HAITI LIBERTE: Coverage of Pere Jean-Juste's Funeral and Tribute by Ira Kurzban

HAITI LIBERTE
"Justice. Verite. Independance."

* THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

June 10 - 16, 2009
Vol. 2, No. 47

MIAMI:
THOUSANDS TURN OUT FOR JEAN-JUSTE'S FUNERAL
by Kim Ives

They came from Port-au-Prince, New York, Montreal, Orlando, Cap Haitien,
West Palm Beach, Washington, DC, Chicago, Tampa, Stamford, Boston, and
Atlanta.

Thousands of Haitians from all over North America and Haiti descended on
Miami, Florida last weekend to pay tribute to Father Gérard Jean-Juste, who
died in that city on May 27 after almost three months on life support in
Jackson Memorial Hospital (see Haiti Liberté, Vol. 2, No. 46, 6/3/2009).

*The Wake*
On Friday, June 5, Jean-Juste's body, dressed in a priest's robes, was
displayed at Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church on NE 62nd Street in Little
Haiti starting at 6 p.m. Despite several violent thunderstorms that evening
which flooded many parts of Miami and Miami Beach making travel impossible,
thousands nonetheless turned out. Some 3,000 Haitians packed shoulder to
shoulder into the church, filling the aisles and exits, while thousands more
sitting on folding metal chairs watched the service on television screens
set up outside the church. Hundreds more followed the service at a rally
eight blocks away at the headquarters of Veye Yo, the local grassroots
action organization which Jean-Juste founded, on NE 54th Street.

A long line of colleagues, activists, and politicians offered tributes to
the late priest. Among the speakers were former U.S. Congresswoman Carrie
Meek and the son which took over her seat, Congressman Kendrick Meek; Dr.
Paul Farmer, who secretly diagnosed Jean-Juste's leukemia in a
Port-au-Prince jail in December 2005; Margaret Trost, a Californian woman
who set up the What If Foundation which helps feeds 1000 children weekly at
Jean-Juste's church St. Claire's in Haiti; local Miami Haitian politicians
Jacques Despinosse and Philippe Derose; Cheryl Little, a former lawyer at
the Haitian Refugee Center (HRC); community activist Marlene Bastien of
Haitian Women in Miami; popular radio show host Yeye Boul, who sang;
unionist Monica Russo; and former HRC activists Jack Lieberman, Marty
Goodman and Len Kaminsky.

The climax of the evening was a long eulogy by Notre Dame's Father Reginald
Jean-Marie in which he praised Jean-Juste and warned against "false
prophets" and "hypocrites" in the community whose conduct threatened
Jean-Juste's legacy.

"It was the power of love that guided him, not the love of power," Father
Reginald said.

The priest went on to tell the thousands assembled "You must respect this
man. You must imitate his values. Always cherish his memory."

Father Reginald also recalled the terrible trials Jean-Juste endured in
Haiti during his final years. "They put Gerry in prison but they were not
able to put the love in his heart in prison," he said.

The evening ended around midnight with the thousands assembled in the church
and outside filing orderly past the body to pay their final respects.
Occasionally a mourner would break down in tears, but most simply crossed
themselves, saluted, or blew a kiss.

After the service, hundreds of mourners gathered at Veye Yo, where food was
served and people sat and stood around sharing memories about Jean-Juste.

*The Funeral*
The next day, the funeral for Jean-Juste began at 1 p.m. Once again,
rainstorms did not prevent thousands of Haitians from turning out, filling
and surrounding Notre Dame with a sea of humanity.

A large Parliamentary delegation from Port-au-Prince arrived shortly after
the start of the service. It included Senators Kelly Bastien, Evalliere
Beauplan, Michel Clerié, Lebon Fritz Carlos, Jean Joseph Pierre-Louis,
Wilbert Jean-Jacques, Yvon Buissereth, Andris Riché, and Nenel Cassy. Also
there were many Deputies including Steven Benoit, Pierre Eric Jean-Jacques,
Clédor Myril, Sainvil Lucas, Valciné Pierre Jerome, and Charles Pierre
Miolin.

Although the Catholic Church had a rocky relationship with Jean-Juste during
his life, it had to recognize his importance after his death and sent the
Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora to the service.

Other priests from Miami and Haiti also gave eulogies which were followed by
eulogies from friends and comrades including old friend Fritz Boutin,
lawyers Ira Kurzban and Steve Forester, Marlene Bastien, Veye Yo leader
Lavarice Gaudin, Aristide spokeswoman Maryse Narcisse, and local businessman
Ringo Cayard. The final eulogy came from members of Jean-Juste's family,
primarily his nephews and nieces.

The church was too crowded to perform communion but the priests delivered
the last rites with a swinging, smoking thurible.

Then the ceremony was closed by singer and Veye Yo leader Farah Juste who
gave a moving rendition of "Yo bay nou kou a, kou a fe nou malo" (They hit
us and it hurts) and then the Haitian National Anthem. (The priests asked
Farah to also sing the U.S. national anthem but she declined. A member of
the church choir was recruited to sing that.)

All during the ceremony, leading members of Veye Yo sat sadly in the front
rows. Lavarice Gaudin, Jean-Juste's right-hand man for many years, sat next
to the coffin, often with tears streaming down his face.

Both services were well-organized and orderly. Although mourners often cried
out in grief, the demonstrations of mourning were never show-stoppers.

*The March & Rally*
Despite heavy rain that beat on the church roof during the service, forcing
people outside the church to seek shelter under trees, tents and umbrellas,
the sun came out and shone brightly just as the service ended.

The mourners then took the closed casket, loaded it in a hearse, and slowly
marched, chanting militantly, from Notre Dame to Veye Yo's headquarters.
Thousands more, solemnly sympathetic, lined the route, some watching, some
chanting, some crying.

In front of Veye Yo, a small stage was set up where well-known activists
like Farah Juste, Alina Sixto, Lucie Tondreau and Tony Jean-Thénor led the
crowd in militant chants for about two hours.

The community contributed to the funeral in many ways. Emmanuel Funeral Home
contributed a $65,000 coffin, $5,000 for Jean-Juste T-shirts, and $2,000 for
water, as well as providing free funeral services. Restaurants like Miami
Beach's Tap Tap and 54th Street's Peter Li Restaurant contributed food.
Activist Jack Lieberman's network and Haitian Women in Miami put together
hundreds of funeral programs. Crowing Rooster Arts, which had a film crew
covering the events, distributed posters and wallet picture cards of
Jean-Juste.

In short, an avalanche of solidarity and fraternity brought together all the
communities - Haitian, North American, Latin American - whose lives
Jean-Juste had touched.

*Haiti*
Despite reported early disagreements within his family about his final
resting place, it is now agreed and official that Jean-Juste's body will be
buried in Haiti, next to his mother in the southern town of Cavaillon.

The planned program is for the body to be flown to Haiti on June 16. There
will be a wake on June 18 at St. Claire's church in Ti Plas Kazo, part of
the capital's Delmas district. Finally there will be a funeral at the
Port-au-Prince Cathedral on June 19 at 8 a.m., and then Jean-Juste's remains
will be transported in a large funeral procession to Cavaillon, to be buried
that evening.


A TRIBUTE TO FATHER GÉRARD JEAN-JUSTE:
JUSTICE BEGINS IN THE HEART
by Ira Kurzban

*The following eulogy was delivered at Father Jean-Juste's funeral ceremony
on June 6 at Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church in Miami, Florida.*

What can we say about a man who spent his entire life in the pursuit of
justice for the disenfranchised? What can we say about a priest whose
ministry was the entire community? Who spent every waking hour finding a way
to serve; a way to help those who were the least well off here and in Haiti?
What can we say of a man who was fearless in the face of danger; fearless in
the face of a wall of hatred that he constantly had to climb; and fearless
of his own mortality.

Can we say just that he was a good man? A moral man? A community leader? Or
that he was a saint?

There was an intangible quality of goodness about Jean-Juste that drove him,
as it did Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Dom Helder Camara to cherish and
dedicate his life to his community. He shook off the trappings of power and
politics in the conventional sense, and instead served his community from
the grassroots. He concretely, every day of his life followed the path of
non-violence and service to the poor that made their lives and his so
remarkable. He did it with a smile, not in anger toward anyone. He knew in
his heart and in his actions that each person was a human being - tout moun
se moun - to be cherished and respected. He led not by words, but by deeds.
By acting every day in a way that meant that he believed in the holy
sanctity of all mankind. He would confront the enemies of justice with
respect, with humility, and with patience. I knew Father Jean-Juste for over
30 years, and I never saw or hear him raise his voice in anger. He shouted
for justice; he demanded that the poor be treated with dignity and respect.
He called on all to help. But he never scolded; never denigrated, and never
sought recriminations against those who opposed his views.

Father Jean-Juste knew that justice begins in the heart and its trajectory
rests in the infinite lives of all mankind. We cannot obtain justice,
without providing justice for all. After all, justice is not the province of
the privileged. It is not a safe harbor for the rich. It is and always will
be the justice that says we cannot let one person go hungry while others sit
at the table of plenty; we cannot allow one child to sleep in the street
when the world can build roofs for everyone. We will not allow one person to
die of malnutrition or disease when we have food to feed them and drugs to
heal them. We will not let one child be uneducated because it deeply wounds
all of us to ignore generations of future genius.

He, like all great leaders, was also color-blind. He called upon all of us -
white, yellow, red, black, mulatto, Christian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist - to
break the chains of our own prejudices and unite to help all mankind, in all
ways, for all time.

I knew this great humble man for all of both our professional lives.

His legacy is not only his humility; his sensitivity, to those who are most
vulnerable such as the children of St. Claire and the children of poverty
wherever they live. His battle for justice for Haitian refugees here
revolutionized the law on asylum for everyone. He changed the law by
motivating Haitians to demonstrate and demand their rights when their
undocumented status made them understandably fearful. He motivated his young
lawyers to do the impossible: to fight against the INS Naturalization Service], and then the entire Department of Justice, and when
that was not enough, against the White House and the President.

And fight we did. In case after case, with Father Jean-Juste in the streets
and we in the courthouses, we went to the highest courts in this land to say
that Haitians cannot be incarcerated or denied the right to work, or denied
the right to a fair hearing because of the color of their skin or their
nationality. And when we won these cases, we changed forever the law of
asylum for all refugees.

In this incredible struggle, he also transformed our city and the State of
Florida. When we began, local leaders were told that all Haitians would be
deported, that the cities and counties need not worry because soon the
Haitians would be gone from South Florida. When he finished this struggle, a
Haitian community was created in South Florida. I have said it many times
and I will say again here today: there would not be a Haitian community in
South Florida if it were not for the work of Father Jean-Juste, the Haitian
Refugee Center and the refugees who fought for the right to be here.

After completing his work here, he turned to Haiti in support of the people
of Haiti. Like Jean Bertrand Aristide he believed in the vision of dignity
for all Haitians. In many ways he gave his life for that vision. When the
elite and the Army, with the nod of the Bush White House, engaged in the
first coup against democracy in Haiti, he remained in Haiti until President
Aristide returned. When the French, Canadians and the second Bush White
House installed the puppet government of Gérard Latortue, he chose to go
back and confront those who would try and assassinate democracy in Haiti.
Although they incarcerated him, and in ways subtle and not-so-subtle
tortured him, his spirit and his will could not be broken. Even in his most
ill moments in prison in Haiti, or when Latortue and his thugs allowed him
to be attacked, or in illness here, he rose, again and again to the
challenges before him. He stood then and will always stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with the great heroes of the Haitian revolution. For
like Toussaint, it can be said of Father Jean-Juste that he knew how to
confront danger to obtain justice and he knew how to confront death to
preserve it.

Father Jean-Juste would never let me end any statement about him without
talking of the future. It was Father Jean-Juste's will that the struggle for
justice and democracy in Haiti and here continue without respite. In between
breaths in his oxygen tank, we spoke of organizing demonstrations to support
Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the U.S. and the return of
Lavalas and Jean Bertrand Aristide to Haiti. So as we lay his body to rest,
we are all challenged to continue his indomitable spirit, to carry forward
the heavy burden of the fight for justice, and to struggle for each child
that feels the pains of hunger in a world of plenty, that thirsts for
knowledge in a universe of information, and that seeks freedom from pain and
sickness in a world where all things are possible. This is his legacy. A
legacy of love and of struggle. And may he know the peace that comes from
knowing his good works will not die and his dreams for a better Haiti will
one day be fulfilled.

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