By Leslie Ovalle
In 1977, after one year in prison for discussing his political beliefs, Jean-Claude Exulien—a secondary school history professor—decided to flee his home in Haiti.
Exulien said that there are times in history when a government cannot be criticized, but he is also quick to remind that as an intellectual and educator, it is impossible to suppress critical discussions.
Exulien fled Haiti during the rule of the dictator “Baby Doc”, or Jean-Claude Duvalier, seeking his own and his family’s safety. He said that if it hadn’t been for Haiti’s suppressive regime many Haitians, including himself, would not have fled the land they feel such patriotism for.
His office in North Miami, decorated with Haitian flags and cultural photographs, is evidence to his love of country.
“I’m a big witness, I would say, of what happened in Haiti during the dictatorship of Francois Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier,” said Exulien, “Haitian intellectuals were obliged to leave the country to save their lives.”
Many Haitians fleeing the regime of the time decided to migrate to Montreal, Canada. This is something that crossed Exulien’s mind, but a summer school teaching opportunity and family here in South Florida is what pushed him to make this city his new home.
“Some friend told me one time ‘it’s not difficult for you, because you used to teach at a higher level.’ I said ‘no it’s not a problem because I love these people, they are my people’. Until today that is my job, to teach them how to write in French, Creole, and English,” explains Exulien.
Knowing Creole, French, English, and Spanish, Exulien embodies the importance of knowing multiple languages in a place as diverse as South Florida.
On his office desk lays an ocean of newspapers—which he refers to as his tools—and in this ocean you can find all four languages. He jokes, although in a serious manner, saying that nowadays if you speak only one language you are handicap.
“Sometimes there are news in El Nuevo Herald or Las Americas and you cannot find the same news in The Herald, for example, so we have to read more than one newspaper and in more than one language,” he said.
Exulien takes education beyond the classroom, besides teaching literacy, history, and anthropology he has a radio show on 1700 AM Radio Mega every Saturday at 11am.
“This is a class, it’s not a radio show,” Exulien said.
His radio segment is 90% Creole and 10% English; where he discusses current events, ideas, and history with his listeners.
A very proud man of his country’s history, he is one of the founders of the Haitian American Historical Society—a non-profit organization seeking the recognition and accuracy of historical events pertaining to Haitians and those of Haitian descent.
In 2007, the organization erected a monument of Les Chasseurs Volontaires de Saint Domingue in Savannah, Gerogia. Les Chasseurs Volontaires de Saint Domingue was a group of Haitian free men who volunteered to fight in The Siege of Savannah on October 9th, 1779 against the British.
“Haitian people died there, in Franklin Square, for the independence of the United States,” said Exulien.
The organization is now working on erecting yet another monument, in St. Augustine, Florida, commemorating General Georges Biassou—a Haitian forefather who fought with Spanish royalists.
Exulien is also the president of the organization Haitian League for Human Rights, INC.
“We created this organization one year ago, because of the situation of [our Haitian] brothers and sisters in Santo Domingo,” said Exulien.
This article was originally published on Rise Miami News.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. Anyone can write for us as long as you are fiercely interested in making the world a better place.
Photo Credits: Leslie Ovalle/ RISE NEWS
What Do You Think?
-
Why Do So Many Minority Republican Politicians Change Their Names?
Barack Obama was not always “Barack.” Yes, it was always his legal name, but his childhood nickname had always been Barry.
According to his half-sister, Maya, Obama came home for Christmas in 1980 adamant on being called Barack. According to a 2008 Newsweek article, he became Barack in a conscious attempt to find a community – something which had eluded him throughout his complicated childhood.
Obama’s father was also Barack, but he actively took on the name Barry in order to fit in as an African immigrant when he came to the United States for college. The younger Obama’s reversal to Barack was to connect him to a “black America he had never really known as a child in Hawaii and abroad.” Although this name change came 28 years before Obama’s 2008 presidential run, it exposes a marked difference between him and his Republican colleagues.
Nimrata Randhawa, Rafael Cruz, and Piyush Jindal do not sound like stereotypical names of American politicians.
Then again, neither does Barack Obama.
The difference is that Obama was able to win two general elections with an “ethnic” name, while Nikki (Nimrata) Haley, Ted (Rafael) Cruz, and Bobby (Piyush) Jindal all have embraced nicknames in public life.
Haley, the Republican Gov. of South Carolina, delivered a well-received response to Obama’s State of the Union.
She also identified herself on her 2001 voter registration card as “white.” Nikki Haley is by no means Caucasian. Both of her parents emigrated to the U.S. from India, and Haley was born in South Carolina.
In 1996, she married Michael Haley in a mixed Methodist and Sikh ceremony, although she now identifies as Christian. As a Republican politician, Haley needs to appeal to a largely white constituency. It is therefore unsurprising that she would shed herself of her Indian name.
The governor told the Charlotte Observer that she shortened her name to Nikki because her official name “wouldn’t fit on a yard sign.” Obviously, it was a little more complicated than that.
The governor told the Charlotte Observer that she shortened her name to Nikki because her official name “wouldn’t fit on a yard sign.” Obviously, it was a little more complicated than that.
According to a 2012 Gallup poll, “non-Hispanic whites” accounted for 89% of Republican self-identifiers nationwide. Haley, rather than face the obstacles of her Indian name and Sikh religion, actively chose to identify as “white” in order to fit in with the constituency she needed to appeal to.
Haley is by no means alone. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the recent winner of the Iowa Caucus, was born Rafael Cruz. Cruz changed his name when he was 13, like Obama, long before he launched his political career and White House run.
However, unlike Haley, Cruz’s lack of true whiteness, and in some minds, Americanness, has started to become an issue. Donald Trump has decried Ted Cruz as an “anchor baby,” and some question whether he is a natural born citizen, and is therefore not qualified for the presidency.
Bobby Jindal also comes to mind. Jindal dropped out long ago and was never considered a true contender, but his story fits this narrative of name and identity changes. Jindal, like Nikki Haley, was born to Indian parents in the United States.
Like Cruz and Obama, Jindal’s name change came in childhood. When he was four years old, he took the name Bobby from one of the brothers of The Brady Bunch. Jindal converted to Christianity in high school after a friend shared his faith. Jindal would read the Bible in secret, in his closet, in order to hide his conversion from his parents.
Jindal’s story of Americanization mirrors Cruz’s as one that was not for political gain. It appears that they both made conscious, personal changes to their names and identifies, while Haley’s appears to have been largely for political gain.
However, there is little doubt that all three of these candidates benefited from their “Americanization” of their own identities. Bobby, Nikki, and Ted are far more palatable to an 89% white base than Piyush, Nimrata, and Rafael.
Cover Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
What Do You Think?
-
Hallandale Beach Mayor Appears To Be “On Something” During Commission Meeting, According To Commissioner
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper slurred her words and rambled on for long stretches of time in an incoherent fashion during last night’s commission meeting.
Commissioner Michele Lazarow eventually called Cooper out for her actions.
“You’re an embarrassment mayor,” Lazarow said. “You don’t know where to put a period.”
Lazarow later told a Local 10 reporter that she thought Cooper was “on something” and that she may inform Gov Rick Scott of the incident.
Watch:
Under Florida law, the governor has the power to suspend local government officials.
Cooper told Local 10 that she wasn’t on drugs or intoxicated. She claims that her actions were due to her feeling sick after a trip to Mexico.
Read More: INSIDE: The Shocking Conditions That Condemned The Miami Shores Motel
RISE NEWS is South Florida’s digital news magazine. Follow us on Facebook to make sure you never miss a story!
Have a news tip about this topic or something completely different? Send it on in to [email protected]
Watch: Senator Tried To Use Connection To FPL Lobbyist To Get Power On For Her Family Post Irma
What Do You Think?
-
Trump’s Sexism Is Literally Bad For Your Kids According To Experts
By Brian D. Johnson, PhD and Laurie Berdahl, MD
Donald Trump’s remarks about women during the presidential campaign and the years preceding it have often been termed sexist, cruel, misogynistic, and degrading.
While many parents are concerned about the negative impacts these comments may have on their daughters’ self-esteem and on equality for women in the workplace, we believe they have even farther-reaching, more deleterious implications for our children and society
As an ob-gyn physician and a child psychologist who raised our kids together, we’ve been increasingly concerned about the trend in sexualization of women and children.
We think that Trump’s behavior promotes this extremely detrimental process, which is linked to many problems including male aggression and violence against women and girls.
As opposed to undergoing healthy sexual development, girls are now pressured to grow up sexualized.
Interpreting the American Psychological Association’s Taskforce Report, any one of the following indicates sexualization of a girl: 1) she or others believe that her value is mainly or solely based on her sexual appeal or behavior; 2) her sexiness equates with a narrowly defined, unrealistic standard of physical attractiveness; 3) she is not a person but an object (a thing) to be evaluated and used by others for sexual purposes; or 4) sexuality is imposed on her (such as child sexual abuse).
Research clearly shows that sexualization imposes dangerous beliefs and behaviors on both girls and boys.
For girls, it’s associated with lower self-esteem, early initiation of sexual activity, depression, and anxiety, risk factors for being victimized by manipulation, and sexual, dating, and domestic violence.
Female sexualization makes both boys and girls more likely to be accepting of stereotypical gender roles and sexual aggression and violence against women, and to have lower empathy for victims.
When boys and young men believe that women are supposed to be sexual objects and men are to be dominant and aggressive, they’re more likely to mistreat women and commit rape.
Essentially, sexualization may function to keep girls “in their place” as objects of sexual use and beauty, while at the same time promoting aggression and violence against them.
Boys can but are less likely to be sexualized.
What does this have to do with Donald Trump?
Raising emotionally healthy and behaviorally smart children who don’t intentionally harm others based on gender or other differences requires that parents and other authority figures demonstrate belief in gender equality and respect for human dignity and work to stop the scourge of bullying.
Trump’s consistent, overt valuation of women such as former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, news anchors and reporters, celebrities, and political opponents based on body features like weight, buttocks, and breast size cannot be misconstrued—it clearly indicates belief that females are not equal to males but are objects to be rated by body type, demeaned, dominated, and used.
Trump after giving a speech at an October rally in Arizona. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
The double standard for male Trump surrogates, for whom physical characteristics like weight appear inconsequential, and hiring campaign associates accused of sexual harassment and domestic violence support this.
Donald even minimized and accepted sexual violence in the military as an expected consequence of having female and male soldiers working together.
This demonstrated his probable belief in a common rape myth: that rape is an impulsive, uncontrollable act of sexual gratification for men when they’re around women.
Yet he also benefits from women who may not fit his mold of acceptable, sexualized female “looks,” but who excuse his reprehensible remarks as silliness or blame victims for being too sensitive.
These remarks aren’t silly, but deadly serious.
Trump has even shown sexualized attitudes toward children including his own daughters. When asked about one-year-old Tiffany, he remarked that she was a really beautiful baby who has her mother’s legs and then making a gesture indicating breasts, commented that time will tell if she got her mother’s breasts.
Who says that about their baby girl?
A believer and promoter of sexualization of girls would.
Inappropriate statements about daughter Ivanka’s beautiful body and desire to date her (if he weren’t her father) have also emerged.
Upon meeting his good friends’ daughter, Paris Hilton when she was 12 years old, he reportedly said, “Who the hell is that?” and recounting the story said, “At 12, I wasn’t interested. . . but she was beautiful, ” reflecting attitudes that can result in abusing children sexually.
He later claimed to watch Hilton’s teenage sex tape that was leaked against her will.
In addition, Trump bullies women, as he tries to humiliate and dominate by using taunts, threats, sexual comments, rumors, lies, and name-calling, including referring to them as animals like pigs or dogs to dehumanize and reduce empathy for them.
Dehumanization and reduced empathy are common elements of an aggressive or violent perpetrator’s psyche allowing him or her to intentionally harm others for personal gain, free from a pesky conscience.
Bullies often manipulate people.
We believe that when Donald says, “I love women,” it reflects his love for what they can do for him rather than any interest in their well-being.
After all, he verbally attacks women who disagree with him.
Likely narcissism doesn’t afford him the ability to consider opinions different from his self-serving ones, making it difficult to nonaggressively react to other people’s perspectives, or to perceived challenges to his ego.
He instead uses classic modes of male dominance: interrupting women when they’re talking, and dismissing concerns or questions as indicating mental instability, “neuroticism,” or even—yes, really—menstruation!
By the way, when adults in children’s lives promote bullying or sexualization, or don’t speak up against others who do, it condones these behaviors.
So you can really help your kids by recognizing and expressing your disapproval of these practices, and by expecting kind and respectful treatment of men and women as whole people with thoughts and feelings.
Presidents are prominent authority figures who influence the behavior of others, including youth, and who should represent a nation’s overarching values—at least in a democracy.
As the leader of the free world, our next president will be in a position to either help reduce violence and aggression and promote gender equality shown to be vital underpinnings of good childhood outcomes for both boys and girls, or, alternatively, to usher in new heights of degradation of our daughters, harming their health and safety.
Words matter, and parents need to speak out to protect their children.
For practical methods to squelch sexualization, bullying, and sexual violence, see the authors’ new book, WARNING SIGNS: How to Protect Your Kids from Becoming Victims or Perpetrators of Violence and Aggression and website warningsignsforparents.com.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Jeff Turner/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
What Do You Think?