I
“Chuck D. where are you to point the fist in the face of the corrupt and immoral exploitation of Haitian misery by music stars and celebrities too lazy, venal or diseased to figure out what they are lending their names to?”I wrote that five years ago to the day, a week after the Hope for Haiti telethon and one of many, and I mean dozens, of stories Helen Bach, Mike Nessing and I wrote about money raised by the Haiti charities not reaching the people of that island after the earthquake destroyed Port Au Prince
We wrote so damn much about this travesty it was ridiculous, we wrote and warned before, during, and after the disgraceful “Hope For Haiti” concert that this was no way to run a charity. They could have gone to “Save The Children” or “Christian Children’s Fund” or even “UNICEF” and had professionals handle the situation but did they? That was a rhetorical question. There was no way in hell these arrogant morons could not have the money stolen.
FIVE YEARS LATER THIS IS BY RICHARD JOHNSON IN THE NEW YORK POST:
” Bad news for Sean Penn, Beyoncé, Wyclef Jean and all the other celeb humanitarians who have raised billions of dollars trying to rebuild Haiti. It didn’t work.
So says Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, who screened his documentary, “Fatal Assistance,” last week in Harlem.
The Maysles Documentary Center describes the film as “a devastating indictment of the international community’s post-disaster idealism.”
Peck claims only a fraction of the $9 billion pledged by foundations around the world ever reached the impoverished island, and that 350,000 Haitians still live in camps.
“‘Fatal Assistance’ leads us to one clear conclusion,” the Maysles Center said. “Current aid policies and practice in Haiti need to stop immediately.”
That is nine billion dollars if you didn’t notice. How could they not see that sort of money if not managed properly was going to get pocketed. If I knew , if Helen and Nessing knew, how did these guys miss it? Glad you asked:
1 – The rock stars and other celebrities couldn’t care less
and
2 – Everybody else was too busy pocketing the money.
There is zero pleasure in saying we told you so and this is the worst story rock nyc has ever written about.
The worst story ever.