BLACK LIVES MATTER!
- It’s happening in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Monday, July 13!
In the context of Black Lives Matter, the event not to miss, on Monday, July 13, is the unveiling of a mural of George Floyd, at 11 am, at Flatlands Avenue, at 80th Street, in the borough of Brooklyn, N.Y. Special guest will be George’s brother, Philonise Floyd.
The event is open to the public, but we’re reminding all that thing will be according to established protocols during these trying days of COVID-19: The wearing of masks is mandatory, gloves are encouraged, and social distancing rules will be in effect. The event, sponsored by the Haitian United Alliance, in accord with the law firms of Sanford Rubenstein, DeBrosse & Associates and Oleg Rybak, is a “Memorial in honor George Floyd,” with the unfurling of the mural, which will be signed by Philonise George. Unknown to him where he is, George Floyd has become the “Apostle of Change,” known all over the world since his sacrifice on May 25, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he died publicly under the weight of White police officer Derek Chauvin, who kept his knee on the neck of the victim, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, while George Floyd pleaded for his life. “I can’t breathe,” he kept saying, until he was totally silenced.
In death, George Floyd has touched many and awaken citizens everywhere who are now concerned about the treatment meted out to minorities, especially to African-Americans who were freed from slavery with the Emancipation Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln, on January 1, 1863, but freedom for all slaves was not consummated until June 19, 1865, when word finally got to the slaves in Texas. Thus, Juneteenth, every year on June 19, recognized as Independence Day for our Black American brothers and sisters.
The humiliation continued with the sting of segregation in the south. Segregated schools would be struck down in the 1954 Brown vs. Board Education ruling of the Supreme Court, yet it continued for years, being more economic than racial. In addition, it rose December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, just to say, it’s almost yesterday that African American had to endure legal second-class citizenship. In addition, the Civil Rights movement, that was in the 1960s, with losses of many lives, including two famous martyrs: Rev. Martin Luther King and El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, better known as Malcolm X.
As the first to break the back of slavery on the battlefield, on November 18, 1803, our Haitian ancestors presented the world the first Black Republic on January 1, 1804, an event that unleashed the wrath of the European enslavers who controlled the world then. The merciless worldwide embargo declared on the new nation for more than two decades and the reparations to slaveowners imposed under threat of overwhelming power, a sum calculated at more than $21 billion in today’s dollars, and with no allies anywhere, that’s what is at the root of Haiti’s underdevelopment to this day.
However, that didn’t hinder our ancestors from becoming the “Beacon of Freedom” for all, having helped Simon Bolivar with all that he needed to liberate a big swath of Latin America and help even Greece in its war of liberation. Even the new American nation benefitted from our defeat of the French. They had no choice but to sell the Louisiana Territory, mind you for $15 million. That’s how the 13-colony nation doubled its size overnight.
Considering our legacy, how can we remain silent as the “Movement for Justice” for our Black brothers and sisters here and for equality for all, is extending far beyond the borders of the United States of America? In the spirit of the motto that is enshrined in our Flag, “L’Union fait la Force” (In Unity there is Strength); we join the movement that the sacrifice of George Floyd has energized: BLACK LIVES MATTER! This time there’s no more waiting. In addition, we applaud a new enlightened generation of Whites who have also joined the “Movement of Justice for all,” that some call “The George Floyd Revolu2tion.”
- See you there on Monday
Cet article est publié par l’hebdomadaire Haïti-Observateur édition du 8 juillet 2020, Vol. L, No.26, et se trouve à P. 15 à : http://haiti-observateur.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/H-O-8-juillet-2020-1.pdf