Two years ago, today, a deadly earthquake struck Haiti, killing nearly 300,000 people and prompting Miamians and Americans across the country to respond with statements of solidarity and financial support to assist Haiti’s reconstruction efforts. Though hopes for progress have remained high, Haiti has continued to face numerous devastating setbacks, including a post-earthquake cholera epidemic that killed 7,000 and sickened half a million Haitians – not to mention that a half-million Haitians still remain homeless, trapped in tent-camp “cities” that are over-crowded and often infested diseases.
These destructive events have been an on-going source of anxiety for local Haitian-Americans, in particular, who are disproportionately impacted by joblessness and other challenges yet often depended upon by family abroad. Frantz Exceus, a local Haitian-American leader, elaborated this transnational stress: “So many people in the neighborhood are looking for work. They don’t have any way to pay their rent. I have a mortgage, but my mother is sick in Haiti. Because of her medical bills there and my job problems here, I am 3 months behind.”
At the same time, no matter how grim prospects for progress have been described, there is hope for change – and the source of that change is more close to home than you might think. Remittances from Haitians constitute a significant chunk of Haiti’s GDP. In fact, according to a recent article, the “Haitian [diaspora] sends more than $1 billion each year to support family and friends in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.” The more jobs that Haitians living in Miami can access, the more likely they can contribute in remittances to help uplift their kinfolk struggling to survive in Haiti.
As we approach Martin Luther King Day, it’s imperative to be mindful of MLK’s message of justice, that “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” As we express solidarity today with Haitians, we should also pause to reflect on the relationship between joblessness here at home and the ongoing tribulations of people living in Haiti. Creating sources of good jobs in Miami is not just a matter of domestic sustenance for folks living in Miami; it’s a matter of life or death for thousands of Haitians living abroad. In 2012, let us remember that fact as we continue to fight for good jobs.
