After a year illuminated by candlelight vigils, Haitian American Student Association President Manoucheka Philantrope is now confronted with directing and finding a vision for an organization forever changed by the natural forces of the world. More than a full year has passed since disaster ravaged Haiti, and Philantrope politely asks the Syracuse University community to come together again.

On the morning of the earthquake, Philantrope was gripped by disbelief as she watched live footage from Haiti. ‘I remember seeing all the pictures on CNN, and I just broke down,’ she said. Since that January morning, our public consciousness has been flooded by the demands of wreckage and desolation. In our own heads and minds, Haiti has been reduced to disease and debris.

This is what catastrophe does. It leads those with a disjointed and extremely limited knowledge of the country to be spammed and overwhelmed with images of brokenness, sorrow and escalating casualty rates. But it also brings us together.

And because of the initial reports of destruction and human casualty, our student body, faculty and staff unified. Philantrope remembers when ‘there was a lot of unification. We had, with other organizations, a candlelight vigil, and it was a really mixed crowd. It was something so beautiful to see that outside of the black community, other people cared about something like that.’ The images of broken bodies and spirits revealed this common humanity in everyone across our campus as students from all backgrounds and faiths grieved and hoped for a brighter day. This is what catastrophe does.

A large portion of Philantrope’s job is to remind those who have forgotten the images of this fateful catastrophe of their commitment to this broken country striving toward reconstruction. Philantrope appears to be most passionate about the history and culture the earthquake effectively erased, and she yearns to restore a forgotten past rather than reiterate the need for a hopeful future.

She’s so passionate because if an emphasis is not placed on Haiti’s history, we may as well be lighting candles every day for the further decay of Haitian culture. Haiti’s once proud place in the sun as the first free black nation will be lost, and the proud figures of Haiti’s revolutions will simply be names in our textbooks devoid of real influence.

‘Haiti: Still Standing’ is a benefit dinner on Saturday, dated a year and a month after the earthquake. It will be both a reminder and an encouragement to hold steadfast in rebuilding Haiti, as well as a rediscovery of Haiti’s forgotten past. In the central argument for rediscovering the past, Philantrope argues that an acknowledgement and growth through passed history is the only way Haiti can rebuild itself in its own genuine image.

It will be a night when stories and cultural talents will be exchanged in hopes of revisiting Haiti’s past to usher in its future. Join HASA, a year and a month later, on a sobering night of remembrance.

Josh Lee is a sophomore communication and rhetorical studies major. His column appears online every Thursday, and he can be reached at jalee172@syr.edu.

Published on February 9, 2011 at 12:00 pm