This blog is a departure from the  hijinks of my travels, but is important in light of the earthquake in Haiti. 

The 1893 World Columbian Exposition celebrated the 400^th anniversary of Columbus discovering the New World. Chicago was selected as its host city, and on a sweltering August night, Frederick Douglass delivered a rousing oration at the Quinn Chapel.  This scene which is depicted in my screenplay,NORTH STAR: THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. Earlier, on January 2of that year, the 75-year-old Douglass spoke at Quinn Chapel about a different topic: Haiti.

Douglass was the first African-American to become ambassador to a foreign nation. He became ambassador to Haiti. He visited there, meeting its people and its leaders, making  unabashed observations about the island nation. In his Chicago speech, he eloquently described the riches and the shortcomings of Haiti. More than 117 years later, many of his observations still ring true.

Of Haiti, he said;

"NO OTHER LAND HAS BRIGHTER SKIES. No other land has purer water, richer soil, or a more happily diversified climate. She has all the natural conditions essential to a noble, prosperous and happy country. [Applause.] Yet, there she is, torn and rent by revolutions, by clamorous factions and anarchies; floundering her life away from year in a laby rinth of social misery. Every little while we find her convulsed by civil war, engaged in the terrible work of death; frantically shedding her own blood and driving her best mental material into hopeless exile. Port au Prince, a city of sixty thousand souls, and capable of being made one of the healthiest, happiest and one of the most beautiful cities of the West Indies, has been destroyed by fire once in each twenty-five years of its history. The explanation is this: Haiti is a country of revolutions. They break forth without warning and without excuse. The town may stand at sunset and vanish in the morning. Splendid ruins, once the homes of the rich, meet us on every street."

As we try to understand the depth of destruction wrought upon Haiti in the recent earthquake and subsequent aftershocks, and as we try to administer aid and healing to its people, let's look back on the words of Frederick Douglass.  Please read:

FREDERICK DOUGLASS ON HAITI