Haiti Activists: Prosecute Baby Doc, Return Aristide

By Haiti Action Committee
Special to TheBlackHour.com

Haiti Action Committee strongly supports the call for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Jean- Claude Duvalier. We also take this moment to support the Haitian people’s campaign to return President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to Haiti.

It is unconscionable that the dictator Duvalier is now staying at a luxury hotel in Port-au-Prince while the twice-democratically elected President Aristide remains in forced exile in South Africa.

We have witnessed the return of former dictator Jean Claude “ Baby Doc” Duvalier to Haiti with disbelief and outrage. During his rule, from 1971 to 1986, Duvalier launched a reign of terror against any form of political opposition. Thousands of Haitians were raped, murdered or disappeared. Over 3000 political prisoners were tortured and then killed at Fort Dimanche, Duvalier’ s torture chamber.

One former political prisoner, Rolande Michell, told The New York Times the following story about his incarceration:

"It is a bad place," said Mr. Michell. "They starved me, but I was fortunate. They starved men to death. They beat men to death. I saw them cut into the muscle of one man's leg so he would limp. You could hear men screaming all the time.

"They made me promise to be faithful to Duvalier. I promised so they would not kill me."

Haitians who lived through the Duvalier era carry these memories with them today. Duvalier’ s return sends them a chilling message – that in today’ s Haiti, Duvalierism is alive and will be tolerated as part of the political landscape.

It took a determined popular movement to oust Duvalier. It was this movement – representing the vast majority of Haitians -- that swept President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to an overwhelming electoral victory in 1990. And it is this movement that is demanding his return today.

Ousted in a U.S.-orchestrated coup in 2004, President Aristide remains the most respected and trusted voice of the poor within Haiti. Perhaps that is why the current Haitian government, the U.S. State Department, and the United Nations – the same authorities that allowed the return of Duvalier – continue to block President Aristide’ s return.

A 2005 Wikileaks cable documents the US government "insistence that all efforts must be made to keep Aristide from returning to Haiti or influencing the political process.”

They are standing on the wrong side of history. It is time for President Aristide to return and time for Jean-Claude Duvalier to be held accountable for his crimes against the Haitian people.

Photo: Former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier retreated to a private residence north of Port-au-Prince after missing a flight out of the country on Thursday morning. Photo by Ramon Espinosa (AP)

---

The Haiti Action Committee is a grassroots organization working for the masses of the Haitian people. Visit the HaitiAction.net website for breaking news and analysis about events happening on the ground.

Read More

Volunteers needed to help families file taxes

It's that time of year again. W-2's are arriving in the mail and before you know it April will be here. Get a jump start on taxes this year.

Volunteers are needed to help prepare free income tax returns for working class individuals and families through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program.

VOLUNTEERS WILL Provide assistance to low-income individuals and families Help families qualify to receive thousands of dollars in tax credits Learn how to file your own taxes

A Free VITA Volunteer Training will take place at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Jan. 22 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Topics include: Orientation to the VITA Program, Intro to Basic Tax Law, How to Become an IRS-Certified VITA Volunteer Income Tax Preparer and Volunteer Placement.

"The training session will provide you with an orientation to the Controller’s VITA program, an intro to basic tax law and the software used to prepare VITA tax returns," according to Tina Hossain in the Office of State Controller John Chiang. Volunteers will also receive "information on the IRS certification exam you need to pass to be an IRS-certified VITA Volunteer Income Tax Preparer."

No previous experience is needed. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the training is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 4 located at 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza.

Space is limited and RSVP is required by Friday, January 21. To RSVP, please call (213) 833-6032 or email vita@sco.ca.gov and provide the following information: 1) Name 2) Title 3)Organization 4) Phone Number 5) Email Address 6) Mailing Address. Volunteers must indicate they are registering for the Oakland session.

For questions or additional information about the Oakland VITA training session call (213) 833-6032. More information about the VITA program, visit the IRS' website.

Income taxes are normally due April 15, but in 2011 they must be filed by April 18 (due to a holiday). The Oakland program is being sponsored by State Controller John Chiang, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Senator Loni Hancock, Assemblymember Sandré Swanson, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Read More

Martin Luther King Day of Service in Oakland

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service brought people together throughout the county to honor the legacy of Dr. King by serving.

Dr. King once said, "Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve." True to this theme, dozens of people came together for Urban Releaf's clean-up at the Lake Merritt Garden Center in Oakland.

"Volunteers joined their team leaders and began working on a number of projects throughout The Gardens at Lake Merritt which included weeding, pruning, installing a french drain, planting trees, cleaning paths, laying new decomposed granite pathways in the Lakeside Palmetum, and cleaning the nature center and bird sanctuary. according to The Garden Geek.

There was also a clean-up hosted by Mayor Jean Quan in East Oakland, the annual Martin Luther King Shoreline Clean Up with the East Bay Regional Parks District, and a number of other events throughout Oakland and the East Bay.

Photo: The Garden Geek

Read More

Common - 'A Dream' - Music Monday - Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

In memory of Dr. King's birthday, this week's Music Monday is "A Dream" by Common.



The Black Hour emerged from a dream inspired by a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. about Black Radio. A week later, the Laney Black Student Union held an event a Laney College to honor Dr. King that January. Within a month, planning was taking place for the first episode of The Black Hour on 9th Floor Radio.

Read More

Oakland MLK event honors King's mentor

The East Bay Church of Religious Science will host “The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman” in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday weekend, Sunday, January 16, 2011, from 3:00-5:00 PM. The public is invited.

The Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman was a guide and mentor for Dr. King and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. His work speaks directly to today’s personal and social issues, highlighting the powerful connection between spirituality and social transformation.

Thurman was a philosopher, theologian, educator, reformer, and author of more than 20 books, including Jesus and the Disinherited and The Inward Journey. In 1936 he led the first African American delegation to meet with Mahatma Gandhi, and became an advocate of Gandhi’s methods of nonviolent social change, inspiring many in the American struggle for civil rights, justice, and freedom. Thurman co-founded the first interracial interfaith congregation in the United States, the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, in San Francisco.

Ebony magazine named Dr. Thurman among the 50 most important figures in African American history, and Life magazine hailed him as one of the greatest preachers in the nation.

The event will provide an introduction to Thurman’s life and legacy. It will feature excerpts from the video interview "Conversations with Howard Thurman," and consider the relevance of his wisdom for the critical issues of the present day.

The presenter for the session will be Dr. Liza Rankow, an interfaith minister and the director of OneLife Institute (www.onelifeinstitute.org). She regularly teaches classes on Thurman in community and academic settings, and is co-editor of the recently released six-CD audio collection, "The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman."

Rev. Rankow will also offer a ten-week class on Thurman at the East Bay Church, on Thursday evenings, beginning February 3, 2011.

The church is located at 4130 Telegraph Ave, Oakland. The Rev. Dr. Elouise Oliver is the Senior Pastor. For more information: www.ebcrs.org or call 510-420-1003.

Read More