October 15, 2010

Wyclef Jean, Hiphop and Politics



Now that the smoke has cleared and the hype has died down, I think that this is an opportune time to analyze Wyclef Jean’s attempt at becoming the President of Haiti, specifically through the prism of Hiphop culture and the repeated attempts by many persons and organizations, at fusing it with politics. In the days following Wyclef’s announcement, I took to the streets of Brooklyn to gauge the reaction. While there was an almost universal approval among the youth or rather those who are a part of or influenced by Hiphop culture, and most foreigners, of Wyclef’s decision to run, older members of the Haitian population were a bit more reserved and took more of a wait and see approach to his potential candidacy.

The universal factor in the older population’s perspective regarding Wyclef’s presidential announcement was that the older generation of Haitians who KNEW about and followed Haitian politics and politics in general, were not easily swayed by Wyclef’s popularity and celebrity, while the younger generation, who DID NOT follow politics, were. This fact seemed to be a microcosm, of the problem, with fusing Hiphop and Politics in general. Although that problem, being easily swayed by a candidate’s celebrity, at the expense of other factors used in determining a candidate’s political acumen and eventual effectiveness, ranges across all demographic lines.

After an initial period of massive publicity, where we saw Wyclef officially announce his candidacy on CNN, garner coverage with a variety of outlets including Time Magazine, and gain front page status on the cover of prominent New York newspapers such as Caribbean Life and Amsterdam News, Wyclef was ultimately disqualified, and prevented from running for the post of President. He was deemed ineligible, because he violated a provision found within the Haitian Constitution, which requires that candidates for President, have lived and maintained a residence in Haiti, before them running, for 5 years.

After much back and forth, including reports of him going into hiding after receiving death threats, and a meeting with Haitian president Rene Preval, the decision by the CEP, the Haitian Election Commission, to decline Wyclef’s candidacy, was upheld. He subsequently released a song entitled, “Prison pou K.E.P.A.” in which he accused the President of Haiti of betraying him. The disqualification of Wyclef brought considerable scrutiny to The CEP. For many, The CEP, one of the over 8,000 NGOS (Non-governmental organizations) operating in Haiti, is being held up as an example of the fraudulent nature and ineptness of the Haitian government and is said to be controlled by and funded by foreign interests, specifically France.

Many of the reports in the American media covering Wyclef, portrayed him as being cut from the same cloth as former President Jean Bertrand Aristide, particularly in regards to his popularity among the masses, and his connection to the youth of Haiti through Hiphop. However, after he was disqualified there was NO protest by the masses or youth for that matter. In addition, these profiles amounted to nothing more than fluff pieces, as they would fail to articulate, in detail, any vision or plans that Wyclef had for Haiti. If not to provide an objective analysis of his platform and scrutiny of his qualifications, a process that should be expected of any Presidential candidate, the question remains, why was Wyclef given so much publicity in the first place?

Now, of course, the assessment of a Presidential candidate’s qualifications is SOMEWHAT of an objective process, however, skills, such as critical thinking, policy analysis, coalition building, and the ability to express themselves coherently through the spoken and or written word, which theoretically could be applied to the task of the Presidency, CAN be measured. Those who are in and observe politics know this. Granted, as one who has followed Haitian politics and also written on Hiphop as a political tool including the THESIS written in the requirement for my Master’s Degree in Political Science, my analysis is a bit more refined. However, I was mystified at how people would just automatically assume that because Wyclef was popular and on TV, that he was qualified to be president.

This sentiment was especially vexing coming from my American friends, those who had fervently demanded that President Barak Obama become president, primarily because of his QUALIFICATIONS, both quantifiable, i.e. Harvard educated and qualitative, e.g. he had a “Presidential” presence and demeanor. Among my American friends, one said that Wyclef would be president and that his former security guard BEAST would be head of security. I couldn’t help but think that the calls for Wyclef to become President were not based on any informed assessment of his qualifications, but rather based on an underlying sentiment that stated basically that, “Haiti is already messed up how much worse could he do?”

It's interesting to note that although he accused the President and Intellectuals of Haiti of discriminating against him, Wyclef has been careful not to name the proverbial “Man” , or accuse any foreign influences as being the reason why he was disqualified. To be quite honest, this same “man” put Wyclef on the Grammy’s, on Television, and allowed him to announce his candidacy on CNN and publicize his campaign in Time Magazine. This same “MAN”, MADE him and extended his career far beyond relevancy. Moreover, the same President of Haiti, who he accused of betraying him, appointed him to an Ambassador At Large position.

For many, Wyclef’s candidacy and ultimately a presidency would have been ideal, as theoretically, it would have placed a continued spotlight on Haiti and consequently its problems. However, this line of thinking places priority on the key to solving Haiti’s problems being celebrity involvement and charity, and not on internally developed solutions, which a President of a country regardless of if they’re on TV or not, should be able to Prove himself or develop a team who will. And Wyclef, who has had extensive, almost SINGULAR access to the American mass media for quite some time, has rarely been able to do just that. Even for the short time where his candidacy was being considered, his attempts at programmatically disseminating plans for Haiti rarely moved beyond vague generalizations such as, “…. the Haitian diaspora should be involved in the reconstruction process, and granted dual citizenship”, or that, “…Haiti needs investment.”

Despite the fact he has been an entertainer for over 15 years, Wyclef had never fervently advocated for the increased political involvement of Haiti’s Diaspora. That is because the nebulous position that most diasporic Haitians hold, specifically having no voting rights within Haiti, despite sending upwards of a billion dollars to Haiti, has always been advantageous for those in Haiti who are able to maintain citizenship in or do business there, while also living in and taking advantage of the economic opportunities that present themselves in America, something that Wyclef’s celebrity allowed him to do, unlike those who are subject to or afraid of Haiti’s Political turmoil cannot. Most of Haiti’s middle class and most educated stratum are located outside of Haiti, so those who are able to have one foot in both worlds, have benefited from the lack of competition, which dual citizenship would create.

Wyclef Jean rose to fame in the Haitian community on the heels of and in large part due to, those persons who also supported the Lavalas Movement of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide. When President Aristide was restored to power, with the help of President Clinton, in 1994, after having been given a Coup D’etat in 1991, these same persons also became huge supporters of Bill and Hillary Clinton and formed a powerful Bloc within the Democratic party, through organizations such as New York labor union SEIU local 1199, where current White House Political Director Patrick Gaspard used to serve as its Executive Vice President for Politics and Legislation.

Since the time of President Aristide’s return, there seems to have developed a loosely knit almost clandestine network of organizations establishing a direct line with The Haitian Government and both The Democratic Party and The Congressional Black Caucus, that exists to steer the policy and ultimate destiny of Haiti as it relates to The United States of America. Indeed many believe that the Clintons and The Congressional Black Caucus have benefited greatly, both from the lobbying money and business opportunities that being involved in Haiti, provides and Wyclef Jean is central in this mix. Some would argue because of this, Wyclef is too aligned with the Democratic Party and Bill Clinton to have any independent thought regarding Haiti something that you theoretically would require from a Haitian president.

Moreover, because of the pseudo protest nature of his songs, Wyclef, like President Jean Bertrand Aristide, has maintained a great deal of support with members of the so-called Progressive and Radical Left, who like to project their revolutionary rhetoric on Haiti. However, it is well documented that Wyclef is a close associate of Michel Martelly a.k.a Sweet Mickey, also an entertainer, current presidential candidate, vaunted Aristide opponent and openly aligned with the so-called elite of Haiti. Sweet Mickey and Wyclef were OPEN supporters of the coup of President Aristide of 2004, a fact that makes two important points.

The first one is that President Aristide’s support was fractured for a long time and he did not enjoy the unmitigated support akin to the period of his initial rise to power of 1990, something that the Left always fail to acknowledge. Or maybe they just don’t know. In addition, in the case of Wyclef, it could be the case that his entrance into a different class stratum in Haiti, which his wealth and political connections would logically provide him with, trumped any type of impulses that he might have to lace his music with any sort of fervent activist sentiment, or references to CLASS and income inequality as it relates to Haiti., that could have been acted act on politically. Perhaps he felt as that the love for him among the masses was so strongly entrenched that he could do that. The point is, these are nuances that should be central in any analysis of Haiti and far too often is sorely lacking when there is any discussion of the Politics of Haiti, and consequently any analysis of Wyclef’s run for President.

Wyclef has always been Political, in the sense where, people, have always projected their desires on him. And at each step, Wyclef has played up to that At the height of his career, Wyclef was to be the new version of Bob Marley. Urging the Radical Left’s fantasies of Anti-capitalism and Third World revolution, with Haiti, The First Black Independent Country in the Western Hemisphere as the Backdrop. His name has been linked, as a producer or as a performer, to revolutionary rhetorical films based in Haiti, such as Ghosts of Cité Soleil and The Agronomist. both films are about figures who CHALLENGED the Enemy…as defined by the LEFT. Whether it is, PAPA DOC or Anti Aristide Forces.

But Wyclef himself has understood whether through experience or observation that reality is more complex than that. And now, in the era of Obama, Wyclef is trying to make yet another transition into a leader of a nation, because political symbolism in the form of dreads and pseudo-protest songs is not the same as governance and policy formation. In The Time article, Wyclef says that he can get the bourgeoisie and people together. That may be so…But to tell them to do what? In my opinion, the fact that at the height of his popularity he did not establish any sort of mechanism in the interest of Haitian artists and his organization or a political lobbying entity proves that he didn’t have the political knowledge or foresight to become President of Haiti.

Ignorance of the governmental process and politics in general, be it local, national, or international, is the most dangerous factor in the use of Hiphop culture as a political tool. The way it (the marriage of Hiphop and Politics) currently functions, instead of it being the culture of Hiphop, it is the CELEBRITY of Hiphop and its artists, that is being used to influence the masses to get involved in politics, however minimally, or perhaps the overemphasis on celebrity as opposed to issues and grassroots organizing is done to put up a smokescreen, used to mask other important issues.

We have seen this effect, the galvanizing of the youth through Hiphop celebrity without sustained political involvement or development of an agenda, in various instances, such as with Russell Simmons’ Hiphop Summit Action Network and their various campaigns, where for example, voter registration is discussed as it pertains to Politics, but no actual policy about the Hiphop generation has yet been developed. Getting someone to register to vote and some scattered effects on Policy with governance. And just because they sounded hot at the rally doesn’t mean they should be President.






















































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