Remembering Father Gerry

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Remembering Father Gerry - by Stephen Lendman

The Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti's (IJDH) Brian Concannon knew him well, and posted this on IJDH's web site on his passing:

"Reverend Gerard Jean-Juste (1947 - 2009), a tireless advocate for justice for Haitians in Haiti and the US, passed away today, May 27, 2009. Fr. Gerry's passing is a great loss to all of us at IJDH and BAI (Bureau des Avocats Internationaux in Haiti)."

In an on-air interview, Concannon added:

"So every time there's been a dictatorship in Haiti in the last 20 years he was one of the top people out there resisting it. He was also a leader in the United States where we've got a problem of treating Haitian immigrants discriminatorily. He not only achieved results including ending all three of those dictatorships, but what's probably (most) important was how he achieved (them) - because he was a steadfast proponent of nonviolent tactics including sit-ins, demonstrations, popular education, those kinds of things. He was very effectively able to channel the Haitian people's desire for justice into concrete activities."

Friends, associates, bloggers, and many others paid tribute to this champion of the poor and oppressed, a Liberation Theologian, and ardent Fanmi Lavalas supporter - the party President Jean-Bertrand Aristide headed until US Marines ousted him to exile on February 29, 2004.

William Grimes in The New York Times headlined: "The Rev. Gerard Jean-Juste, Champion of Haitian Rights in US, Dies at 62."

In a glowing, moving tribute, Directeur du Centre Haitien's Professor Bell Angelot wrote:

"Like Jeremiah the prophet, he knew the inside of a prison. Like Martin Luther King, Jr. he preached love. Like Mahatma Gandhi he lived non-violence and overcame violence. Just as Moses never reached the Promised Land, he too, did not see the day of the complete liberation of the Haitian people."

"Father Jean-Juste was always coupled to what's just and morally right. A powerful spirit has left this earth, and our mourning darkens the whole city....But though the prophet is gone, his light remains. (He) was one of the pioneers of Liberation Theology alongside Jean- Bertrand Aristide of Haiti, Leonardo Boff of Nicaragua and Oscar Romero of Salvador....."

"He is not dead/He lives on! His body succumbed to the vicissitudes: to pains that even defied science, to evil his heart and brain could no longer bring order to, to political shocks that his conviction and his morale could no longer endure. In the name of the larger Lavalas Movement, we bid farewell to (this blessed man) and wish him a good journey....Thank you very much brother/compatriot, we shall continue to be the Sentinels."

Reverend Jesse Jackson knew Jean-Juste since the 1980s and once traveled with him to see the Pope in Rome. Expressing sorrow, he said: "The burden he puts upon those who remain is to continue his unfinished business. He lived in the eye of the gun, but without fear....he is a martyr whose legacy will live a long time."

In a recorded statement from exile in South Africa, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said Father Gerry "will always live in the thoughts of those who love him. It is there you triumph over death" and the evil he resisted to the end.

Others said "I've lost a brother....My father! My friend! A role model for the rights of the less fortunate."

Bill Quigley called him a "Jesus-like revolutionary. In jail and out, he preached liberation of the poor, release of prisoners, human rights for all, and a fair distribution of wealth....(He) was a scourge to the unelected coup governments of Haiti, who served at the pleasure, and usually the direction, of the US government. (In America) he fought against government actions (to deport) black Haitians while welcoming Cubans and Nicaraguans and others....Mon pere, our brother, your spirit....lives on."

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