The Haitian Times is an online newspaper that serves as an outlet for broadcasting news concerning Haiti and the Haitian diaspora in the United States. Their claim to be bridging the gap, presumably between the Haitian diaspora and Haitians in Haiti can be seen to be in effect by analyzing different aspects of the website. Moreover, one particular headline mostly dominating their opinion section— the election of Donald Trump as President of the U.S.—illuminates how the media helps to shape the Haitian diaspora’s relationship not only to the U.S, but also Haiti.

The very idea that borders are transcended when people can be connected through media is evident on the Haitian Times website. The New York, South Florida, and Boston sections— all areas with high Haitian migrant populations— broadcast the major news concerning the Haitian diaspora in those areas. The Haiti section in turn publishes breaking news from Haiti. The Haitian times acts an outlet for Haitians to stay connected to the current events in those various places, and can in essence go back to the whole idea of Haiti as a deterritorialized nation state. One of the readings we covered last week mentioned that in 1991, then President Aristide designated the Haitian diaspora the Tenth Department of Haiti, and “Haiti now exists wherever in the world Haitians had settled”.  Thus, the Haitian times informing of meaningful news from the areas aforementioned to me seems consistent with this idea of incorporating Haitians everywhere to what Aristide aimed to be a borderless nation-state. It allows the readers themselves to feel a kind of social connectedness, further transcending state boundaries or national boundaries depending on the point of reference and in their words, bridging the gap between Haitians everywhere.

Not really a surprise was the fact that Donald Trump’s presidency was a dominant topic in the opinion section in the wake of the election, one of the reasons being the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that was made available to Haitians after the 2010 earthquake under former President Obama’s presidency. Now, the widely-held belief is that, as a post titled “Brace Yourself Haiti” phrased it, “Haitians can say goodbye to TPS”.  The concern here lies not only in the fact that many Haitians may be deported, but also what a flow of people having to go back to Haiti would mean for an economically challenged and fragile country. The post previously referred to can thus be seen as the epitome of how Trump’s presidency is perceived among the Haitian diaspora, as the writer goes on to further say:

The Trump administration is unlikely to invest significantly in reducing the backlog of approved immigrant visa petitions. This means that many Haitian families will remain split, with petitioners in the USA unable to reunite with their loved ones (sons and daughters primarily) for a long time. In other words, many will not be able to escape Haiti’s poverty and remain dependent on remittances from abroad. In the best case scenario, Haitian immigrants may retain their current socio-economic standing and perhaps improve it over the next months and years. Economists warn however of a downward spiral under a Trump administration. Thus Haitians’ standing in the USA has become much more insecure.

This also goes to show that, much like we’ve established for the most part this semester, no matter the love migrants may have for their homelands, they still view the U.S. as an escape from the poor economic situations they find themselves in at home, as providing economic opportunities they won’t find in their home countries.

The Haitian times also does not fail to broadcast the accomplishments of Haitian migrants in the U.S. A quick scroll through any one of the New York, South Florida, and Boston sections will surely bring to light the accomplishments of some Haitian migrants in those respective places. The New York section for example, in a post advertising an Emeline Michel (one of the more well-known Haitian singers) concert that took place at Brooklyn College earlier in the month, also highlighted her work as an activist. Moreover, anyone who paid the slight of attention to the Miss Universe pageant surely did hear of the runner-up Raquel Pelissier, Haitian born and raised. Thus, it doesn’t take too long to find a post entitled “New York Lawmakers Honor Miss Haiti Raquel Pelissier,” the first sentence reading:

Following Miss Haiti 2016’s near win for the Miss Universe crown, Haitian dignitaries, elected officials and public in general have been swooning for an opportunity to engage the Miss Universe pageant runner up.

Another click on the Boston section and the first thing one sees is this photo below with the title “Haitian Artist’s Work to Be Featured in Boston Street Piano Exhibition”

The Haitian Times showcasing the notable accomplishments of Haitian migrants may be a way of highlighting the fact that these people, who often leave their homelands in search of a better life, in search of opportunities to make a living, are indeed capable of achieving great things once and if they make it to the United States. Being a Haitian immigrant myself, I can say that it is truly a source of pride and inspiration for me seeing the many accomplishments featured on this online newspaper. Another important fact to note is that this newspaper is in English, another way of them “bridging the gap” and allowing people of Haitian descent who are born in the U.S. and don’t know any Haitian Creole to also stay connected to the events concerning the Haitian diaspora and Haiti. In addition to having family living in Haiti, the media—social media platforms in my case— allows me to stay and feel linked to my country, and no doubt does the same for other Haitian migrants by being a key player in the persistence of transnationalism.

 

 

Sources

http://haitiantimes.com

http://haitiantimes.com/2016/11/21/brace-yourself-haiti/

http://haitiantimes.com/2017/03/02/emeline-michel-on-art-activism-and-anticipated-brooklyn-concert/

http://haitiantimes.com/2016/08/22/haitian-artists-work-to-be-featured-in-boston-street-piano-exhibition/

http://haitiantimes.com/2017/02/16/new-york-lawmakers-honor-miss-haiti-raquel-pelissier/