haiti speaks [director’s note]

ashley ellis
3 min readJul 7, 2020

At the start of this exploration, my intention was to document the work of the Las Vegas based organization, The Gift of Sight, on their medical mission trip. Their annual journey is on behalf of Friends of the Children of Lascahobas, Haiti, a 50 year old, Haitian led non-profit that provides healthcare and educational services in the rural town of Central Haiti it’s named after. The devastating earthquake of 2010, which struck a month before our scheduled visit, presented broader issues that we felt were necessary to explore. Two things were lost in the frenzy of media coverage during the aftermath of the quake: historical context to the socio-political and economic status of the country and most importantly, the Haitian voice. My crew and I went to Haiti in search of that voice.

Years later, after several shoots and as we marked the 10 year anniversary of the quake in January, the resulting film is what I call a visually poetic, reflective, state of the union address delivered by the people of Haiti. The title of the film is a provocative choice of social commentary that comes directly from one of the subjects of the film and captures a main point. In interview, Dr. Georges Michel confronts the racist title that former US Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan, once used in reference to Haitians: “Niggers speaking French”. He gives the international community a strong warning: Continue to use racism, capitalism, or any other reasoning, in order to control or exploit Haiti, and you will ultimately fail. The country’s tumultuous history of foreign relations and stalwart defense of sovereignty are evidence of this.

As the first liberated Black republic, Haiti was seen as a threat to the institution of slavery and forced to pay the French government an insurmountable debt in exchange for recognition as a free state. Making people pay for their human rights results in incalculable psychological and economic effects, and this is the foundation upon which Haiti entered the political stage. Thus, much of Haiti’s relationship with the rest of the world has been defined, in part, by racism and disrespect. Skeptics need only look to the media, where discrimination is often reinforced with images of poverty, suffering, and danger, without context — linking people with dark skin to these concepts. During the state of emergency that followed the quake, scenes of Haitian men carrying machetes were perpetuated as escaped convicts or gang members, prepared to wreak havoc. A few outlets, like Democracy Now!, took the time to challenge the speculation.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t well intentioned institutions and individuals working in Haiti, nor does it mean that Haitians don’t appreciate aid in times of crisis. Yet anyone who is truly invested in sustainable progress in Haiti must seek direction from its citizens. The issue was strikingly apparent as the entire world responded after the earthquake. The since disbanded Interim Haiti Recovery Commission’s Haitian members were compelled to write a letter to the co-chairs, because they felt left out of the decision making process. An Oxfam poll reported that only 17.5% of Haitians agreed with the commission’s action plan. When Dr. Michel states, “we must direct the reconstruction,” he speaks not to Haitian political and business leaders, but to all Haitian people, and he asks the outside world to respect that Haiti belongs to Haitians. So, this film attempts to create a space for Haitian people to reflect on their lives, imagine their own future, and to see themselves represented. By presenting thought leaders, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens leading grassroots efforts in their communities, we aim to provide a small platform for Haitians to shed the racist misnomer of “Niggers Speaking French” and to reclaim their voice.

- Ashley Ellis

www.haitispeaksfilm.com

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ashley ellis

writer, filmmaker and social impact designer. founder @ emerald city arts and @ liberating cinema co-founder @ sankoré