Is Haiti a place where you are NOT allowed to give credit?

Food for Thought - As a Haitian Thinketh...

Sometimes I get the impression that, in Haiti and in the Haitian community, you are NOT permitted to give credit where credit is due without walking away with stigmas like: Ti sousou, 'w-ap souse yon zo', Fanatik, Militan, 'fe Chien nan pie', ti grangou, or a number of other name callings...

It almost feels like everyone is OK with bashing and bad mouthing each other... We are perfectly comfortable saying that something sucks, you don't know what you're talking about, President so and so must 'Rashe manyok li', such and such organisation 'ap kraze zo pep la', 'An ou leve kanpe pou nou soulve KONT...'

Think about it... We are very efficient as destroying each other.

We can say all of that but how many times do you hear:

"Wow... This is good!"

"Good job... I am proud of you!"

"He is doing a wonderful job!"

"This organization is turning around, they are improving..."

"I am behind you 100 percent of the way"

If these things are being said about a politician in Haiti, God forbid, the media will attack you... and IF this "politician" is ever EVICTED from power, people in your own community will come and burn your house down.

I am not kidding... This the main reason why a Haitian can LOVE you but he will keep it to himself... This is also why a Haitian can witness MURDER but he will not come forward... FEAR...

Is that the price that we must pay for being IN FAVOR of something? Of someone? Of a movement? Of a cause? Of law and order? Of Haiti?

Is that why every Haitian who stands FOR something must keep his mouth shut? keep his opinion to him/herself?

I will ask again...

Are Haitians capable of showing love in public for something that they believe in without being harassed by the guardians of NEGATIVITY?

I grew up in a country where Conservatives, Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats and Independents all live in the same neighborhood. Every time an election is over, they all go back to being Americans.

We can do that can't we?

We need to do that... Each and everyone of us must work very hard to adopt that attitude... At the end of the day, we must all go back to being Haitians.

We must stand for something... Something great... Something worth dying for...

Those guardians of NEGATIVITY... We need to ignore them and show love anyway for what we believe in.

I believe that there are more of us than they are of them...

Their mouths are louder than ours... Reverse that...

Someone once told me, if you want change you must talk about it, discuss it, think about it as if the change you want already happen... Only then will it materialize in front of your eyes.

You want a better Haiti, talk about Haiti as if it is already better. Associate yourself with people who think like you and who want the same things you do... Stay away from the rattle snakes, as my friend and motivational speaker Rene Godefroy would say, they will infect you with their venom and strip you off your desire for a better Haiti.

If you believe in something, say it... Say it loud... Soon you will hear echoes... Other people just like you coming out of hiding will join you and say it louder...

Remember... Those people who are calling you Ti sousou, Fanatik, Militan, 'fe Chien nan pie', ti grangou, they are people who are either too afraid to stand for what they believe in or have something to gain by keeping the status quo.

They will never see things your way and they will use the fear of CRITICISM to keep you inline.

Do NOT let the fear of being criticized keep you from giving credit where credit is due. Make it a habit of congratulating your Haitian brothers and sisters for doing it right instead of criticizing them for the ONE thing they did wrong.

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