MESI AMPIL!

MIA LOPEZ’S OPEN LETTER TO CNN’S ANDERSON COOPER & GUPTA
By recklaz
February 3rd, 2010 @ 2:48 am

On January 12, 2010 at 7:30pm I turned on CNN and it is the eyes of blue that touched my heart as Anderson Cooper fostered our country and stood strong wondering what the devastation of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake could cause a country already as improvised as Haiti. In the oceans of his eyes I saw rivers of tears and he captured me than.

I can go back to the moment at 9:45pm when Anderson explained that he would need someone to take over the broadcast because he was catching an 11pm flight to the Dominican Republic to be sure to make it into Haiti in the morning. I asked myself “Where did this love for Haiti come from?” I mean in this pale skinned, thin White man, stood this glowing center of hope for my people. “Why this interest, when usually the world simply turns the page when they hear the word Haiti?” But sure enough in the morning, after 10 agonizing hours of calling family and friends with no success, it was CNN who was first on the ground. Anderson Cooper, without a red cape, with no Gold S on his chest, simply an ash grey t-shirt which somehow symbolized the grayness of the country shown behind him as he reported. First on the scene, like a doctor scrubbing into surgery, Anderson Cooper was there. Day and night it seemed he headed our plea. He became our voice. He spoke to us, thru us and for us, so that the world would listen. He represented the majority, when in reality people were not ready to see the devastation brought to my minority.

The days turned into weeks and as his images and those of Dr. Gupta continued to ravish our minds and shake our souls, we could not just sit here and do nothing. These two gentlemen become our bulldozers, they showed us what we didn’t want to see, but should see, they told us about the stories that needed to be heard, not what was scripted by CNN Studio Producers. Larry King joined the fight as Gupta and Cooper continued everyday to devote their lives to our cause. The dynamic duo is what I called them, but it is more than super hero powers that kept them at the forefront of our minds, hearts, souls, thoughts and prayers. Sheer humanity helped those men endure for us. They automatically become the face of this terrible tragedy, the light at the end of the tunnel, knowing that we could make a difference, that we would rise above everything and Live again.

Many joke that Anderson Cooper is now an Honorary Haitian, and many would love the opportunity to shake his hand, to hug him, to invite him to dinner and to simply say THANK YOU – for not leaving us behind. Thank you for coming to our rescue, Thank you for being there when no one else was, like a best friend at a time of desperation. Thank you for caring and for being the type of person we all should strive to be.

These two men, Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sonjay Gupta will receive awards from every angle, every Haitian-American association, and they will continue to receive journalistic honors for their commitment to being the eyes and ears of an entire nation. But today, I needed to genuinely and unconditionally put finger to keyboard to say, MESI AMPIL! For reminding me that it is not my country’s title of destitute, its generalization of illiteracy or blackness, nor is it its negative view from the outside of the world’s window that matters, but it is the generosity, purity, strength and determination of my people from the inside of its throbbing heart that keeps me, my children, my parents and my family alive. Through your magic lens and your surgical prowess gentlemen, the world now knows that Haiti exists and will once again pridefully stand and prevail.

–
Mia Lopez
M.I.A. Media, Inc.
Image Management-Public Relations

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