by Francesca Guerrier
Image copyrighted Francesca Guerrier/OPEM
Mecca aka Grimo is a young upcoming Haitian-American hip-hop artist and actor who is well-known for his political engagement. He often shows up at demonstrations demanding rights for Haitian refugees.
He is also a rapper and part of the Spoken Word generation. His poetry has a revolutionary edge.
Born to Haitian parents in Brooklyn, NY and raised for some of his youth in Queens, in 1985 he moved with them to Miami, where he still lives. He is the founder of Fepouli, described on his website as a “non-profit non-political movement” fighting disease and poverty.
Mecca is signed with Sak Pase Records, Hex Battalion and is managed by OPEM. He played a leading role in the Haitian film “Kidnappings” (2005). He has a degree in Acoustical Engineering. The Haitian flag’s coat of arms is tattooed on his shoulder.
Our correspondent Francesca Guerrier interviewed him last week in Miami about his views on politics, history, art, education, and the current campaign to win Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for undocumented Haitians in the US.
HAITI LIBERTÉ: How did you come by the name Mecca aka Grimo?
MECCA AKA GRIMO: I felt that my government name was not doing justice to my level of consciousness, to where I was. Mecca came naturally. Mecca means a holy place, not necessarily the religious place Mecca [in Saudi Arabia], but more a symbolic place within. The divinity you search for is within you. I often had information and many people turned to me for answers. Because I had often done my research, I usually knew what was going on. Someone called me Mecca for that reason. It was just a remark, but I thought it fitted my being. I do not believe in any particular religion. I believe in that supreme being that creates all positive things, but I think religion is man-made in order to divide and control us.
HL: You promote literacy through poetry. How did that come about?
MECCA: I learned so much. There was so much knowledge I was blessed to have. I wanted to share that knowledge, that’s the only way it comes back. I like to communicate and the way I communicate best is through my talents, with my voice. I believe Spoken Word is rap; one is poetry to the beat and the other is freely spoken. I started reciting Spoken Word for myself, and then I started realizing that poetry was connected to creative writing, reading, absorbing information, and staying current with news from around the world.
I started to analyze the music, our market, and the statistics, and I noticed that so much of our youth was dropping out of school and dying. But Hip Hop was originally used as a tool to educate. So I said to myself, I can’t limit myself just to the message of culture. The kids need to understand what I’m saying. We need to make them literate, so that if I write a poetry book, they’ll be able to read it. They have to be able to get my message. And not necessarily just what I write in the lines, but I need them to understand the message that I’m saying between the lines. So I said there’s a mission and a message that is stronger than just going to the clubs and playing for money. Our youth needs to be elevated, spiritually and intellectually. So I go to schools and talk to the kids about the importance of being literate. Through the process of lyrics and poetry, kids become more perceptive. The teachers and the principals agree with this method because they have tried every tool, but they cannot get through. They are not using modern techniques to teach. Music and art make children more receptive, even to social studies and math. This has been proven.
So I want to use art to teach as well as for entertainment.
HL: You are very militant and active.
MECCA: You have to commit yourself to the cause if that’s what you’re talking about. You have to walk the walk, if you’re going to talk the talk. I don’t think that I’m militant. I’m just committed to what I speak about. I speak about Haiti and its contribution to the world, and when I go into the schools or am interviewed, it’s something people have to hear about.
HL: You are a big supporter of President Obama. You even wrote a song called “As Long as We Can.” Do you think President Obama will help Haitians in the U.S. with the deportation issue, and grant TPS? Do you think he will help Haiti in a way that doesn’t simply aim at advancing U.S. interests?
MECCA: That is truly a tough question. President Obama is a human being inside the system, just like every other president was. I definitely am for change. The way he ran his campaign, I was impressed with his commitment, with his message to the people. Now that he’s in office, we’ll have to see what will he do to deliver on his promises. But he still has my support because he’s committed to doing what he believes in.
As far as helping Haiti is concerned: there’s really an underlying agenda to not let Haiti be the icon that it can be, to not have the title that it should have. I mean, Haiti got its title a long time ago, but the reason why Haiti is still the way it is today is because there’s another agenda stopping Haiti from flourishing. Even though Obama is our president and he may have great intentions for Haiti, I don’t think a President has that much power to really make that decision and say: “OK, we’re going to free Haiti, or we are going to Haiti and restructure some things.” But I do think he wants to show that he wants to help in some way, and I think he will try to do some things. But I don’t know how much he can do because of the greater underlying agenda that keeps Haiti the way it is.
HL: As a second generation Haitian, how do you feel that immigrants from countries in better shape then Haiti have been granted TPS, while we are still struggling for simple immigration rights?
MECCA: I definitely feel the injustice, the inequality. Why hasn’t Haiti been helped, been rescued by the Caribbean coalition? This is where we come back to the hidden agenda, which I understand. And that’s where my job comes in: to educate people not to get depressed about it. I don’t like it. I don’t agree with this agenda, but I can’t get depressed about it. I have to continue to fight by educating the masses. I thank Haiti Liberté for giving me the chance to deliver my message. France still has an agenda, along with the British, to prevent Haiti from flourishing. When I went to Haiti, I was amazed at its beauty and saw the potential Haiti has. But when one sees images from Haiti here in the States, you only see the shoeless children in the slums, but they don’t show the places that look like paradise.
HL: Haiti is not less beautiful than Jamaica, for example. Trench-town is not less dangerous then Cite Soleil. Yet Haiti has no tourism. And in any other “ghetto” around the world, they don’t bring in the United Nation to “fight crime.”
MECCA: Once again, we are going back to the hidden agenda. When slavery was at its peak, 400,000 slaves rebelled and defeated two European armies… That is embarrassing for the former colonizers. So Haiti is still being held accountable for its history, and this is why we see Haiti suffering under embargos, without trees, and so forth. This was planned.
Francesca Guerrier summarized the rest of the interview: “We spoke on the record for almost an hour. We spoke quite a bit about Haitian hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean and his work and role in Haiti. Mecca also expressed his love and passion for Haiti, his sadness about the foreign military occupation of the country and the possibility of Haiti becoming a US protectorate. He reiterated his desire to continue spreading the knowledge about Haiti’s history and bravery as the first nation to break the chains of slavery.”
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