Illegal immigration has gotten a lot of recent attention with the passage of Arizona’s controversial law. What often gets lost, however, is how immigration — legal and illegal — changes our country and our state. But few really know what goes on within these communities — to many, they are “invisible.†This is Part 4 of a WBUR Series: Invisible Communities.
BOSTON — Rhode Milord LeBlanc teaches English as a second language at a Haitian nonprofit in Mattapan Square — the heart of Greater Boston’s Haitian community. Her students are mostly Haitian, with a smattering of immigrants from the Dominican Republic.
“Some people like me, I’m Haitian-American,†she says. “That means my family is from Haiti, but I was born here. I feel more Haitian than American because of the way I was raised.â€
Then she turns to her class of adults. “Do you feel that you’re more Dominican or more American? Or more Haitian or more American?â€
The students yell out their answers. The split in the room is remarkable. The Haitians have United States passports and have been here for years. But they say they are more Haitian than American. The Dominicans have been in the U.S. for less than a year, but they feel as American as Dominican.
LeBlanc and others say that for Haitians, this has everything to do with Haiti’s unique language and formal customs inherited from the French, who colonized the country. But many researchers say there’s something else going on.
“If you’re in Haiti and you look at the black community here, what do you see? It’s hip-hop,†says Alix Cantave, the associate director of the Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
“It’s housing projects,†Cantave says. “It’s all these things, so that’s the image they migrate with. It’s the perception that it’s everything not to do, in a way, between the adults. So you don’t want your children to go and imitate African-American behavior.â€
Researchers like Cantave, and Christina Greer at Fordham University, argue that Haitians maintain their “Haitianness†because they think it will help them.
“Based on where they perceive black Americans and where black Americans perceive where they are on the fictitious totem pole, many Haitian immigrants choose to maintain their ethnic identity,†Greer says. The political science professor is writing a book about how Caribbean and African immigrants are maintaining their ethnic identity in America.
So Haitians are trying to become visible by defining themselves as separate from African-Americans. Twenty-nine-year-old Jean Franck Fenelon makes no secret about why he identifies as Haitian.
“Immigrants make progress over the years,†Fenelon says. “Over time we would climb up one rung of that ladder, and then another and another. But being an African-American, it’s static. There’s no upward mobility. And so that’s always been my thought as well. That if you say you’re African-American, the doors are not going to be open for you.â€
Fenelon, and Jacqueline Laguerre, a Haitian-born nurse, say they appreciate the struggles that African-Americans endured here for centuries.
“If I can be here in the United States, enjoying a piece of the ‘American Pie,’ it’s because they have suffered a lot to cause me to be accepted,†Laguerre says.
“Based on where they perceive black Americans and where black Americans perceive where they are on the fictitious totem pole, many Haitian immigrants choose to maintain their ethnic identity.â€
– Prof. Christina Greer
Still, she has this gentle caveat.
“Without wanting to generalize, because you can’t say that ‘all Haitians are this, all Haitians are that.’ But there are a lot of African-Americans who have lost their way, who are sort of at a loss,†Laguerre says. “They are not doing well in society. And so people might tend to distance themselves from African-Americans because of some stereotypes.â€
Mukiya Baker-Gomez does political organizing in Mattapan and Hyde Park — neighborhoods where many Haitians and African-Americans live side-by-side. She identifies herself as an African-American and says it’s not helpful to pay attention to stereotypes.
“I don’t think that helps us at all,†she says. “We’ve got to move beyond that. That’s madness.
“We’ve got to understand that there is a collective of people that are impacted everyday because of the color of skin,†Baker-Gomez adds. “When you open up your mouth that might be another factor. But the first factor is the color of your skin.â€
Baker-Gomez says she was surprised to hear that these attitudes exist among many Haitians. And she doesn’t feel like there’s a divide among African-Americans and Haitians in Boston.
But Cantave says there is a divide and the perceptions Haitians have of African-Americans have blocked stronger political coalitions among the two groups. And that doesn’t even address the perceptions African-Americans might have of Haitians.
But all this means is there are really two communities in Mattapan: Haitian and African-American.
“There’s no common community space that would bring everybody together,†Cantave says. “And none of the organizations down there see that as a priority.â€
Just mentioning such intra-racial tension is considered taboo. “There’s an element of, ‘let’s not air dirty laundry,’ †Greer says.
“There are many issues that occur within the black community that still stay within the black community, and this is one of them,†she adds. “There is ethnic tension that still occurs and has occurred for several years, but what I argue is that it’s occurring because there are scarce resources and and a sense of competition.â€
Greer says one way to build solidarity between these groups is to talk about what it means to be black now. She says people can no longer use 19th- and 20th-century definitions of black Americans, such as “descendants of slavery†and “Civil Rights generation.â€
“As the 21st century has shown us, that’s only a portion of who comprises the African-American population in the United States,†Greer says.
It’s a conversation that’s already happening, especially among second and third generation Haitian-Americans and their African-American classmates, friends and co-workers.
Teacher LeBlanc had this experience when she went to college. There, she clung to the African-American students, in part because they were the only other black people in the school. Eventually, they confronted her about her Haitian identity.
“I didn’t get mad or anything like that,†she says. “But they’d be like, ‘Why do you call yourself Haitian? You’re not Haitian! You’re black!’ “In the beginning this bothered her but eventually she decided it wasn’t a big deal.
“I’m still a minority,†LeBlanc says. “We’re still in the fight together. I’m still a woman, so I’m a double minority.â€
LeBlanc wants to gain visibility for Haitians’ own American story. And it will be up to African-Americans and Haitians — not to mention black immigrants from Africa and the rest of the Caribbean — to rewrite the story of Black America, making room for all of its chapters.
CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. May 3, 2010: Caribbean Soca Star, Machel Montano, says he`s open to speaking to politicians or joining in at picket lines on behalf of the West Indian community in need of immigration reform in the U.S.
Montano, speaking exclusively to Felicia Persaud on WWRL`s 1600 AM Radio`s `Caribbean Corner,` on Saturday May 1, when thousands took to the streets in a call for comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S., said America must remember the country was built by immigrants. He pointed to the fact that Caribbean nationals are currently in every aspect of the economic fabric of the U.S. and urged them to get more involved in the issues and not continue to remain on the periphery.
The singer also agreed with critics that the Arizona immigration law is racial profiling but said this is nothing new since Caribbean and other migrants have been profiled at airports because of their turbans or dreadlocks for years.
Montano, however, stopped short of saying he would use his music to focus on the issue, instead insisting he would be willing to join groups already pushing the issue and lend his support in the same way musicians like Gloria Estefan lent her support at an immigration rally Saturday.
And pointing to the current visa cancellations of many Jamaican artists, Montano said the issue of immigration reform and the denial of visas are inter-related and must be denounced.
But he said the elected leaders must use their power to demand change, and questioned why to date no regional prime minister has demanded a direct answer from the U.S. on the cancellation of the artists visas.
MIAMI (AP) — A Haitian-American restaurant owner who was convicted of drug trafficking after his naturalization was ordered deported, but it was not clear whether he would be sent back to Haiti, his attorney said.
Immigration Judge Kenneth Hurewitz told Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 58, on Tuesday that he may be able to stay in the US if the Haitian government refuses to take him back, attorney Andre Pierre said.
The government of Haiti has informed US officials they would not provide travel documents for Jean-Baptiste because, according to the Caribbean country’s constitution, Haitians who become citizens in another country are no longer citizens of Haiti, Pierre said.
“So far, they have told (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) they are not willing to accept him, because he is a not a Haitian citizen,” Pierre said.
THE United States says the current row between Kingston and Washington over the contentious extradition request of Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke has not affected the granting of visas to Jamaicans.
Officials at the US Embassy in Kingston told reporters Friday during a tour of sections of the Old Hope Road complex that the prevailing political climate has nothing to do with whether visa applications are approved or denied.
The decision, the officials pointed out, is made on a case-by-case basis, following an assessment of each applicant and the applying of the Immigration and Nationality Act (1952) to their circumstance.
“No visa is issued or declined for political reasons and there is no daily quota [for visa approvals]. If a thousand people turn up and they qualify, they all will get visas,” said Consul General David L Stone.
The embassy last year processed approximately 109,000 non-immigrant visa applications and “vastly more” than half that number has been approved for visas, Laurence Tobey, chief of the visa unit, said.
Stone’s pronouncement should serve to quell the current anxiety of Jamaicans who, based on public pronouncements of some unsuccessful visa applicants, have formed the view that the embassy has been rejecting applications in retaliation for the Bruce Golding-led administration’s refusal to extradite Coke to face drug- and gun-running charges.
The US had last August requested Coke’s extradition but Golding has so far refused, arguing that the evidence submitted by the Americans against Coke was gathered in breach of Jamaican law.
(BPSU) President John Pinder could have a fight on his hands, if several hundred customs and immigration officers are successful in their bid to replace the BPSU as their bargaining agent with a newly-formed union.
The Nassau Guardian has obtained a copy of the draft of the Bahamas Customs and Immigration Workers Allied Union (BCIWAU), which clearly outlines the entity’s intent to become the representative for the workers.
The Guardian also confirmed that at least 300 customs and immigration officers have signed a petition that was forward to the Department of Labour, outlining their intent to form the new union.
The crux of the matter is money.
The customs and immigration officers behind the new union want more of it, and apparently, they feel as though they were shortchanged by the BPSU when it negotiated the terms under which officers in both crucial departments would move from receiving overtime pay to being paid a flat salary and working on a shift system.
And even though most customs and immigration officers got at least a $7,000 raise in the switch over, these officers reportedly believe that Pinder could have squeezed even more out of the government.
The officers behind the union’s formation are reportedly the same officers who orchestrated sick-outs as the government offered less than they thought they deserved when negotiations on the pay raises began last fall.
The government ultimately offered more money and things went back to normal until January, when the shift system kicked in. But though the sick-outs ended, the hard feelings reportedly remained and now those issues have come back to haunt the BPSU.
A memo that was reportedly circulated throughout both departments as recently as last week indicated that the group of officers behind the proposed entity believe that the salary negotiation process was flawed.
Therefore, the memo said, the disgruntled group contacted veteran trade unionist and Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson.
Ferguson is considered Pinder’s chief rival in national union matters. The two rarely see eye-to-eye and their relationship has soured to the point that the two leaders refuse to come together in Labor Day parades – which are supposed to signify solidarity among workers in the country.
The memo said that the group met with Ferguson twice in Freeport, Grand Bahama in January and once in New Providence in February to discuss their options.
By March, two steering committees were formed and Ferguson got to work on a constitution, according to the memo.
The preamble to BCIWAU’s constitution affirms its intent to get tougher with the government.
“We the (BCIWAU) realize that the struggle to better our working and living conditions is in vain unless we are untied to protect ourselves against the unionized forces of the employers,” the constitution states.
“Realizing that the old craft form of trade union organization is unable to defend effectively the interests and improve the conditions of the wage earners, we… pledge ourselves to labor united… to bring about a higher standard of living of the members.”
The 28-page document goes on to meticulously outline the proposed union’s operational and organizational structure.
It is unclear if the union has been registered. Sources in both departments contend that it was, but The Guardian was unable to confirm that with Registrar of Trade Unions Harcourt Brown.
If the agreement has been registered, it would need to be gazetted in order for the union to become a legal entity.
Becoming the bargaining agent for customs and immigration officers would also require a vote being held amongst the officers.
The majority of them would have to agree to fall under the new union, and even then the union would have to abide by the terms of the existing industrial agreement until it expires.
Pinder and Ferguson did not return messages left for them up to press time yesterday.
ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – A senior British official on Monday said he hoped there would not be a need for imposing visa requirements on Dominicans wishing to visit the United Kingdom in the near future. “I certainly hope that during the six-month mitigation period everything will be done to ensure that at the end of the process … a visa requirement is not necessary,†Britain’s High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Paul Brummel, told reporters following talks with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.
His visit here comes less than a week after London announced it had written to five Caribbean governments, including Dominica, indicating that while their nationals will continue to enter the country without a visa, the matter is being re-evaluated. Home Secretary Alan Johnson, in a statement published on the British government website, said London had written to the five governments “to advise that, while they will maintain their visa free status for the time being, the decision will be subject to a further reviewâ€. Johnson said London had also written to the Dominica and St Lucia governments, highlighting a number of concerns and giving them a six-month period to deal with them. The Home Secretary noted the close historic, economic and political ties with Dominica and St Lucia and said London was aware that the introduction of a visa regime would be a significant step. “It is a decision we do not take lightly,†he stressed. “As a result we will now enter a six-month period of detailed dialogue with the governments concerned to examine what actions will be taken to address our concerns and mitigate the need for a visa regime to be introduced,†Johnson said. Brummel acknowledged that the two countries have had a “very long history of very productive collaboration, (and) we are working together with the Government of Dominica positively in a wide range of areas and I would certainly expect that to continue. “What has happened since the announcement made by the Home Secretary is really a demonstration of the strength, the positive relationship in that the immediate response was a letter from Prime Minister Skerrit to the British government … assuring us of the cooperation of the Dominica governmentâ€. Brummel said his talks with Skerrit on Monday re-affirmed the position. Apart from Dominica, the other affected countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Less than a month after the Jamaica government repatriated more than 60 Haitians, another boatload of refugees fleeing earthquake devastation in the neighbouring country arrived here on Saturday.
The group of 31 Haitians — 15 men, five women and 11 children — was intercepted by police and soldiers from the Jamaica Defence Force off the coast of the eastern parish of St Thomas.
The Haitians, including two pregnant women, were taken ashore where they were processed by personnel from the Marine Police, Ministry of Health and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).
The group that arrived here this weekend is the second batch of Haitians to arrive here since the January 12 earthquake that devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince, killed an estimated 300,000 people and left more than a million others homeless.
Last month, 62 Haitians arrived in the eastern parish of Portland on two boats seeking refuge, but were returned home a week later following an executive order from the Bruce Golding administration. The government said it would be too costly to support them.
Haiti is about 115 miles (185 km) to the east of Jamaica.
BROTHERS Roger and Romeo Folkes were yesterday ordered extradited to the United States where they are to face trial on drug-trafficking charges. The order was made by Magistrate Stephanie Jackson-Haisley in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court where the men, who both live in Kingston, had been fighting the request for their extradition since being arrested last year June.
In arriving at her decision, Jackson-Haisley said she was satisfied that a prima facie case had been made out against the brothers.
But following the ruling, attorney Tom Tavares-Finson, while not knocking the magistrate, called for a review of certain aspects of the Extradition Treaty which, he said, has done “grave injustice to Jamaicans”.
“The magistrate acted within the terms of her limited jurisdiction. This situation demonstrates the need for us to review the present Extradition Treaty as it stands,” said Tavares-Finson, who appeared for the brothers and who also represents Tivoli Gardens businessman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke — the subject of another contentious extradition request. “What I had requested during the hearing most people would regard as very, very basic rights — that is to say, the right to know who your accuser is and to know the terms upon which they have entered into arrangement to give evidence against you.”
Added the attorney: “A grave injustice is being done to Jamaicans.”
Tavares-Finson, said he will be taking the fight against the extradition order to the Supreme Court. The brothers have 15 days within which to file papers with the High Court in their bid for freedom. Should the High Court uphold the magistrate’s decision, the men have the option of going to the Court of Appeal and can also take the matter to the London-based Privy Council, the island’s highest court of appeal, on a Constitutional point.
The order to have the brothers extradited is sure to add fuel to the current public debate over the apparent procrastination on the part of Prime Minister Bruce Golding to set the ball rolling on last August’s request by the US for the extradition of Coke, a resident of Tivoli Gardens and staunch supporter of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.
The issue has soured relations between Washington and Kingston.
Last week, Golding, during his call-in radio programme Jamaica House Live, said he would be seeking a declaration from the Supreme Court as to whether or not Attorney General Dorothy Lightbourne acted correctly in not giving the go-ahead for extradition proceedings to be brought against Coke, who is wanted in the US on drug- and gun-running charges.
The Jamaican Government has argued that the evidence submitted by the Americans against Coke was gathered in breach of Jamaican law.
The allegation against the Folkes brothers is that between July 2006 and September 2008 they were members of a transnational smuggling network, which shipped illicit drugs into the US and Great Britain from Jamaica and St Lucia. US prosecutors have described the Folkes as major players in the international drug trade.
Yesterday, Tavares-Finson said the men’s challenge against the extradition request has been hampered as the brothers, one a businessman and the other a student, have no idea who made the allegations of drug-running against them and why. As a result, Tavares-Finson said, the brothers are unable to give proper instructions.
“How is that for a joke?” Tavares-Finson quipped.
By GFBC Staff: If you ask me we can all thank Ricky Trooper for his rant on YouTube for this. The link to this ignorance is included, due to the explicit language I will only provide the link.
4 ARTISTES’ VISAS CANCELLED – Selector Ricky Trooper also included
Leighton Levy, Star Writer
(l – r) Bounty Killer, Mavado
The visas of five of Jamaica’s top entertainers have been revoked, THE WEEKEND STAR understands. According to information coming from the Fraud Prevention Arm of the United States Embassy in Kingston, the visas of Bounty Killer, Mavado, Beenie Man, Adonia and selector Ricky Trooper are in the process of being cancelled.
When contacted for confirmation last night, Minister of National Security, Senator Dwight Nelson, relayed through his communications department that “he has no such information.”
However, a document obtained by THE WEEKEND STAR stated that: “The Embassy of the United States in Kingston, Jamaica, is in the process of revoking the visas of the following citizens of Jamaica. The people mentioned here currently hold a US visa that we have not yet been able to physically cancel. Do not allow these passengers to board any flights bound for the United States in reliance on this visa.”
revoked
The document then names Moses Anthony Davis (Beenie Man) two visas; Garfield Augustus McKoy (Ricky Trooper), two visas; Sheldon Ricardo Aitana Lawrence, (Aidonia); David Brooks (Mavado), two visas; and Rodney Basil Price (Bounty Killer) two visas, as those persons whose visas are in the process of being revoked.
(l – r ) Beenie Man, Aidonia
The document also lists the date of birth of each person, their respective passport numbers and visa control numbers.
When contacted by THE WEEKEND STAR, representatives of at least two of the persons on the list said that they were unaware of the new development.
These cancellations follow that of businessman Wayne Chen who recently found out his visa had been cancelled while he was about to board a flight to the United States of America.
British authorities are considering whether to continue to allow Dominicans and St Lucians to enter the UK without visas.
Residents of other Caribbean countries will keep their visa free status for now, but a change has not been ruled out.
UK Home Secretary Alan Johnson gave that indication as he announced the final stage of the UK’s first global review of visa regimes in relation to Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
“The UK will always welcome genuine visitors”. –UK Home Secretary Alan Johnson
He said that having initially considered the Eastern Caribbean states on a regional basis, a decision was taken to examine them individually and the evaluation highlighted concerns with Dominica and St. Lucia.
He did not, however, reveal what the identified problems are.
“We recognise that we have close historic, economic and political ties with Dominica and St Lucia and are aware that the introduction of a visa regime would be a significant step. It is a decision we do not take lightly. As a result we will now enter a six-month period of detailed dialogue with the governments concerned to examine what actions will be taken to address our concerns and mitigate the need for a visa regime to be introduced,” Johnson said.
He said that during this period, Dominica and St Lucia will need “to demonstrate a genuine commitment to put into effect credible and realistic plans, with clear timetables, to reduce the risks to the UK, and begin implementing these plans by the end of the dialogue period”.
Additionally the British authorities have written to the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent and the Grenadines to advise that, while they will maintain their visa-free status for the time being, the decision will be subject to a further review.
Johnson said the UK Government remains committed to operating a firm but fair immigration policy and it gives a high priority to treating all foreign nationals coming to or present in the UK with dignity and respect, and the highest legal standards.
However, he added that the government expects all visitors to the UK to “play by the rules”.
“The UK will always welcome genuine visitors, whether business, tourist, student or family, but will continue to take all steps necessary to protect the security of the UK,” he said.
The Home Secretary said a visa regime is a very effective immigration, crime and security control measure and the visa waiver test helps determine whether they are in the right places.
Enter your email address below to receive updates each time we publish new content.
SHABBA, SHAGGY TO PERFORM AT POST ADIDAS GRAND PRIX CONCERT IN NY
Foundation dancehall artiste Rexton Rawlston Gordon, popularly know to fans as Shabba Ranks is set to perform at the “adidas Jamboree” concert, Randall’s Island, New York on Saturday, June 9. The concert – which will serve as a 50th anniversary celebration for both Jamaica and Trinidad – will take place at the conclusion of the [...]
One Caribbean International Presents: CELEBRITY SOCCER CULTURAL FEST – THE BIGGEST FAMILY FUN DAY!
Fort Lauderdale – On Memorial Day, May 28th all roads will lead to the greatest Celebrity Soccer Cultural Festival in South Florida “Celebrating Jamaica’s 50th Year of Independence.” One Caribbean International’s will be hosting its’ 7th annual festival and Yes Jamaica’s 50th Year of Independence at Central Broward Regional Park, located at 3700 NW 11th [...]
About One Love Reggae Fest The One Love Reggae Festival will unite diverse cultures within South Florida through “One Love, One Heart and One Music”. This event will be held on Sunday, May 13, 2012 in West Palm Beach, Florida at the Cruzan Amphitheater. The 2011 Festival boasted a huge attendance of more than 5000 [...]
PM PORTIA SIMPSON-MILLER DA ZYNC BUZZ HEDA ROSE (NY LINKZ/ZYNC TV): May 4 – 11
BY ZYNC TV ON THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF NEW YORK LINKZ: JAMAICAN PRIME MINISTER PORTIA SIMPSON-MILLER VISITS THE NORTH-EAST DIASPORA; A PREVIEW OF THE FUN AND EXCITEMENT AT 2012 PENN RELAYS; A PREVIEW OF GRAMPS MORGAN AND RAGASHANTI TAKING OVER NEW YORK CARIBBEAN RADIO; PLUS SHERMAIN GIVES TIPS ON IMPRESSING YOUR BOYFRIEND’S PARENTS IN IMAGE [...]
Lloyd Brevett, founding member of The Skatalites, passes away aged 80
Lloyd Brevett, the Skatalites’ inimitable double bass player, has died following complications from a recent stroke. As The Washington Post report, Brevett fell ill in March following the murder of his son in Kingston. Anyone lucky enough to have seen The Skatalites live will be able to testify to Brevett’s remarkable charisma. His on-stage presence [...]
GFBC WORLD NEWS
