Supremacy Contamination Alert 😤

Learning from the Invisible Heroes in Haiti

Written in deep appreciation for Joseph Michel, dear brother, whole-hearted shepherd and co-founder of Hand To Hand For Haiti

About half a lifetime ago, my heart intertwined with some invisible-to-the-world Haitian heroes on an island that mainland Haitians call purgatory. Soon after, I providentially teamed up with a stateside Haitian pastor who had the same experience in the same place about a year earlier. Together, our families formed the multicultural grassroots nonprofit, Hand To Hand For Haiti, which is still actively working amidst the horrific violence and deprivation there.

     This is my recollection of a quiet yet potent event that feels deeply relevant to the governmental leadership challenges in our country today. 🇭🇹 🇺🇸

A Gathering of Resilient Leaders

     The day had started predawn with donkey bays and rooster crows. By mid-morning, a few dozen rural Haitian pastors and community leaders sat in their best clothes on wooden plank benches in the community's center, a rudimentary concrete structure.

     Many had hiked barefoot through the night from villages across the mountainous island of La Gonâve, carrying their one precious pair of shoes. Now, they sat with their feet—finally shod—resting on the dusty ground, respectfully waiting for me to teach a leadership seminar.

     I knew some of them well enough to feel not just humbled, but inferior to their innovative survival resilience and astonishingly generous faith. These were people who literally prayed-in their "daily bread" and gave thanks before partaking with their family. Sometimes I had been their guest, and they quietly went hungry so I wouldn't have to.

     What on earth could I teach them about leadership? Why, I wondered, was I even here as a teacher?

The Illusion of Hierarchy

     As I searched their faces, I noticed a wide polarity within the group.

     The destitute poor carried an air of inferiority in their expressions and posture. Others, only slightly better off, held themselves more upright—considering themselves slightly superior, yet tolerantly sharing space with those who had less.

     Towards the front of the bare building, near the benches, was an entrance where the sun poured in, illuminating the dust particles we all breathed together.

     “How can any of us learn anything in this grumbling disparity?” I wondered and prayed. The answer became as clear as the air outside: we can’t.

     A scripture came to mind about valleys being lifted up and mountains made low.

A Grounding Exercise in Real Equality

     I asked the gathering of weary island warriors to stand with me.

     "Some of us feel like we’re not good enough to be here. Some of us feel like we’re too good to be alongside others. Both feelings are false; we are all standing on the same ground. No one is higher. No one is lower.

     "We are going to take ourselves outside. As we walk around this building, we will pray and consider: 'Am I seeing myself as God does?'

     "If I am too low, I will be lifted. If I am too high, I will surrender my pridefulness."

     "And then we will come back in and sit together, side by side, with Jesus. We will sit and learn together as equals."

     We filtered out and slowly walked around the building in brooding silence.

     When we re-entered, something had shifted. We were lighter. More relaxed. Happier.

     As the men and women found their places again on a weathered plank, I looked into their faces once more. Their eyes glistened. They had just experienced a cornerstone of effective leadership: in equality, we model freedom.

The Heart of True Leadership

     People from homeless shelters and people from lavish mansions alike agree: people are created in the image of God. Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in His sight; every blessed one a bona fide child of the Almighty.

     I was taught in Sunday School that how we treat "the least of these" is how we treat Jesus. No exceptions.

     Many of us learned that God sees our hearts—that good deeds without love are empty.

     A scripture says, "God is no respecter of persons." The Divine, by any name, is accessible to everyone equally, regardless of who or what they are.

     My heart hears that question from that long-ago morning in Haiti, crying to be heard now:

     "Am I willing to revere God in ALL persons?"

     "Will I recognize and honor the divine Presence breathing every human on the planet?"

DEI: More Than a Concept—A Spiritual Truth

     Genuine believers of many faith traditions embody Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in both attitude and action—whether it’s legally mandated or made illegal.

     This encompasses every ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, religious belief, sexual orientation, marital status—you name it.

     AI defines DEI as "a philosophy and set of practices that aim to create a more just and inclusive society."

     AI also says that DEI is based on the idea that all people have a right to be treated fairly and to participate fully in society. 

     What AI misses is this: living DEI from the heart is liberating. Whether our next step is elevating our self-perception or grounding our pride--we taste the enlivening sweetness of freedom!

Breaking Free from Separatism

     What if, at every level of our variegated country, diversity was not just tolerated, but celebrated?

     Could this, does this, actually happen?

     Yes, yes, and again, YES! Those who live in this joyful freedom beam with vibrancy, compassion, and real-deal hope.

     When we allow our beaten-down valleys to be lifted and our arrogant mountains to be brought down, we leave behind the dusty, “less-than, better-than” air of separatism.

     Instead, we breathe the fresh air of truth: we are all One.

     Remembering who we are, we can then return to our world’s realities with brighter faces, and eyes, hearts, and hands open.

     We return to our essence: love in spirit and in truth, in life and in deed.

     Fully and equally blessed… Indeed! 🙏🏽💖