Haitian Times a.k.a. Garry’s Mission

By Zbigniew Basara, Nowy Dziennik/Polish Daily News, March 23, 2003.

The Haitian Times is without a doubt one of the most interesting titles in the New York ethnic press market. The average Big Apple inhabitant probably associates Haiti with poverty, political chaos and Abner Louima, the most famous victim of police brutality during the Guiliani administration. Immigrants from Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, have flocked to the United States since the end of the 60’s. Until recently, they lived in almost complete isolation. However, the Haitian Times has nothing to do with provincialism or the claustrophobia of a black ghetto.

Garry Pierre-Pierre, publisher of this English-language weekly paper, has a lustrous career at the New York Times behind him and it is his goal to uphold the highest journalistic standards. Since its first issue, the Haitian Times has become a model example of the best of the ethnic press. However, according to some experts on Haitian migration, the publication might fall victim to excessive ambition.

The short history of the Haitian Diaspora

It is difficult to grasp the meaning of Haitian Times, without at least a superficial knowledge of this Caribbean country and its Diaspora. Christopher Columbus discovered Haiti in 1492. In 1697, Spain ceded the Western part of the island to the French. After the outbreak of the French Revolution, the African slaves, who made up 90 percent of the population, started a mass rebellion and a drawn out civil war in 1791, which finally concluded with the formation of the first-ever black republic in 1804. To this day, this event is the root of Haitians’ national pride.

Alas, freedom did not bring stability to the country. A string of dictators ruled the island. The bloodiest regime was brought by the Duvalier clan (Papa Doc and Baby Doc), who were in power from 1957 to 1986. Four years later, Jean-Bertrand Aristide won the democratic election. A former priest, he was excommunicated by the Vatican for preaching a theology of independence. After merely a few months of leadership, he was forced into exile in the United States by the troops of general Cedras, and returned four years later after the American military intervention. He has ruled (by himself or through an associate) for the past nine years, but despite the hopes of fellow Haitians he has not proven to be the Providence-sent savior. Secret slayings of oppositionists and journalists are regular occurrences, as well as secret liaisons between drug smugglers and members of the government. The average national income is $300 per year; three-quarters of the population of 8 million go hungry. Only one out of four Haitians is literate. Foreign charity and the Diaspora, who each year collectively sends over a billion dollars to their families, support the country.

Immigration to the United States began in the 1960’s with the exodus of several thousand artists, teachers and businessmen, hardest hit by Papa Doc’s regime. In the 1980’s, boats and rafts arrived on the coasts of Florida, occupied by emaciated Haitians, the “unwanted escapees,” as the American press called them. Several years later, family members, escaping the chaos that followed the military coup of Aristide, joined them. It is believed that currently, there are over half a million Haitians living within the New York metropolis, mainly in Flatbush in Brooklyn and in Cambia Heights, Queens. Another 350,000 settled in Florida, mainly in Miami.

The turning point in the history of Haitian migration was the return of Aristide to the island and the disappointment in his leadership that followed. Haitians, who until now saw the acceptance of U.S. citizenship as the ultimate act of betrayal, realized that there was no point in returning to their homeland. As their children grew up and received American college degrees, they saw themselves more as immigrants than accidental tourists sitting atop suitcases. The issues of better communication with Americanized children, how to obtain health insurance and garbage pick-up schedules took precedence over the political news from Port-au-Prince. Gradually, first generation Haitian immigrants developed their political ambitions, and many became lawyers, doctors and real estate agents with multimillion-dollar fortunes. Haitian community leaders began to slowly realize that in order to survive they had to stop observing from the sidelines and, instead, attain leadership roles in their new country.

Dreams must be realized

If success is the result of combining personal growth with the needs of society, then such a moment occurred in the life of Garry Pierre-Pierre four years ago when he quit his job at the New York Times to launch his own weekly publication. The 40-year-old descendant of original French colonizers came to the United States at the age of nine and grew up in a black neighborhood of Elizabeth, New Jersey. After completing a college degree in history and economics, he was a reporter for the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel and the New York Times, where he wrote about immigration issues, the city transportation system, life in Brooklyn and covered the civil war in Zaire.

In the Haitian Times offices, located on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, a framed front page of the largest New York City newspaper hangs on the wall. Its headline and story are about international observers being thrown out of Haiti by Cedras in 1994.

“It’s true, the New York Times assignment was a top position, but every journalist fantasizes about having their own publication,” says Pierre-Pierre. “In life, you cannot miss the moment when it’s still possible to pursue your dreams.”

From the start, the Haitian Times was a combination of a journalistic ambition, a business idea and a social mission. “My goal was to create a forum for the young generation, who until then was ignored by the Haitian ethnic media, as well as the American press,” he tells me. For the majority of ethnic press, the language choice is obvious, yet for Pierre-Pierre it was the most risky decision to make. Unlike in many societies, language is the great divider in Haiti. The social elite (about 5 percent) speaks French, and the rest speaks Creole (a combination of French and African influences brought by the slaves). The written form of Creole was only recently classified.

The other three Haitian weeklies are published in French with some pages in English and Creole. The oldest of them, Haiti Observateur (published in New York since 1971), has struggled with the dictatorial regimes from the beginning. First it was Papa Doc’s; currently it’s with Aristide’s. The majority of the 75,000 issues are distributed in Haiti. The leftist Haiti Progres, published for 10 years (20,000 circulation, a large portion shipped to the island), was in the beginning also critical of the “little priest” (the president’s common nickname), but currently considers him a victim of Washington’s imperialistic sanctions and “colonial” revenge of France and Canada. Miami’s Haiti en Marche has a negligible influence.

Thus, deciding on a first-ever Haitian publication in English, Pierre-Pierre was betting heavily on the younger segment of the Haitian community; the 1.5 generation (Haitians who came to the United States as children and for whom English is their first language), and the second generation. “The English language negates the class divisions we brought with us from Haiti, because we must all use it in order to survive in our new homeland,” he reasons. “It’s also the language of legislation.”

The paper’s motto, “Bridging the Gap,” denotes the gap between first generation immigrants and their children, as well as the gap between the dominant currents of American life and Haitian traditions. However, representatives of the major Haitian papers in French believe that Pierre-Pierre has cut himself off from the older sector of the Diaspora as well as new immigrants expected in the future (by 2040, the Haitian population is expected to grow to 20 million).

He passed on the house, holds on to the wife and kids

Even more difficult was the task of obtaining the $250,000 needed as start-up capital. Pierre-Pierre invested all of his savings into his enterprise. “I passed on purchasing a house, but kept my wife and two kids,” he jokes. But even that was the proverbial drop in the sea, and no bank would lend him the money.

“But you must take into account that American corporations took decades to grasp the purchasing power of Latinos and Asians,” says Pierre-Pierre. Eventually, he was able to convince a handful of Haitian professionals, mostly doctors and lawyers to buy shares of his company. “The only investor from outside the Haitian community is my father in law,” explains Pierre-Pierre, whose wife is a white American.

The first issue of the Haitian Times came out on Nov. 20, 1999. Forty thousand copies were published, some of which were given away for free as a promotion. After this, distribution fell to 15,000 copies a week and remains at this number today.

From the business side, the weekly seems like a small family business, where every dollar is accounted for. The Haitian Times employs only six people: two reporters (in NYC and Port-au-Prince), a photographer, an office manager and two advertising and promotion representatives. Everyone else, including the graphic designer, is a freelancer. In many aspects, the operations of the publication are reminiscent of the bartering initiative of the Haitian community. The authors of special-interest stories and advice are not on the payroll, and neither is Pierre-Pierre himself, though he wears the hats of publisher, editor-in-chief and writer. “The only steady income my family counts on is the salary of my wife’s, who is a nurse,” adds Pierre-Pierre, who in the first months of operations used to also take care of distribution and even cleaned the offices.

The vast connections of the editor-in-chief are an undeniable asset for the Haitian Times. The same company contracted to distribute the New York Times also delivers the Haitian Times to 600 newsstands and other locations around the New York metropolis and Long Island. Two additional distribution firms deliver the paper to Haitian shops and restaurants, as well as to the majority of the 200 Haitian Catholic and Protestant churches in the area. It is through that last distribution channel that Pierre-Pierre hopes to increase his distribution to 40,000 copies a week.

“At least 100 of these churches are thriving parishes consisting of upwards of 1,000 members and we are hoping for wholesale orders from them.”

Bridging the gap

From an editorial point of view, the 24-page Haitian Times is a tabloid, with color photos on the front cover and color photo spreads inside. As far as content, the paper is more like a magazine. The most important is the headline story (biggest event of the week in Haiti or within the U.S. Haitian community, relayed in the form of a report or an analytical study) as well as editorial commentaries and stories mainly about the Haitian community’s struggle for a position in the new homeland. Also, there are current events from the Associated Press and other press agencies, mostly from the Caribbean region and Africa, on immigration and health advice, as well as pages designated for sports, culture and arts.

“When relating current events, we try to take as many points of view as possible into consideration,” says Pierre-Pierre. When asked about which article brought him the most satisfaction, he cites the story about the purposeful lowering of the numbers of Haitians during the Census of 2000, which resulted in the expansion of the Census Bureau advisory committees to ask for additional representatives from African-American communities.

A great asset for the Haitian Times is Macollvie Jean-Francois, a twenty-something graduate of Baruch College with a major in journalism, currently serving as the paper’s New York reporter. Each day, she hits the pavement of Haitian neighborhoods, visiting police precincts and talking with restaurants and tire shop owners. She visits botanical shops, where aside from a life-size statue of St. Claire, one can purchase figurines of various gods worshipped by the followers of voodoo.

“It won’t be easy for me to work with a white man by my side,” she laughs as we meet at the Church Avenue subway station. On this day, Macollvie is working on two stories. First is on the sentiments of the Haitian community toward the 200th anniversary of the independence of Haiti. The second story is about raising tuition costs at CUNY and SUNY. Almost all Haitian students have part-time jobs, and the $1,200 hike means more hours will be spent at the restaurants or the clothing stores. Interactions of a Polish person with Haitian immigrants means entering a world where there are often conflicts which are simply nonexistent in our community—mainly, the color of skin. In the drugstore windows lining Church, Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues, the most prominent display is occupied by soaps and other preparations with skin-lightening properties.

Her interviews in stores and barbershops yield mixed results. Some of the men believe that participation in the January ceremonies in Haiti is a patriotic duty, especially considering that France and Canada would like the world to forget about this anniversary. Others believe that the money is better spent on the building of a hospital. The most certain are the elderly Haitian women, who sell corn and cinnamon sticks from stands on Church Avenue. “What’s to celebrate? 200 years of poverty and dictatorship?” asks one of them. “My daughter is a lawyer, my son studies medicine, yet in Haiti I had no running water or even electricity.”

Together with my guide, we enter a music shop, where next to Carnival tunes and vodou chants, customers can pick up CD’s with songs by Edith Piaf or Jacques Brel.

“Haitians are ambivalent toward France,” says Macollvie. “While proud of overthrowing the colonial shackles, this very French influence is the origin of feelings of superiority not just over other Caribbean immigrants, but even Americans.”

Advertising, or To Be or Not To Be

Eventually, it’s not the quality of articles, but revenues from advertising that determine the fate of any publication.

“The success of The Haitian Times will depend on persuading American companies to purchase advertising their spots,” wrote John Morton, director of Morton Research in Maryland, commenting on the paper’s launch. Four years later, 60 percent of all advertising revenues come from companies such as AT&T or Western Union, but, despite this, profits are marginal.

“It covers the bills,” says Pierre-Pierre, who spends about $20,000 a month on publication costs and office maintenance. The only chance for growth depends on increasing the volume (the 40/40 plan, as Pierre-Pierre calls it) and obtaining advertising from additional American corporations. His most serious competitors are other English language newspapers aimed at Caribbean immigrants (Caribbean Life and other titles published by immigrants from Trinidad and Jamaica) as well as publications launched by black Americans, such as the Daily Challenge, who aim to become the newspaper of the general black minority—regardless of the country of origin. Obviously, these publications are trying to win over not only the Haitian money, but also their souls; they offer identification with groups larger than their immediate ethnic circle. Smaller threats are the French-language publications and four radio stations, as well as three New York cable stations that broadcast in Creole.

Garry’s bet

Pierre-Pierre based his mission on the assumption that Americans of Haitian descent will remain a separate ethnic group and will not dissipate into the American melting pot of races and cultures. Will this actually happen?

“I am certain that Haitians in the United States will retain their ethnic identity,” claims Samuel Nicholas, a representative of the Association of the Haitian Clergy. “You only need to witness the pride of children, who have never set foot on the island, as they parade with the blue and red flags during the Independence celebrations.”

“Haitians, like Dominicans, do not consider themselves members of the general Caribbean population,” seconds Abby Scher, director of the Independent Press Association-New York. “For linguistic reasons, their assimilation is less rapid than that of the other Caribbean immigrants, which makes the Haitian Times indispensable.”

However, others are skeptical. “This newspaper is a lofty and ambitious idea, but as a business it is doomed for failure,” insists Raymond Joseph, co-publisher of the Haiti Observateur. “The young Haitians will assimilate with the general society and will lose any interest in the events on the island.”

What does Pierre-Pierre himself think?

“I remember that among my friends in Elizabeth, there were many children of Polish immigrants,” reminisces the journalist whose own aunt married a descendent of one of Dobrowski’s officers who settled in Haiti. “They called themselves Polish-Americans, but there were no differences between them and Americans. I hope that Haitians never get this far.”

Author’s Note:

Working on the above story, I referred to an article about Aristide by Wojciech Jagielski, “Priest, the Avenger,” published two years ago in Gazeta Wyborcza.