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Quotes by Haitian Authors
"The spirit of Ubuntu, that once led Haiti to emerge as the first independent black nation in 1804, helped Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador attain liberty, and inspired our forefathers to shed their blood for the United States' independence, cannot die. Today, this spirit of solidarity must and will empower all of us to rebuild Haiti."
"For this album I was determined to do it my way. Take my time. I'm gonna win, lose or draw on my own."
"It is the destiny of the people of Haiti to suffer."
"The president is here, strong and firm as a monkey's tail."
"I really can't blame anyone but myself, because I didn't have to deliver the album. But when you get caught up in the gas, and you're young, and there's so much helium going on around you, you can't decipher the real end."
"You have all these people in the city and everything has become centralized. If you live outside the city and you need a birth certificate or some official paper from the government, you have to travel to the city."
"Creating these messes that go from administration to administration and then you swoop in and clean them up - with that heroic Delta force - people not realizing that they were always there but doing different things than what we see them doing at the moment."
"We must all make peace so that we can all live in peace."
"On some level, now, we are joining the larger world and realizing that we are connected with people in these very scary ways, sometimes. What happened recently in Spain affects us here and brings questions up. It is too bad that people have to be shaken up in that way."
"A couple of people thought I looked familiar, but it was like, No."
"When we came up with titles like Ready or Not, that's how we really felt."
"In terms of the idea of long-term occupation - I have been reading a little bit more about this period - and you can see in that occupation are many lessons for the current occupation of Iraq. So we have these connections that go way back that people aren't aware of."
"There is a frustration too, that at moments when there's not a coup, when there are not people in the streets, that the country disappears from people's consciousness."
"To start with, for example this year, 2004, is the bicentennial of Haitian independence."
"In life we try to grow and better ourselves. As an artist, I feel like I've grown tremendously."
"Seven out of 10 Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless."
"Napoleon had been fighting this army of slaves and free people in Haiti and it depleted his forces. And after the Revolution, when the French were driven out, they stopped and sold this big chunk of North America to the Americans for very little money."
"There's a harsh reality - nothing lasts forever. You have to be ready to grow, and grow fast."
"When I was leaving I kind of felt a little bit sad, because I made some friends down in skid row."
"Someone has said that nations have interests, they don't have friends, and you see that over and over in U.S. policy."
"We have problems which will be addressed by Haitians."
"People aren't really aware of what's happening in other places."
"I'm one of those firm believers that good music will prevail."
"People who want alternative information have to try so hard to find it."
"On some levels, you can also have this feeling that we are being duped, somehow. And that the world is at play for something you would understand more if it were pure ideology. It is a very strange time and also basic things are being taken away."
"I didn't want to do the whole, get the hottest person thing. I wanted to make sure every record felt right."
"I know the Haitian people because I am the Haitian people."
"More and more people are able to access information - thank goodness we have the Internet and if you are interested you can find things. Which is different than even 20 years ago."
"As we all know, many people remain buried under tons of rubble and debris, waiting to be rescued. When we think of their suffering, we feel deeply and profoundly that we should be there, in Haiti, with them, trying our best to prevent death."
"People think that there is a country there that these people are only around when they are on CNN. I don't think that's limited to Haiti."
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