Ansel Herz on Haiti's earthquake, militarized relief, and solidarity

Ansel Herz, an Austinite and UT Alumnus, was one of the few foreign journalists in Haiti to live through and report on the January 12 earthquake and its immediate aftermath. He's also one of the few journalists still living there - most of them left the month after the quake.  Since then, a theme has emerged in his reporting that's been missed almost entirely by the establishment media: little violence in Haiti, and yet an over-militarized relief effort by the UN and big institutions that is not inclusive of Haitian community groups, who have self-organized since the disaster.  People with white skin can easily enter the UN base, where all the relief coordination is taking place, while most Haitians cannot. Most aren't optimistic about having a say in how the billions of dollars being raised in New York and elsewhere will be spent in the coming years.  Ansel will discuss what people can do to be in authentic solidarity with the Haitian people.  His work so far is collected at http://mediahacker.org and he returns to Haiti next month.