The spirit of Ubuntu, that once led Haiti to emerge as the first independent black nation in 1804, helped Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador attain liberty, and inspired our forefathers to shed their blood for the United States' independence, cannot die. Today, this spirit of solidarity must and will empower all of us to rebuild Haiti.
quote by Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes

But I think it's very key that there's a plan for Haiti. And we have to begin to - as progressives and people who are concerned about Haiti and have been concerned about Haiti, we have to begin to build some sort of consensus, a movement around the Haiti that the Haitians envision.
quote by Danny Glover

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
January 2010 Haiti
How sad for Port-au-Prince
~~ The Capital of Haiti ~~
A repeat of the destruction
Which took place back in
The eighteenth century
When two similar quakes
Took their toll on Haiti.
We've seen frightening scenes
On today's television screens
And the whole world will say
An impassioned prayer to help
Haiti overcome the despair.
poem by Joyce Hemsley

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Paul Farmer has helped to build amazing health care system in one of the poorest areas of Haiti. He founded Partners in Health, which serves the destitute and the sick in many parts of the world from Haiti to Boston and from Russia to Peru.
quote by Tracy Kidder

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
In Haiti you had the Duvaliers for 29 years and they were very well supported by the United States.
quote by Edwidge Danticat

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
And the fact that Haiti was occupied for 19 years by the United States, from 1915 to 1934.
quote by Edwidge Danticat

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
For Haiti I Cry
My heart like a desert
My tears like a river
Shifting sands of sadness
My whole body shivers
I am sick with suffering
I am pregnant with pain
My ruptured heart bleeds
From my eyes flow the rain
Lachrymose! Lachrymose!
Haiti I weep for thee
Your sons and daughters
Have suffered tragic misery
I bawl! Don't ask me why!
For Haiti! For Haiti I cry!
poem by Howard Simon

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Also, people are not often aware of the way the United States' policies influence what happens in places like Haiti or El Salvador or Nicaragua. Or in Columbia right now.
quote by Edwidge Danticat

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Our Love for Haiti…
Our Love for Haiti…
Our love for Haiti
Remains steadfastly unconditional.
Our love for this beloved country
Remains obviously emotional.
For a quarter of a century,
The others did not do too much,
For this yesteryear paradise island.
For more than a dozen years,
The incompetent and spurious leaders,
The opponents and the exiled ones
Also ruled this precious piece of land.
So far, no significant improvement…
Corruption, theft, poverty,
Kidnappings, death, mismanagement
Lies, excuses and misery …
This is not the hell that our forefathers died for…
I can tell you more, I can prove you more.
God Almighty, there is a constant and eternal search
For real leadership, unlike the bad ones
That we have had unfortunately over the last centuries.
We are tired of seeing Haiti among the poorest countries.
Our love for Haiti
Is sadly emotional.
Our love for this poverty stricken country
Remains simply unconditional.
Copyright© January 2010, Hebert Logerie, All Rights Reserved
Hébert Logerie is the author of two new poetry books: “Monts et Vallées de l’Amour’ (in French) and ‘Mounts and Valleys of Love” (in English) .
/www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.aspx? bookid=583
poem by Hebert Logerie

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
As far as we are concerned, we are ready to leave today, tomorrow, at any time, to join the people of Haiti, to share in their suffering, help rebuild the country, moving from misery to poverty with dignity.
quote by Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Birth Of A Nation
It started as nothing more than an inspired idea
In the hearts and minds of visionaries, who could not be more clear:
All of human kind demands freedom and craves liberty!
As Emerson once opined: 'So far as a person thinks; they are free'.
Divinely Inspired Prophets, who saw to God's Will-
These were men of highest altruistic aspirations, for a people that still
Needed to be convinced that this ideal could become
The 'One Nation, Under God' we would become.
A very poetic, yet decidedly luculent declaration
Was thoughtfully written-thus began the birth of a nation!
The question of collective desire needed first to be resolved,
So that any and all persons could be wholly absolved
From any blame for this audacious, unprecedented event.
The call was sounded to the States, unanimous was their consent!
In order that this idea meet with desired actualization,
Much blood was spilled, along with the realization
That this righteous battle shan't ever wane,
Lest the tyranny that preceeded it shall come again.
Countless times through history, man has cried out for same-
But not until that glorious day in July, in God's very own name,
Was a truly free nation before born-on our Independence Day!
Should we ever allow its wither, what would our descendants say! ?
'Freedom is the last, best hope of Earth.', said the Great Emancipator-
Should we allow its death, what did our Forefathers then pay for! ?
The value of same, which in the hearts of the courageous, shows:
There is no greater cause, as 'Freedom is the only law which genius knows.'*
Our celebratory stance upon this day should serve as further notice-
The resolve that we have shown before still lives, if need be, we will show this
In defense of liberty, wherever in the world it may be needed.
A cry for liberty in far corners of the world is surely heeded
Still, by a nation which believes that any threat
To freedom-no matter where-must be swiftly met!
Our independence was a gift that we need to pay forward,
As this is the only wish that all men should pray toward.
'Courage leads to Heaven; fear leads to death.', **
This obviates my choice, and will, to my dying breath!
*James Russell Lowell
**Lucius Annaeus Seneca
-Maurice Harris,3 July 2012
poem by Maurice Harris

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Haiti itself was also photographed, some of the streets, some of the mountains, rivers, streams, etc. were photographed before talking with me about how I felt about Haiti. Then the camera went to our voodoo temple and saw a serious ceremony, a real ceremony.
quote by Katherine Dunham

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Seismic Event of January12,2010 in Haiti
No reporters could accurately describe
The immense damage or disaster
That took place on January 12,2010.
No poets could express the pain
That our people felt that day
When we were rocked so bad.
No artists could precisely sketch
The enormity of this earthquake
Where dark clouds had covered
And sucked the air out of the whole country.
No priests, pastors, imams or rabbis
Had enough words or knowledge
To preach about this event
Without becoming speechless at the end.
Haiti got hit, our poor Haiti
Our ill-prepared Haiti Thomas
Got startled by a powerful earthquake
About 250,000 human beings got killed.
No pond could sustain
Such a potent geyser of tears
The whole nation was drowning in fears
The world cried and felt our pain.
Since the beginning of time
It has never been easy to be Haitian
Even when Haiti was in her prime
Her children had to fight like supermen.
Haitians had to strive to survive
Haitians had to struggle to stay alive
Haitians were born to be strong and valiant
Haitians, at dawn, learned to be brave and resilient.
No other people have suffered like us
No other nations, countries or clans have lost
So much, because we never had enough
We were raised to be tough, we had to be rough.
No scientists could mathematically
Measure the anguish and the miseries
That our people have endured in the last five centuries
And specifically within the last five decennies.
No writers could convey the true nature
And the origin of our sorrow
Only time and tomorrow
Can soothe and smooth our pain and suffering.
No one could really console us
We never had enough and had lost so much
Haiti Thomas got rocked badly, that’s very bad
Haiti got hit hard, that’s obviously very sad.
poem by Hebert Logerie (12 January 2012)

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Everyday killer
everyday people
doing everyday
things
driving your cars
gettin on the train
it all contributed to
this horrible disaster
the average person
a murder
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic disater
killing loads of innocent people
and more people are homless
with no where to go
some children are parentless
because of the quake
orphans
cut your pollution
and save peoples lives today
for the people in Haiti
poem by Harriett Bishop

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Centennial
Come all ye friends of Liberty,
Who love our good old nation,
Let hands and hearts united be,
And beat the wide creation.
For this is our Centennial year,
The birthday of our nation;
For it is just one hundred years
That's stood our good old nation.
CHORUS:
Centennial! Centennial!
Hurrah to the Centennial;
And many, many people gone
To our national Centennial.
To Philadelphia people went,
And more was sure to go, sir;
They say there was things to be seen
Of a hundred years ago, sir.
Come all ye sons of liberty,
That love our good old nation,
Unite and keep our country free,
And the stars and stripes a waving.
The revolutionary war was fought
To gain our independence,
That we a nation great may be,
Both free and independent.
They fought the British, far and near,
For freedom, and they gained it --
In Centennial years of Jubilee,
Let Columbia's sons maintain it.
poem by Julia A Moore

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Wail! , Wail! ! , Wail! ! ! for HAITI.
Wail, ! Wail, ! ! Wail for HAITI! ! ! ! ! !
Wail for the sight is Gory,
Wail for the deaths of these Infants
Wail for the deaths of these women, ; young, and Old
Wail for the loss of the productive workforce of this Nation
Wail for the Calamity that came within few seconds to claim thousands of lives.
Wail for the loss of generations of this Land called Haiti
Wail for the Unconsolable mothers, and fathers for the loss of their loved ones
Wail, if you have tears in your tear glands,
Wail, if you have heart that is meek
May the Almighty console us all, for the sights of the dead in the rubbles too frightening to look.
poem by Segun Rasaki

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Constitution of the United States is not a mere lawyers' document it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of the age.
quote by Nadia Boulanger

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy! | In Romanian
While Haiti has recently celebrated more than 200 years of independence from French colonial rule, the citizens of the island remain vulnerable to poverty, poor health, and political chaos.
quote by Eliot Engel

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Cry
the cry for justice,
for human rights,
for equality, for
human dignity...
has never been louder!
Somalia!
Tibet!
Syria!
Israel!
Libya!
Haiti!
Russia!
China!
the United States
the right to work,
to eat, to housing,
to medical care,
to freedom of speech,
to religious freedom.....
the cry for the truth!
for positive change!
this world's in turmoil....
a new day is coming
no matter the cost!
poem by Eric Cockrell

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Yes it was we, are a few years back parted from our record company and took the album that we were making with them and released it independently in the United States had a number one Independent debut in the United States.
quote by Isaac Hanson

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Africa Today
Where is Nationalism, Solidarity, Socialism?
All I see are the Civil wars, we are fighting
together for power, demoralizing our people.
I'm talking about Dictatorship, Autocracy,
Despotism, Monocracy, Where is the Freedom,
independence, Equality, Self Determination we
fought for.
Could Nkwame Nkrummah, Jomo Kenyatta,
Kamuzu Banda, Joshua Nkomo have imagined
that Africa would be like this after they fought for it?
What would they be thinking when they see Africa like
this, deteriorating in our hands?
We are free but our minds are still in chains.
Where is African Unity?
We are allowing the lines of the borders to separate us.
We are fighting together African against another
African What for?
Where is generosity, kindness, charity?
The poor is poor and rich is rich.
What is this jealous and selfishness in Africa today.
Africa the land of minerals, wealth, multicultures
now is the land of poverty, civil wars, political crisis.
They call us the Dark Nation now we are proving
them right, because of this barbaric behavior.
Africa my land 'let us bring the spirit of solidarity
back to us just like Nelson Mandela when he says its
all in our hands it depends to us.
Let us hold our hands together and pray for our Nation,
may God bless Africa...Amen.
poem by Kholekile Monakali

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!