms to ensure our nation continues to attract the world's top talent, regardless of race," Love said in a statement issued by her office, referencing the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. "I will work with both parties in Congress as well as with the White House to make sure that we reach an agreement."
"I believe Congress can solve the vast majority of the immigration issues the nation faces. There is already agreement on many important aspects. We need to fight against those who have a vested interest in keeping immigration a wedge issue. This has gone unaddressed for far too long. Let's have a real conversation, so Congress can finish the important work we were elected to do."
Love represents Utah and is the first Haitian-American elected to Congress.
Trump came under fire last week after he asked lawmakers why the United States wanted people from "shithole countries" coming into the US, in reference to immigrants from African countries. The President has denied making the comment. Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham, a Democrat and Republican respectively who were in the meeting, have confirmed that Trump made those comments.
In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, Love said she had been contacted by the White House to discuss immigration reform. "I don't know if those comments would be made if I was in the room," she said.
"I know the comments were made. I don't know in which context they were made," she said. "I'm looking forward to finding out what happened, but more importantly, I'm looking forward to fixing the problem."
She added that she still believed Trump should apologize.
"I think that there are people that are looking for an apology and I think that that would show real leadership," she said.
Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as 'shithole' countries
President Donald Trump referred to African countries, Haiti and El Salvador as "shithole" nations during a meeting Thursday and asked why the U.S. can't have more immigrants from Norway.
Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as 'shithole' countriesWASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday referred to Haiti and African nations as "shithole countries" during a meeting with a bipartisan group of senators at the White House, a Democratic aide briefed on the meeting told NBC News.Trump's comments were first reported by The Washington Post, which said the group of nations referred to also included El Salvador.The comments came as senators huddled in the Oval Office with the president to discuss a path forward on an immigration deal. Trump questioned why the United States would want people from nations such as Haiti while he was being briefed on changes to the visa lottery system.According to the aide, when the group came to discussing immigration from Africa, Trump asked why America would want immigrants from "all these shithole countries" and that the U.S. should have more people coming in from places like Norway. Thursday's meeting came one day after Trump met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg at the White House.Ap source familiar with Thursday's meeting told NBC News the president was particularly frustrated during discussions about the visa lottery system — a program Trump has railed against repeatedly in recent months. Another White House source explained the language Trump used as his way of trying to emphasize his support for a merit-based immigration system.The White House issued a statement that did not deny the remarks."Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told NBC Thursday, as part of a lengthy statement that did not directly dispute the language reportedly used in the meeting."He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United States through a legal pathway."Republican congressional reaction trickled in Thursday night, with some statements critical of the reported language calling on the White House to immediately provide an "explanation" or additional "context."But Republican Rep. Mia Love — the daughter of Haitian immigrants herself — released a tough statement calling Trump's comments "unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values" and demanding an apology from the president.And Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said in a tweet that the reported remark "ignores the contributions thousands of Haitians have made to our #SoFla community and nation. Language like that shouldn't be heard in locker rooms and it shouldn't be heard in the White House".It’s not the first time reports have surfaced of Trump speaking unfavorably about immigrants, and Haitians in particular. The New York Times reported in December that Trump said Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS," during a summer 2017 meeting about immigration.According to the Times, Trump also targeted Nigerian immigrants during that meeting, complaining that once they came the United States they would never "go back to their huts." The White House vigorously denied the claims in the story at the time.By: Ali Vitali and Kasie Hunt for NBCnews.com | January 11, 2018
Haiti in crisis: What next after the stolen election?
Addressing an overflow audience in Oakland in late April, Dr. Maryse Narcisse, presidential candidate of Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, spoke about the necessity of reforming the justice system, investing in education and health, and the decisive role of women in the fight for democracy. Reflecting on the devastation wrought by both the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew, she focused on the growing threats posed by climate change to the island nation and the need for a vigorous environmental campaign to meet that threat. She emphasized that the Lavalas movement “places human beings at the center.”Dr. Narcisse spoke in the wake of the selection of Haiti’s new president, Jovenel Moise, a right-wing businessman and protégé of former president Michel Martelly, who took office via an electoral process so replete with fraud and voter suppression that opposition forces called it an “electoral coup.” She denounced the stolen elections and the corrupt electoral commission that validated the outcome.But she reiterated that the deteriorating economic and social conditions in Haiti would be the catalyst for renewed protest in the days and months ahead. “There is no choice,” she stated, “but for the people to resist. And Lavalas will be there to support them.”We can see the truth of this throughout Haiti. Market women – the very heart of Haiti’s economy and the foundation of so many Haitian families’ ability to survive – have been targeted by police trying to move them off the streets of Port-au-Prince, where they have been selling their goods for generations. When the women organized themselves and refused to move, police burned down their stalls.
She reiterated that the deteriorating economic and social conditions in Haiti would be the catalyst for renewed protest in the days and months ahead. “There is no choice,” she stated, “but for the people to resist. And Lavalas will be there to support them.”
On July 10-12, 2017, during three days of peaceful protest for an increase in the minimum wage, Haitian police attacked the workers from the industrial park in Port-au-Prince with tear gas, batons and cannons shooting a liquid skin irritant. They beat a woman who had recently returned to work from giving birth. A few days later, a young book vendor was shot to death in Petionville, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, by a police officer in front of horrified witnesses, who tried to prevent the police from quickly removing the body and covering up the crime. They were attacked with batons and tear gas.There has been a 35 cent increase in the price of gasoline – which was already higher than what we pay here in the United States. The government has also announced plans to reduce government subsidies for oil and gas, which will send the price even higher. The rise in the cost of transportation combined with a hike in the price of food has made already untenable living conditions even worse for the vast majority of Haitians.Former president Michel Martelly came to power in 2011 touting his plan to build new schools and make education free for all. Instead, investment in public education has remained stagnant while tuition for private schooling has skyrocketed. Teachers have been on strike for months, demanding that they be paid after not receiving their salaries for up to two years. This despite the fact the Haitian government adds a surcharge to every international phone call and money transfer, supposedly to fund education.Students have also protested, both in support of their teachers and to denounce the failure of the government to invest in their education. They too have been met with violent repression, exemplified by a recent incident when the rector of the National University of Haiti used his SUV to run over a student protester, landing the student in the hospital in critical condition. A video captured the gruesome sequence. No charges have been filed in the case.The Haitian government has a solution for the crisis in education – more prisons. There are now more than 10,000 Haitians locked up in prison, the majority of whom have never been charged or sentenced. Prisoners are frequently beaten, receive no health care, and live in overcrowded cells, where epidemics spread rapidly.
Cascading catastrophes since the 2004 coup forced Lavalas out of power have not entirely destroyed Haitians’ hope and confidence they can once again exercise the full power of the people. Their constant marching in the face of mortal danger – Haitian police are notorious for firing live ammunition into a marching crowd – demonstrates that power … and their trademark joie de vivre.
When United Nations soldiers from Nepal introduced cholera to Haiti in 2010, the disease swept through Haiti’s prisons, killing hundreds. At the recent opening of a new prison in Haiti’s central plateau, the head of Haiti’s national police, Michel-Ange Gedeon, boasted about the increase in prison construction, saying: “In every society, whenever schools fail in their mission, prisons are built in a cascade to try to right the ship. If offenders are to be neutralized, then prisons are needed to contain them.” This is Haiti’s version of mass incarceration, so well known to Black and Brown communities here in the U.S.Now there are new political prisoners – many of them associated with the Lavalas movement – who were arrested during the sustained wave of protests over the stolen elections. As living conditions worsen and protests sharpen, the prisons will fill even more.All of this, added to the impact of Hurricane Matthew – the biggest storm to hit Haiti in 50 years – has led more Haitians to flee the country. In early July, the Coast Guard intercepted and sent back to Haiti 107 Haitians in a small, dangerously overcrowded boat south of the Bahamas.There are over 4,000 Haitians right now in Tijuana, living in refugee camps. Recruited by occupying forces of Brazil to work in the Rio Olympics, they were pushed out after the games ended. Hoping for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the United States, which has been granted to Haitians since the 2010 earthquake, they instead have been deported or placed in detention camps if they cross the border.When Haitian president Moise traveled to the United States and met with Vice President Mike Pence in June, he refused to meet with Haitians worried about the changes in their TPS status, telling them to “calm down.” In their joint communiqué, Pence and Moise did not mention the migration crisis but did pledge to jointly pursue “an economic reform agenda to attract investment and generate growth.” Moise’s handshake with Pence symbolized just how much of a compliant partner his regime is with the U.S. government as it seeks even more control over Haiti’s economy and future.
When Haitian president Moise traveled to the United States and met with Vice President Mike Pence in June, he refused to meet with Haitians worried about the changes in their TPS status, telling them to “calm down.”
The United Nations Military Occupation Forces (MINUSTAH), which has functioned as a colonial overseer since the 2004 coup, is set to scale down its operation but will remain in Haiti under its new acronym MINUJUSTH (United Nations Mission For Justice Support). MINUJUSTH will consist of 1,185 police officers, and will continue to train and support the Haitian National Police – the same police who beat, tear-gassed and shot pro-democracy protesters during the last electoral cycle.Lt. Gen. Cesar Lopes Loureiro, the head of the Brazilian forces that have been in command of MINUSTAH since the beginning of the occupation, recently issued a glowing report on the accomplishments of MINUSTAH. But he was silent about U.N. responsibility for the cholera outbreak, and failed to mention the numerous cases of rape and other sexual assaults by U.N. soldiers.The U.N. has still not compensated the victims of the cholera epidemic, and it has given impunity to the many soldiers charged with raping Haitians during the long occupation. And there was not one word about the killings by U.N. soldiers of people in pro-Lavalas neighborhoods like Cite Soleil and Bel-Air or in the Port-au-Prince prison.Whether the U.N. calls its operations MINUSTAH or MINJUSTH, the continued presence of its forces, even in the guise of a reframed mission, is a clear assault on Haiti’s sovereignty.
The documentary film “Black in Latin America: Haiti & the Dominican Republic” will be shown on Sept. 14, 7 p.m., at La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. The screening is co-hosted by La Pena and Haiti Action Committee. Pierre Labossiere, co-founder of Haiti Action Committee, will lead a community discussion after the film. For more information, visit https://lapena.org/event/black-latin-america-haiti-dominican-republic/.
What now looms on the horizon is the resurrection of the Haitian military. This has been a key goal of right-wing Haitian forces since President Aristide got rid of the army in 1995. Jovenel Moise has stated that he wants the army in place within two years. The beginnings of that new army have been in the works for years, training at military bases in Ecuador.In a statement to the Miami Herald, the president of the Haitian Senate, Yuri Latortue, who was a central organizer of the 2004 coup, said, “In Haiti we are used to having an army.” Referring to the U.S. occupation of Haiti from 1915-1934, which created the modern Haitian army, Latortue went on to say, and “the Americans understood that if we have the police but not an army, we will not get anywhere.”
What now looms on the horizon is the resurrection of the Haitian military. This has been a key goal of right-wing Haitian forces since President Aristide got rid of the army in 1995.
When Haitian activists speak of the Haitian Army, there is a chill in the air. Before Aristide disbanded it, 40 percent of Haiti’s budget went to the military. In a country with fewer than two doctors per 10,000 people, there was one soldier per 1,000 people.The Army has long been Haiti’s central institution of repression; the main organizer of coups against elected officials, helping to enforce the Duvalier dictatorships and those that followed before the rise of Lavalas. It was the Haitian Army that overthrew Aristide in 1991 and initiated a reign of terror that took over 5,000 lives before Aristide returned in 1994.The goal of the 2004 coup, like the 1991 coup that preceded it, was not only to topple the Aristide government, but also to rid the country of the powerful grassroots movement that has activated, energized and given voice to Haiti’s poor. That goal has not been accomplished. A stolen election cannot hide this reality.Throughout her campaign, Dr. Narcisse, often accompanied by former President Aristide, was greeted by tens of thousands of supporters in the poorest communities of Haiti. A vibrant Lavalas presence was evident across the country.In the face of decades of COINTELPRO-style counterinsurgency, including imprisonment, the killing and exile of thousands, attempts to buy off activists and encourage internal strife, Lavalas once again showed its significant base among Haiti’s majority population. In or out of government, this strength will serve as a bulwark against the harsh austerity program already being put into place by Moise and his U.S. sponsors.At the end of her speech in Oakland, Dr. Narcisse highlighted the grassroots work of the Aristide Foundation for Democracy. In the midst of the cholera epidemic, mobile health clinics from the Foundation treated patients who had nowhere else to go.After the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew, President Aristide and Lavalas activists went to Les Cayes, Jeremie and other hard-hit areas to provide medical support, food and clothing. On Haitian Mother’s Day, hundreds of women filled the Foundation to get medical care for themselves and their children.Other clinics took place in mid-July, including on President Aristide’s birthday, July 15. And the University of the Aristide Foundation (UNIFA) continues to grow, providing higher education for over 1,200 students, most of whom could never afford other universities in Haiti.This is a movement that is not going away. As Lavalas digs in for the long haul, those in solidarity with Haiti have to do so as well.by Robert Roth/San Francisco Bay View - September 10, 2017