BlackPerspective.net
Discussing the Diaspora as seen through an internal Black lens
Celebrating Wyclef’s Failure? Denied Haiti Ballot Spot
August 21st, 2010
Haitian born, New Jersey and Brooklyn raised Wyclef Jean earlier this month filed for and announced his run for president of his native country. Though having left when he was 9, he’s been very active in philanthropic and community work there for years. In 2007 he was officially named Haiti’s roving ambassador by current President Rene Preval.
Yesterday Haiti’s election council denied his bid to get on the ballot for November’s election. This well might be expected, as he lacked the requirement of having recently lived in the country for five consecutive years before election day.
Likewise not unexpected to me, but yet disappointing is the joy that his detractors take in the denial of he even having opportunity to stand before the Haitian people, and put forth himself to help better his country.
Much is the gnashing of teeth of how celebrities are disconnected from social issues, are often politically ambivalent and take no stand; and how the rich (which Wyclef is) neglect the interest of the poor.
Would Wyclef have made a good president, I don’t know, and didn’t particularly have an opinion on whether he should be elected; I felt it was up to the Haitian people to look at all alternatives and make that decision. Though, I out of hand reject the notion that you simply need an experienced politician, or expert technicians. Technicians don’t lead, leaders do; and all the professional politicians have done nothing for Haiti all these years, so what’s one more?
I don’t think anyone should have supported Wyclef if they didn’t think he was the best candidate; but likewise I find it disconcerting that he received such vitriol and personal animus for wanting to stand up for his country.
A couple of years I did a series called Determined Activism Verses Naysayers. The bottom line to the 3 commentaries was that you can always expect to be derided for any attempts to effect social change, or make a difference in anyway; no matter what you do. Both my study of history and every social movement or activist I’ve ever studied; plus my decade of personal experience in social activism lets me know this to be a certain truth.
I was listening to local sports talk radio a yesterday, and they were discussing parents who are apt these days to deride, insult, and even assault the coaches of children, and how these coaches get paid little or nothing; and this is the thanks thy get for their volunteer efforts. A former volunteer coach that called noted that you’ll get more criticism for volunteer work then you’d get for doing the same work for pay.
I found the saying relatively true that “no good deed goes unpunished.” So before you do the right thing, make sure it’s what you believe in, because you’ll pay for it.
I say that not to encourage you not to do good, but to let you know to be sound in your belief in doing the good that you attempt to do; because you won’t be congratulated, rewarded, or thanked for it. You better believe that doing right is it’s own reward, because it’ll likely be the only one you’ll get.
You’ll get more snickering, naysaying, criticism and disregard than anything else. But again, nothing ever got better listening to the naysers. They’re always there to naysay everything.
posted in Foreign News, News & Events, Social Commentary | | | View blog reactions |
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Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.
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