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In our own way, as we have done for generations, we have invested in our own. It may not be millions from a government treasury, but it is a worthy investment steeped with love.

If a person were to log on to social media two months ago around this time, they’d surely come across the sentiment “Africa has won the world cup” repeatedly. With 15 out of the 23 members of the victorious French national team stemming from countries across Africa and the Caribbean, the funny yet sobering idea wasn’t exactly so far-fetched.  

Fast forward to this past weekend, and many of us find ourselves immersed in yet another similar round of debates. While Americans continue to ponder, dissect and discuss the aftershocks of the chair umpire’s blatant mistreatment of Serena Williams at the US Open, Haitians have been holding court with their own equally frustrating conversation resulting from the heated match.

At just 20 years old, Naomi Osaka has fulfilled her dream of playing and defeating her idol  Serena. As headlines across the world play up her Japanese roots – she is registered with the Japan Tennis Association — Osaka is quick to bring up her Haitian lineage, giving a shout-out to her father’s Haitian clan out on Long Island.

However, soon after her win, plenty of her own compatriots began questioning whether the rest of the dyaspora could celebrate this win as our own. Those unsettled by our selebrasyons for Naomi repeatedly asked how could we feel comfortable claiming her as our own when it was Japan, and not Haiti, who had gotten her to this moment.

Critiques became even more passionate when President Jovenel Moise expressed his congratulations to her, referring to the tennis star as “our Naomi”.

She was not ours. We did not invest in her. Haitians, once again, were acting sans souci, shamelessly bragging about a win that is not even ours.

In the face of these words of shame, we have to re-examine exactly what does it mean to be Haitian, because clearly, we forget that our very own Emeline Michel reminds us that our flag lies under our skin, wherever we go.

For over 200 years, Haiti has stood as the dream and lost hope of Black liberation in the new world. In Avengers of the New World, Laurent DuBois calls anyone fighting on behalf of human rights “a descendant of the Haitian Revolution” and “responsible to these [Haitian] ancestors.” Though broad in description, this definition stays true to the essence of our ethnic identity.

It remains true that when we take a look at ourselves, we are bound to see Haiti and Haitians as a proud people, who despite numerous failed governments past and present, continue to exert their indomitable will and unshakeable sense of destiny to make a place in the world. Whether it be through the fashions of Stella Jean, the celebrated images of Marc Baptiste or the genius found in the words of Edwidge Danticat we have and continue to prove and share our genius with the world.

Naomi, like those mentioned above, was loved and cared for in a Haitian environment. The very ones many of us know so well, filled with stern but loveable uncles and chatty aunties. This is evident in Naomi’s repeated corrections of those who choose to ignore half of her family — the very family who celebrated her with their red and blue flags after Saturday’s game. In our own way, as we have done for generations, we have invested in our own. It may not be millions from a government treasury, but it is a worthy investment steeped with love.

If we are to ignore and rebuke Naomi’s place with us because of government failures, the very ones which continue to force Africa’s greatest athletes to represent flags other than those of their parents, are we then ready to let go of our Edwidges, our Marc Baptistes, our Dumas, our Stella Jeans, our Jean-Michel Basquiats and the countless others who have made a place for themselves in other worlds?

Are we ready to make ethnicity something that is fought for and won like lottery prizes? Are we  prepared to gatekeep like our Dominican cousins? Checking for birth certificates and last names just in case these “outside kids” want to represent the Republic?

Or are we ready to understand that until Haiti is blessed with a government worthy of her children, many will continue to move, taking their flag with them wherever they go, taking the opportunity to add their accomplishments – however small – to those of their foremothers and fathers.

Immigration is the price many Black nations pay for puppet governments, selfish rulers and lack of resources. In this we are no different than countries across the Black diaspora. However, we cannot let these systems, which usually lie out of our control, to abandon our children, the ones like Naomi who know where they come from and do their best to uphold and respect all of their identities.

We are better than this. We know who we are. We know where we come from, and we know what our shared hopes are for the future. Even in tougher times like this where so many are mobilizing and asking the government “Where is the PetroCaribe money?” we can still find joy in one of our own beating the greatest athlete of all time, cementing for herself a little corner in history where she brings honor to her Japanese and Haitian ancestors, alike.

Photo credit: cosmopolitan