In the wake of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, Wyclef Jean didnt wait for anyone else. He didnt sit on his thumbs and 'hope' for things to get better. He got the fuck up immediately and went down there to help. Everyone knows 'clef is Haitian and has championed many causes relating to Haiti waaaaay before the 'quake hit.
So in lieu of donating to Red Cross, I, like many others felt as if our precious dollars would do better with a more grassroots organization. Personally I felt like the big boys Red Cross and FEMA fumbled the ball with Katrina so I wasnt all that enthused about donating to them this time. Wyclef hits up his twitter fam and encourages folks to donate to his Yele organization and whattya know? Within hours he's raised HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars. Well the sheer gall of this damn rapper to mobilze people and garner this kinda financial support on his own without some big corporation to help! Who the fuck does he think he is?!?!?!?
So now here comes The Smoking Gun with their "report" on some questionable goings ons with 'clef's Yele's Organization. Okay that's cool. I aint believing that hype but can they investigate FEMA and Red Cross with the contributions made in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and then get back to us?
Here's Wyclef's response :
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Full Regalia
12 years ago
7 comments:
what really broke my heart was the few black folks that started hitting me up on twitter asking me "are you sure your money is really going to haiti"? crabs in a barrel. because of the red cross and FEMA making me question my contributions in the past.. I was glad to see the yele non government organization was in place and Wyclef giving his word that 100% of our dollars would go to help Haiti. Granted I didn't shit on anyone directly for pointing it out.. but after it was pointed out and I replied with I was fine and answer to cosmic karma energy anyway.. I still got tweeted or rather warned to keep watch on wyclef. Lets just say there was a problem before.. Wyclef and his wife are handling and moving dead bodies of children, babies women and men.. I have a strong feeling that 100% of our dollars are going to help his people.. OUR people. When Quincy got behind yele THAT was also a passive agressive shut yo mouth and open your heart moment. Thanx Teej for posting this blog.. it needed to be said in waaaay over 140 characters & a link.
thank you for saying this. i'm actually surprised @ some of the Black bloggers who were quick to put 'Clef & Yele on blast. the truth of the matter is that if we spend ALL our time being suspicious, from the comfort of our own homes, nothing will EVER get done. the average 1 of us has no private jets, no real ends to just jump up & fly to Haiti (or even New Orleans for that matter) & pitch in at Ground Zero. sometimes we have to go on faith. & it's a lot easier for me to believe Wyclef's Haitian heart will actually care about his fellow brethren & sistren & use those funds to help them. as you stated, Red Cross & FEMA have done NOTHING to make me feel comfortable with their efforts ANYWHERE in the world. i decided to give to as many organizations as possible. & today my family & i are putting together survival kits to be delivered to the Haitian embassy in another attempt to give assistance to brown people who look like my brothers...sisters...cousins.
funny how our conspiracy theories never seem to stretch as far as who's stitching our Nikes. we don't question things like that.
thanks for saying this!
Dude! I was thinking it! How DARE a Haitian rapper put some mo-effective isht into play than the big, professional organizations? They don't want Wyclef outshining the Salvation Army and Red Cross. Fuck em. And I would only donate to Wyclef's cause to emphasize that point. Fuccccccck emmmmm.
TJ thanks sunshine for posting this (specifically on my wall). I have been giving to Yele for a minute and never ONCE had I ever heard of any mishandling of funds until now. I am so f'in sick of people posting their bullshit warnings about people needing to be careful or more mindful of who they are giving their money to or using these claims to "justify" why they are sitting around on their asses doing nothing, so they can sleep at night. To date I have given to Yele, UNICEF and Bill Clinton's Haiti foundation and I would rather risk some of my money being mishandled while the rest is used towards relief than to NOT DO ANYTHING! In my eyes, IT IS A RISK WORTH TAKING!
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but here I disagree with my whole heart! Why is everyone so up in arms that some may QUESTION where millions of dollars is going? No one is questioning WYCLEF - can you not see that how a charity is run and WHO it's run by are two VERY different things? If nothing else, it will allow Wyclef to make sure that those that are doing in his name do so well. I'm proud that you all are so gracious and give and so turned off by those that ask questions. But I am working damn hard to keep my own life afloat and when I look and see the devastation there i want to know that my money is ALL going there, not some ALL...and if in doing that I say hey let's be aware of Wyclef's charity spending allocation in the past, then that's what i'm going to say.
I'm the first one to call a spade a spade but this BS getting all inflamed because he was questioned pisses me off.
That's all i got, and you don't have to like it.
FYI, having worked in philanthropy for years including the fiscal issues with the Red Cross during 9/11, please note: NO ORGANIZATION CAN PERFORM RELIEF WITHOUT OVERHEAD. When you have a natural disaster, for example, as this one, your organization will need to hire additional aid to assist with phones, 501 c3 donation acknowledgements, etc. Your overall administration increases ... sometimes doubling your staff. Will every dollar donated to Haiti go to the bread that feeds a child? No. But every dollar should go to the support needed to make sue that child receives bread. If you have not, check out The Oprah Effect, great doc about how massive coverage can change a business overnight. Same applies here. Additionally, there is no handbook for nonprofits. Even if you fashion your organization after a larger organization, unless you have the same board, staff, program and budget, you are always feelin your way in the dark. Mistake will happen. Moving forward and learning from the mistake is what counts. And God bless Wyclef for caring enough to start the organization with his money, participating in its growth and pulling his network together to help the people of Haiti. Peace.
Great post Teej. I too was a little pissed at them throwing him under the bus about his foundation ethics. I donated to yele because I know he is Haitian and I knew the dollars would get to the people. It saddens me that when a black man is doing something positive he gets the side eye.
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