The WORLD OPINION OF PITTSBUGH

[DR. LEO CASINO]

You go, Bro!

Seems like these brothers from Pittsburgh can't be stopped these days!

Thanks for the hedzup on this new film.

Every conscious and positive statement that can be made about and for Haiti is much needed, as much for us as for our legacy to future generations.

(Just this week I caught up to the September, 2008, issue of National Geographic -- a special on where food comes from, which has a brief but heart-wrenching article about the situation in Haiti. It is a real indictment of what has been done to that country, especially when, on the very same island, the DR is not suffering that kind of devastation. The depth of the crime becomes even clearer when we remember that this was once the richest colony in the hemisphere, richer than the 13 colonies combined. And the US has the Haitian Revolution to thank for Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the country.)

What we know is that poverty is not a natural circumstance, except following natural disasters, which is usually temporary. "Poor neighborhoods" and "poor countries" are artificially and systematically created. Poverty is profitable: it causes illness, death, crime, etc., which create windfalls for the medical, mortuary and prison industries, for example. Poverty is also great propaganda, for convincing the so-called "middle class" that they are not as poor as they are, because there are REAL poor people out there.

In Haiti's particular case, the country has never stopped being punished for having the audacity to defeat white slaveowners and declare itself to be free. Still, that Revolution was the symbol of victory and the beacon of hope to struggling people, mostly Africans, around the world.

That heritage is still with us, and this, every bit as much as the economic deprivation, is the backdrop for the drama that you portray in the film. As more people become more knowledgeable, the full meaning of the film will be even more appreciated. In other words, like a few other people from Pittsburgh, you definitely made the right move at the right time.

Best wishes for great success, as always, Bro. Leo.

Gene