I shall command the islands to exist

– from “Lost Body”, by Aimé Césaire, trans. E. Anthony Hurley (via The Caribbean Review of Books)

* * *

Aimé Césaire - Martinican poet, politician and consummate West Indian - passed away today at the age of 94. It is not often that politics and poetry go together, but when they do, the West Indies is as fertile an environment as any for the two to coexist. Césaire seamlessly blended his love for language, ideas and writing into his political life, which spanned almost 60 years.

Like many Caribbean intellectuals of the time, he was passionate about redefining his black identity (and that of his countrymen) in the face of colonial stereotypes and was drawn to the Soviet Union as an alternative model for human progress. He reportedly grew disillusioned with Communism, but remained firm in his anti-colonialism stance.

And today, a new generation of West Indians, whose freedoms can be at least partly attributed to the impact of his writings and political accomplishments, honours him…

Many have paid tribute with quotes or excerpts from Césaire's works. In Martinique, le blog de [moi] [Fr] posts an excerpt from Return to my native land (Cahier d'un retour au pays natal). In Trinidad, Nicholas Laughlin quotes a passage from Memorandum on My Martinique, while Antilles, the blog of The Caribbean Review of Books posts an excerpt from Lost Body.

Cap 21 Outre-Mer writes that Césaire was an “icon for a people in their quest for a post-colonial identity,” who will be remembered not only for his poetry, but for his politics:

A côté de son engagement littéraire et culturel, je tiens à saluer également son très fort engagement en politique, où, maire de Fort-de-France pendant 56 ans, Aimé Césaire aura été un exemple pour tous les hommes politiques antillais, l’exemple d’un homme politique qui a toujours gouverné avec grandeur, pour ses idées, pour ses concitoyens, pour son peuple et surtout pour un idéal commun.

C’est un grand homme qui nous quitte aujourd’hui ; la France, l’Outre-Mer, nous lui sommes tous reconnaissants.

Of course, Césaire's reach extends far beyond his native Martinique or the Caribbean.

Senegalese blogger Souleymane Dieye [Fr] has several posts honoring Césaire, including one with a photograph of the poet during a visit to Senegal.

In a post titled “Our Beloved Césaire” (Notre Césaire aimé), Dieye writes, “Papa poet is a magnificent man. He is glorious. This man of the people gave Martinique back her dignity…” and quotes Senegalese writer and philosopher, Hamidou Dia, who told local media today, “Aimé Césaire gave us back our pride as Africans.”

In Congo-Kinshasa, Forum Realisance writes this tribute:

A mon frère le plus doué, mon maître, la voix de ma conscience et celle de notre éternel combat humain ; c´est bien de peine que tu ne sois plus des nôtres ! Et déjà, devant notre champ de bataille aux duels acharnés, ton départ nous attriste et nous esseule…

Repose en paix, enfant aimé du continent éternel. Puisse nos prières émues et attendries te bercer ce voyage silencieux et sans retour qui est maintenant le tien. Nous ne t´oublierons jamais, car au fond de l´amour chaleureux de tous les femmes et hommes de bonne foi, ta droiture restera légendaire.

American bloggers Pierre Joris and Matthew Cheney both mark his passing. Cheney shares this story:

Keith Walker told me a story that I only remember vague details of, but I'll tell what I can of it here. He used it to explain to me when he had fallen in love with Césaire's work himself. He was at school in France, and his roommate had covered the ceiling over his bed with writing — beautiful, stunning, strange words. Keith asked him what it was, and learned that it was lines from Césaire's great poem “Notebook of a Return to the Native Land” — his roommate had written those lines above his bed so he would see them just before he fell into sleep and be welcomed by them every morning. Keith was stunned that a poem could have such power for a person, and he sought out Césaire's work (and eventually Césaire himself). He said that in Martinique he went to a political rally that was as much like an interactive poetry reading as it was a political event, and that what really impressed him was that so many ordinary people held this supposedly “difficult” writing so close to their hearts.

Earlier this week in Togo, as the news of Césaire's hospitalization and declining health spread around the world, writer Kangi Alem wondered how best to honor his memory. Alem wasn't too happy that some French politicians have called for Césaire's induction into the Pantheon (as they have other black luminaries):

Bien sûr qu’il va mourir, le poète rebelle, mais bien sûr, à cet âge-là, il ne reste aux poètes qu’à passer à l’immortalité. Pas finir au Panthéon, idée curieuse que certains brandissent ces jours-ci, et qui me paraît fumeuse et inutilement polémique, tant la stature de Césaire, son combat sont aux antipodes de ce type de reconnaissance-là. M’étonnerait d’ailleurs que le poète lui-même fût sensible à cet honneur. Mais trêve de blabla au chevet de l’illustre poète pas encore disparu. Mais il mourra, Césaire, et nous le célébrerons!

Alem continues:

Avec sa mort, disparaîtra la dernière figure du trio fondateur de la Négritude, mouvement littéraire et idéologique qui a tant fait couler et nous a tous marqué, artistes et écrivains africains, d’une manière ou d’une autre. Comment dire merci et adieu au poète martiniquais? Sur ce blog, Timba m’a donné l’idée. Et si chacun nous donnait une citation d’un texte d’Aimé Césaire qui l’a marqué? Façon de se souvenir de lui et de parcourir à notre façon son héritage en théâtre, poésie et essai. Adieu, poète, déjà immortel même de ton vivant. (K.A)

Alem chooses an excerpt from The Tragedy of King Christophe, a play Alem once performed at the Festival d'Avignon about Henri Christophe, a Haitian revolutionary leader who declared himself King of Haiti in 1811 and established a feudal system of lords.

Les mots du Roi Christophe, s’adressant à sa femme inquiète de le voir malmener son peuple, résonnent encore dans ma tête, violents, conjuratoires, inoubliables. Du grand Césaire, du bon Césaire, immanquablement poète même lorsqu’il écrit pour le théâtre.

Racisme et Histoire: Le Tabou writes:

Aimé Césaire est mort aujourd'hui. J'espère que son héritage ne sera ni sali, ni banni. Monsieur Césaire, votre Humanité reste bien vivante dans mon coeur.

Caribbean Free Radio posted a photograph and just three simple words:

Adieu, Aimé Césaire.

How will you remember him?

Janine Mendes-Franco contributed to this post.

Uncle Sam's Cabin linked to mainstream media updates about the effects of the tremors in Martinique, the island closest to the ‘quake's epicenter, while Notes From The Margin linked to an online article that provided “a good summary of the damage”.

Barbados Free Press was concerned that “the controversial Barbados Greenland Dump construction site was damaged during Thursday’s lengthy earthquake” and Living in Barbados feared that many of today's Independence celebrations on the island may be canceled:

I suspect that many will not want to venture to the beach, fearing a tsunami. Let's hope that it does not arrive. The PM was due to have an independence reception tonight, but so far no word if it will go ahead.

Steve's Dominica, the first blog to report on the initial tremors, posted a tectonic summary from the U.S. Geological Survey office, while further south, ttgapers.com reported that “in Trinidad, none of the valuable oil fields or oil and gas refineries were affected.”

Blogging from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Abeni writes:

Living under the shadow of La Soufriere meant almost everyone feared the mountain was awaking from its slumber.

Living Dominica was amazed at how “the trees trembled”, but she also found it “interesting how strongly felt this quake was in St Maarten.”

Ishie, a medical student in Grenada, writes:

Through the grapevine, apparently Martinique got hit by a pretty significant (in the 7s) earthquake, so we got the ripple effect, thus giving students from all over the world a little taste of it.

Guyana-Gyal, who felt the rumblings all the way on the South American mainland, as always tries to put an optimistic spin on a distressing situation:

I know this rumbling from the real thing I experience plenty times in the Caribbean Island. This trembling was eerie. No sound. Just silence and trembling. Thank you Santa, you big, clumsy oaf, leggoing…letting go of…a load somewhere, shaking up the land before Chrismus.

Steve's Dominica was first on the ball - yesterday, his blog reported on “A Little Tremor”:

10:19am - a 4.8 ‘quake' shook us. A little thing really, centered east of Martinique.

When the most recent tremors hit, however, his new post title quickly got upgraded to “HUGE Tremor”, followed by a report on the specifics of the ‘quake:

We were just rocked by a substantial earthquake - magnitude 7.3, centered not far west of Martinique. Now that's what I call scary - about 2 minutes of sustained shaking. Cars rocked, motorbike shook, water tank shook and slopped water… and Puss fled.

Further down the Caribbean archipelago, some Barbados blogs were also writing about the experience. Barbados Underground called the tremor “nerve wracking” and provides a time line of what happened from beginning to end. Cheese-on-bread! says that she “had to exit the building hastily”, but as soon as she was allowed back on her computer she provided a more detailed account:

Traffic is gridlocked, especially near the City, and there were reports of roof tiles falling from the Royal Bank of Canada in Broad Street, damaging a car and blocking the street. Part of a house in the parish of St. George reportedly fell into a gully. People are in the streets and walking to open areas. The cellphone system is partially down so persons are having difficulty communicating. Some patients were also evacuated from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. In Guadeloupe there are reports that a 3 year old girl was killed and her sister injured.

Caribbean Lionesse describes it as “possibly the strongest earthquake in Barbados' living memory”, adding that “the whole island is still in a bit of a tizzy and on edge”:

I was sitting at my desk when I realised I felt dizzy or lightheaded - like my head was swimming. A few seconds later I heard my workmates shrieking and realised it was not just me. To be honest, I was in a panic. I just froze and clutched my desk, hoping it would pass but the ground just kept swaying and swaying and swaying. In my mind I was thinking “oh my god, we're still moving, why are we still moving?”

But after about forty-five minutes, she is able to post a “funny” earthquake update:

Guardian General swooped in RIGHT AWAY and is sponsoring Starcom radio's emergency broadcast on the earthquake. So every 15 minutes or so between nervy reports from town and around the region, you hear ‘Guardian General - trust us to be there!' Talk about marketing!

Notes From The Margin gives an insightful account of how people reacted, more concerned for the safety of their loved ones than their own welfare:

We all bolted for the door this afternoon as we felt and saw the ground shake beneath our feet. Everyone is asking what’s going on and no one appears to know. Calls on cell phones are met with “Network Busy”, calls on landlines are met with busy tones. No one is hurt but everyone is calling their loved ones to see that they are okay. People are sounding strained on the phone not because they are scared for themselves but because they fear for those dear to them. “My husband is on a construction site”, “My parents are on a plane coming in, will the airport be okay?” “I can’t get through to my children’s school I wonder if they are okay?”

Amit at Pull! Push! says:

Google is all over it…

He actually got on IM with me (I was entering my own post about it at the time) and we traded stories:

Amit: hi
take it u heard/felt the quake?
me: oh yes!! how bad was it in your neck of the woods?
Amit: first time i felt a quake/shake.
like being on a boat in the water.
i was at home.
me: we had a pretty scary one last year, but this one was way longer.
Amit: i've got a full blog post up already. USGS says 7.3 around martinique.
me: incredible.
apparently the aftershocks are expected to be quite strong
Amit: good grief.
me: i know.
Amit: this is the first time in my entire life and for most bajans as well i bet, that i've been through this.

Living Guyana reports feeling the effects of the tremor:

For a few seconds at approximately 3:04pm this afternoon a strong tremor rocked houses and other buildings on coastland Guyana. The tremor sent persons scattering out of their homes, offices and other buildings in Georgetown as people became scared and ran onto the streets.

West Indies Cricket Blog also weighed in:

A massive earthquake (7.3 on Richter scale) rocked the Caribbean today, sending tremors as far as Guyana and Suriname in South America. The earthquake was centered 23 miles southeast of Roseau, the capital of Dominica, where the shaking lasted for about 20 seconds.

As the people of the Caribbean brace themselves for possible aftershocks, Marginal says:

It’s a time to hug your family and count your blessings, it could have been much much worse.

After over 22 years of negotiations and consultations, the United Nations approved the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples earlier this month, a broad, non-binding agreement articulating basic individual and communal rights to cultural self-preservation, self-determination and natural resources.

The Declaration sparked conversations in blogospheres around the world about the situation of indigenous people today, the Declaration's value and limits, as well as harsh condemnation of the four member countries that voted against: Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

K sums up the main provisions of the Declaration:

la Declaración consta de 46 artículos y establece parámetros mínimos de respeto a los derechos de los pueblos indígenas, que incluyen propiedad de la tierra, acceso a los recursos naturales de los territorios donde se asientan, respeto y preservación de sus tradiciones y autodeterminación…El texto también hace hincapié en la importancia de la educación bilingüe y alude a la implementación de medidas especiales para asegurar el mejoramiento continuo de las condiciones económicas y sociales de los ancianos, mujeres y menores, en particular. La Declaración no es jurídicamente vinculante, pero representa un instrumento dinámico en las normas internacionales, que ayudaría a proteger a los indígenas contra la discriminación y marginación.

On the plight of indigenous people around the world

Democracia Multicultural:

Los pueblos indígenas afirman que sus tierras y territorios están siendo amenazados por la minería, tala, contaminación ambiental, proyectos de privatización y desarrollo, las designaciones de tierras como áreas protegidas o reservas y el uso de semillas genéticamente modificadas, entre otros.

Kenya Environmental & Political News Weblog writes that in Kenya, the Maasai and Ogiekrg face serious social problems that “stemmed mostly from eviction from their ancestral land and being denied the right to continue living in forests as their forefathers.”

Ever since colonial times, most of what used to be Maasai land has been taken over, for private farms and ranches, for government projects or for wildlife parks. Mostly they retain only the most arid and least fertile areas. The stress this causes to their herds has often been aggravated by attempts made by government of Kenya and Tanzania to ‘develop’ the Maasai.

Similarly, since colonial times, there have been persistent attempts to evict the Ogiek from their ancestral forest, usually on the pretext that they are degrading it. But when the Ogiek are removed, their forest is not protected but rather exploited by logging and tea plantations - some owned by government officials. In some parts of the Mau forest, groups of Ogiek are now resisting eviction, while in others they face influxes of settlers onto their land. The most serious threat currently facing them all comes from the government’s plan to open up around one tenth of Kenya’s forests - most of it in the Mau forest - to outsiders.

Censored News posts a statement by civil society organizations on the conditions of indigenous peoples elsewhere in Africa:

au moment ou des milliers de Batwa dans la région des grands lacs sont affectés par des guerres dont ils ne connaissent pas les raisons, des familles de San sont expropries de leur terre par des fermiers et des parks nationaux. Les forets qui constituent les ressources de survie des autochtones (Baka, Bageli, Batwa, endoroi, Massai, Ogiek, M’barabek …etc.) d’Afrique centrale et de l’Est sont détruites, le peuple touareg entre l’Afrique du Nord et de l’Ouest est pris dans le feu d’un conflit d’intérêt d’exploitation de ressources naturelles et géopolitiques des Etats

Citing a World Bank report, Pepitorias writes that in many countries in Latin America, 75-90% of indigenous peoples live in poverty and that indigenous peoples are more vulnerable to global warming and natural disasters.

Settler states vote “No”

The passage of the Declaration was heralded as an historic milestone by indigenous groups, but many bloggers were highly critical of four “settler states” that voted against it: Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Although legally non-binding, many of the document's provisions were controversial, according to Democracia Multicultural (es), including one ensuring that indigenous land cannot be “sin el consentimiento libre, previo e informado de los pueblos indígenas interesados, ni sin un acuerdo previo sobre una indemnización justa y equitativa” and another requiring restitution or just compensation for confiscated lands.

Wampum observes that states which voted against the Declaration were all former colonies of England in the Americas and the South Pacific, and that the states most active in promoting it were former colonies of Spain and Portugal in the Americas.

The MySpace blog save the sacred sites (via Angry Indian)

I have prayed many times that the world would recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples. I knew that the US & Canada and of coarse Australia, who have done to the Aborigines what the US & Canada have done to Natives, would vote no. The big surprise to me was that Mexico, with their horrible treatment of Indigenous People there, wasn't the 5th country voting against the UN resolution for Indigenous rights. Another amazing thing to me is that even the countries who decimated the Native populations on the Caribbean Islands voted for it. The world is changing. And the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand had better catch up.

La Tribu du Verbe posts a video of a demonstration in Montreal organized by Femmes Autochtones du Quebec and writes about Canada's opposition to the Declaration:

Mais voilà que depuis l’entrée des conservateurs au pouvoir en janvier 2006, le Canada est devenu un farouche opposant à cette déclaration. Dernièrement, à quelques semaines du vote final pour l’adoption de la déclaration, le Canada, appuyé par l’Australie, la Nouvelle-Zélande, la Russie, la Colombie, la Guyane et le Surinam, a demandé de reprendre les négociations, manoeuvre qui a pour but de paralyser l’adoption de la déclaration.

The CAC Review calls the vote against the Declaration by these four “settler states” a “serious tactical error” that will not diminish the Declaration's symbolic value:

To be seen to act against the contents of the Declaration will be equated with acting against international public opinion. What stands out is not that “the liberal democracies with the most intense engagements with indigenous issues” voted against the Declaration, as some have said, since many other countries, with larger indigenous populations, and arguably more intense engagements, voted for it. What stands out instead is how settler states are still in the process of trying to settle themselves, how much “engagement” has really been disengagement, distance, friction, and conflict, and how much wishful thinking plays a part in reigning fantasies that, one day, Europe Part 2, will be as embedded in its foreign soil as Original Europe can claim to be on its soil.

The vote against the Declaration was a serious tactical error: these four states now sorely stand out as colonial, white states, anachronistic entitites in a world where “decolonization” has become part of the international vocabulary. They have also handed the Chinas of the world a powerful argument–that they too flout the will of “the international community,” that they too do not recognize the rights of disadvantaged minorities, and that liberal democracy is really little more than kleptocracy. If accepting the Declaration could have been symbolically binding (even if not legally so), then surely rejecting the Declaration will also come at a political cost. Some of us will see to it that it does.

soup is good food, the blog of a Canadian political science student, writes that even non-binding declarations can turn into political liabilities for governments unfriendly to native issues:

some might point out that the declaration is non-binding. The Canadian government could have easily signed it to look good and then ignored it like we do with other declarations. I wouldn't use this excuse.

I think the Harper government knows exactly how dangerous declarations can be.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is/was non-binding. Now many parts of it are customary international law. It's not perfect and violations still occur, but it's there. It's a global rallying point for change and justice. And that's something.

Politicians have learned from this “mistake” of allowing non-binding seemingly harmless feel-good declarations in. It eventually causes problems. Which is why we now have four powerful countries with ongoing histories of disgusting abuses against indigenous populations having temper tantrums over the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Because heaven forbid we should sign onto something that would oblige us to do the right thing.

What impact will the Declaration have?

In Martinique, le blog de [moi] predicts the declaration may prompt new rumblings from pro-independence elements.

Martinique is an overseas department of France, which had long opposed the Declaration on a “principal of the indivisibility of the Republic” and its refusal to recognize communal rights. France changed its position under former president Jacques Chirac, who was personally interested in “first peoples.”

indigenouspeoplecongobrazza (Fr) writes that although the Declaration, and in particular the sections pertaining to the use of land and natural resources and the principle of informed consent, might appear to be a victory for pygmies in Congo, “the absence of national legislation regarding indigenous peoples and the low level of education among most indigenous peoples” will remain major barriers to their benefiting from the Declaration.

Criticisms of the Declaration

Polysocial (es) notes that the Declaration was amended at the last minute, without input from an indigenous groups, after an agreement was struck between its cosponsors, a group of African and Latin American countries, including Peru, Guatemala and Mexico to include a clause which states the intention of the Declaration is not to authorize or stir any action threatening the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign states.

Many Central and South American organizations demonstrated against these amendments, Polysocial writes, believing that the Declaration “had suffered changes that diminished its content…in the spirit of debilitating and restricting its scope.”

In a comment on le blog de [moi], WK, a reader, writes:

il y a quelque chose qui me heurte profondément dans cette déclaration c’est que j’y trouve une sorte d’abdication à créer des sociétés multiculturelles et un encouragement à des replis identitaires. Par ailleurs, une déclaration aussi globale me paraît mal venue dans le sens ou elle est tellement vague qu’elle pourra rester lettre morte alors qu’il y a bien urgence dans certaines cas, je pense par exemple à l’Alaska où des ressources et des modes de vie sont menacées par l’avidité des compagnies pétrolières.

One Japanese blogger voices concern about how indigenous peoples are defined. The UN has long relied on self-definition and purposely vague standards.

気になるのは、用語に関することです。宣言の英語表記ては「indigenous peoples」の諸権利に関する宣言となっていて、nationでもethnic groupでもありません。朝日も産経も記事の見出しは「先住民」ですが、本文では「先住民族」と「先住民」を併用しています。不統一で、あいまいです。

The blogger also writes that Japan is not the homogeneous society it claims to be:

日本ではしばしば単一言語、単一民族などといわれがちですが、子細に見れば、多元的、多様な文化が伝わっていることが分かります。文化的な多元性、多様性をもっとも端的に示しているのは、民族宗教といわれる神社の祭りの多様さです。縄文の火祭りをいまに伝えるものもあれば、伊勢神宮のお膝元で東南アジアの畑作農耕文化と共通するお田植えが行われてさえいます。

And explains the role of semantic issues in the Ainu people's campaign for cultural rights, and the influence of the declaration:

「民族」だといってしまえば、やれ「民族自決」だ、「独立」だ、ということになりかねません。日本でも、政府は、たとえばアイヌに対して、「先住民族」とは認めていません。萱野茂さんが尽力して10年前に成立した「アイヌ文化振興法」も「アイヌの人々」と表現しています。しかし、今回の採択を受けて、「アイヌ民族の尊厳確立」を目的に活動する北海道ウタリ協会はさっそく、「先住民族として認めることを要求していく」と表明しています。

Japanese translations by Chris Salzberg.