This presentation was part of a doctoral assignment on critical anaysis of presentation of Haiti and the Western Media. This presentation summarizes the types of Western Media's roles in the representation of Haiti, one of the nations in the African diaspora. The song "Forgive Them Father" belongs to Columbia. I do not own any of the clips, photos, or music shown in this compliation. This video was created expressly for EDUC 893 media presentation at George Mason University.

1. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC ANNIHILATION OF HAITI: The role of the Western Media Nicole J. Sealey Tiah E. McKinney June 18, 2010

2. Introduction Topic: Haiti (as a microcosm of the African Diaspora) through media representation of natural disasters Media: Major news and media outlets Purpose: To uncover intentional racialization and demonization within discourse and imagery present in the Western media which socially engineers the general population’s perspective of persons of African heritage.

3. Historical Disbursement of Peoples of African Heritage

5. African-American

6. Africans

7. Afro-Latinos (Central & South America)

8. Afro-peans (Across Eastern/Western Europe)

10. ARTIFACT in EVIDENCE: Part I Watch the Video Online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibqhestHouA

11. Overt Messages Violent Criminal Poor Unclean Uneducated Helpless/“pitiful” Exoticism “Heathens” who are deserving of calamity

12. Covert Messages “White man’s burden”/“Western Savior” Low Moral Character Unruly/untrustworthy Lazy Unattractive Low Value to Society Menacing (reason to fear)

14. U.S. Military Occupation of Haiti [1915-1934]

15. Coups/”Democratic” period [1930-1957]

16. U.S./Canadian/French- Backed Haitian Dictators and Despotic government (Duvalier era 1957-1986)

18. Analysis of the Role of the Media Tool of Manipulation: Profits are the bottom line Earthquake Relief funds largely diverted to NGOs, <1% getting to Haiti Tragedy Industry Children as Pawns Celebrity image promotion Distortion of perception to promote status quo Desensitization/Objectification Controlling sympathy via image choice Reinforcing superiority/inferiority

19. Conclusions Motifs operandi ‘play up’ negative activities of the “other” (e.g., looting); ‘down play’ positive activities of “other” (e.g., good Samaritans) Positioning the Western dominance as “savior” (e.g., numerous photos of White American Soldier rescues) Objectification of members of African Diaspora commonplace in media Exploitive mechanisms used in reporting devoid of sensitivity Racialization as a ingrained sociocultural practice

20. Advice for Educators Don’t perpetuate stereotypes; take the time to investigate and understand the standpoint/positionality of individuals of African heritage Acknowledge that individuals of African heritage live all over the world and at different socioeconomic levels Don’t believe that only children of African heritage benefit from seeing/hearing about people of African heritage in history & literature Positive acknowledgement of roles and contributions from individuals of African heritage must be incorporated year-round (not just Black History Month or as an ‘add-on’ to the ‘regular curriculum’)

21. Resources for Research HAITIAN MEDIA STORM: http://www.haitianmediastorm.ca/ TRUTH ABOUT CLINTION/BUSH PRESIDENCIES: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRi_MJX-C_M Farmer, P. (1994). The uses of Haiti. Common Courage Press; Monroe, ME. Hallward, P. (2008). Damming the flood: Haiti, Aristide and the politic of containment. Verso, New York. Robinson, R. (2007). An unbroken agony: Haiti, from revolution to the kidnapping of a president. Basic Civitas Books; New York.

23. K-12 History Resources @ Stanford

24. http://library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/history/hisk12.html

26. Thank you! from Tiah & Nicole