This past weekend, 4 members of one of Haiti's better-known music groups, Barikad Crew, died in a car accident. There is some debate as to exactly what happened, but essentially their car caught fire & burned everyone inside while fellow band members and friends looked on helplessly. The following day, 2 of the girlfriends of those who died attempted suicide. One was successful. She was 3 months pregnant.
Though I find this tragic, I'm perhaps even more taken aback by the effect it has had on the population as a whole. Death is common in Haiti in a way that it is not in developed countries. Loss is a regular part of life. (Though it is deeply mourned.) But as news spread of the deaths, Haiti took notice in a way I had not expected. For some it is a loss of friends. For others it is a loss of a favorite musician. But even those who would never listen to the group's songs feel the loss. As far as I can tell, this comes from 2 sentiments.
First is a sense of family. Similar to Indians (that is, people from India), Haitians refer to other Haitians living abroad -- in the US, Canada, France, etc -- as the Diaspora. There is a profound sense that even those who have been out of Haiti longer than they were in it are still Haitian and still family. I wish I could say that I understand the Haitian concept of "family," but I don't. But there seems to be a sense that all Haitians are distant relatives and are touched by this tragedy.
Second is the hope they represented. They came from nothing -- from a neighborhood called "bas peu de chose" -- but they managed to do more than just survive, and to do it legally. Maybe they would have joined forces with Wyclef Jean as the next great philanthropists to Haiti. Maybe they would have shown the world that good things do come from Haiti, opening the door for future Haitian success stories. In any case, there seems to be a collective feeling of let-down, of "shoot, we almost made it this time."
I don't quite know how to end this posting. This isn't exactly an appropriate space to express condolences. Perhaps I should simply promise to try to better explain this shared grief at a time when I better understand it.
-L
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2 comments:
After being there for nearly a year, you are still just learning what the nation and the people are about. Hang in there and keep on learning.
Dad
Your second point about the lost potential Barikad represented resonates with the response I saw from my friends and co-workers. I think the "greater Haitian family" sentiment is there but selective in it's application. It applies when a nationally beloved music group is lost but not necessarily when it comes to dealing with your next door neighbor. But that's a universal truth - not an exclusively Haitian one.
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