Home

March 9th, 2008

Demonstrations, Eggs and Chickens

  • Mar. 9th, 2008 at 3:09 PM
yes, 21, two riders were approaching, all in, of cabbages and kings, run lola run, bee sea, You're not of the body, magic shadows, i am not a number, seeing the world after april, Circe Invidiosa, Ayizan, gender, Test Card F, politics, fascism, brain thoughts, why i love saturn, java, best pilot evah, default, unless, haiti, i had an accident, open the bay doors HAL, politics and strange bedfellows, weather underground, being dead like me, Timey-Wimey Detector

Protesters jammed the streets of Haiti's capital Friday [February 29th] to mark the fourth anniversary of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ouster, with thousands marching to the presidential palace to demand his return from exile.

Supporters climbed hills and crossed bridges over garbage-filled canals in the slums of Port-au-Prince, dancing and singing, "Our blood is the blood of Aristide. We will not betray him!"

[...]

Not all backed the demonstration. A street vendor watching the crowds in the Bel Air neighborhood shouted, “You're trying to put the egg back into the chicken!”

Marchers shouted back, “He will return!”

— Jonathan M. Katz, "Thousands march in Haiti on anniversary of Aristide's departure"

I find myself wondering about how much the author knows about Haiti and Aristide. The line about putting the egg back in the chicken has locally-specific meaning. It was used a great deal during the first coup, and when Aristide returned the image of a hand putting an egg back into a chicken was a common political image. I wouldn't assume that the unnamed street vendor is necessarily disagreeing with the protest by referencing this metaphor.