"On A Positive Note"- Part 18 of 50
There have been rumors that Wyclef is preparing to run for president of Haiti in the next 5 years just as Simeus is also preparing for the same with the hope that the legislative branch will approve dual citizenship.
Some people say that Wyclef's education is not adequate to make him a competent president, others say his name recognition and good deeds are a "BIG PLUS".
People say Simeus has done a lot of good things for the region that he came from in Haiti.
But others say that Simeus is in the hands of the Republican Party; therefore, they can't trust him. Anyway let's take a look at these two individuals and you can decide yourself:
About Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean (born October 17, 1972 in La Plaine, Haiti) is a rapper, producer, and member of the superstar hip hop trio The Fugees, known now for a series of high-profile hit singles.
Born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, Jean moved to Brooklyn when he was nine, then to Northern New Jersey, where he began playing the guitar and studying jazz in high school.
In 1987, Jean, his friend (so close they told people they were cousins, growing up) Prakazrel Michel (Pras) and his classmate, Lauryn Hill, formed a group called the Tranzlator Crew before becoming The Fugees.
Wyclef worked as a cabdriver.
The Fugees signed to Ruffhouse Records and released their debut, Blunted on Reality, but the album was panned and sold poorly.
Their eclectic follow-up, The Score, however, sold over 17 million copies worldwide and turned the trio into international superstars.
Jean soon announced plans to begin a solo career with 1997's Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival Featuring the Refugee All-Stars (more typically called simply The Carnival).
The album's guests included Hill and Pras along with Jean's siblings, the I Threes (back-up vocals for Bob Marley), Neville Brothers and Celia Cruz. The album was a major hit, as were two singles: "We Trying to Stay Alive" (adapted from The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive") and "Gone Til November" (recorded with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra).
Jean went on to work with artists including Santana, Tevin Campbell, Cypress Hill, Bounty Killer, Whitney Houston, Destiny's Child, Sublime, Simply Red, Mya, Sinéad O'Connor, Kimberly Scott, Mick Jagger, Canibus, The Black Eyed Peas and Eric Benét.
The Fugees remained in limbo during this time, with the follow-up to The Score being continually postponed as all three members cultivated solo careers.
Jean's second solo album was The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book, recorded with guests Youssou N'Dour, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kenny Rogers, The Rock and Mary J. Blige.
The critical reception was mixed, with many calling the album scattershot and too far-ranging to be cohesive.
Jean's third album, Masquerade, was released in 2002 and sold well, though critics frequently panned it.
His fourth album was The Preacher's Son, an album that Wyclef considered a continuation of his first album, Carnival.
In 2003, Jean produced rapper Jin's first single Learn Chinese.
In 2004, he released his fifth album, entitled Sak Pasé Presents: Welcome to Haiti (Creole 101) (released in the United States by Koch Records).
A freewheeling album that is something of a return to his Caribbean roots, most of the songs on the album are in his native language of Haitian Creole or Kreyòl.
He also covered Creedence Clearwater Revival's song "Fortunate Son" for the soundtrack of The Manchurian Candidate.
Jean also produced and wrote original songs for the original soundtrack to Jonathan Demme's 2003 Documentary "The Agronomist", a film about the legendary Jean Dominique, an active man of the people of Wyclef's homeland, Haiti.
In the same fashion, Jean crafted the music for the documentary Ghosts Of Cite Soleil [1], in which he found himself on the phone with a young and notorious gang leader in Haiti wishing to leave the life of violence and follow Jean's footsteps and pursue a career in rap.
In 2005, Jean earned a Golden Globe nomination for his track entitled "Million Voices" featured on the soundtrack to the film Hotel Rwanda.
Jean has been active in his support of his native country and created his own foundation Yéle Haiti[2] to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to Haiti, which is currently the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Yéle is a non-political organization intended to empower the people of Haiti and the Haitian diaspora to rebuild their nation.
"The objective of Yéle Haiti is to restore pride and a reason to hope, and for the whole country to regain the deep spirit and strength that is part of our heritage." -Wyclef Jean
Television Appearances
Performed "If I was President" on Chappelle's Show season 2. This unreleased acoustic song is a social commentary against war spending, media bias against voices of dissent and asks America to "tell the children the truth" about Christopher Columbus, Marcus Garvey, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. However the album version of this song didn't include the truth mentioned previously.
Its chorus goes: "If I was president, I'd get elected on Friday, assassinated on Saturday, and buried on Sunday"
Appeared for a second time on Chappelle's Show in a parody of "Making the band" with P Diddy.
2005.
Appeared on Season 5 of The Apprentice.
Did a rap, "Rubbleman", with the winning team, Excel, as their reward for winning task five.
Also in 2005, he played a gang leader who leads his group on an assault on the station house in Third Watch.
Wyclef, Pras, and Lauryn Hill reunited as The Fugees for an event that was filmed and released as "Dave Chapelle's Block Party" (2006).
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About Simeus:
Dumarsais Mécène Siméus (also Dumas Simeus) was born in 1939, is a Haitian-born and U.S. naturalized businessman from Texas.
Simeus has returned to Haiti to be a candidate in the first presidential election since the ouster of Jean Bertrand Aristide.
Early life
Simeus was born in Pont-Sondé in Haiti's Artibonite Valley.
He is the eldest son of illiterate peasant rice farmers.
He grew up working the land in Haiti to feed himself and his 11 siblings.
In 1961 His family sold some land so he could fly to the United States to pursue a college education at Florida A&M University.
Simeus transferred to Howard University in Washington, DC where he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering.
In 1970, he became a US citizen.
[1] Then in 1972 he earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Career
He worked his way up the corporate ladder.
He was a financial analyst at Rockwell International and KB Home. A director of Latin American Operations for Bendix, general manager of Hartz Pet Food, France and VP of International Business Development at Atari.
[3][4]
He would quickly rise in the corporate world, becoming a for several U.S. companies; president of Beatrice Food, Latin America; and eventually president and chief operating officer of TLC Beatrice International Food.
In 1984, Simeus started working for TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc., the $2.1 billion, black-owned food processing and distribution company.
He served as President and CEO for two years before leaving in 1992 to buy and run his own business.
In 1996, with $55 million financing, Simeus bought Portion-Trol Foods from Flagstar Corp in Mansfield, Texas and renamed it Simeus Foods International Inc. Simeus Foods, based south of Fort Worth manufactures value added food products for national multi-chain restaurants and large institutions like El Pollo Loco, Denny's, T.G.I.
Friday's and Burger King in the United States and Canada.[5] Simeus Foods Intl. now generates $155 million a year.
In 1999, Simeus established The Simeus Foundation, a non-profit foundation to provide medical care, education and clothing to Haitians.
In October 2004-February 2005, he served on Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's advisory board for Haiti.
The group made a series of recommendations for Haiti's security, economic development and disaster preparedness.
Also in 2004, as Chairman of the organization, Simeus helped launch PromoCapital, Haiti's first investment bank.
Simeus is the chairman of RepresentAction, an association, forum and special interest advocacy group.
RepresentAction is devoted to research, analysis, strategic planning, communications, campaigns and actions designed to promote the legal, fiscal, economic, social and political agendas and rights of Haitians overseas within Haiti.
A group of about 40 U.S.-based Haitian business and civic leaders haved pushed him to run for president.
Made Political Donations to
Top 100 Donors/Individual Financial Contributors to Eddie Bernice Johnson for Congress - $1000
Awards and Recognition
2000 - Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award, The Institute of Caribbean Study
2003 - Distinguished alumnus, The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
Run for Haitian Presidency
After months of speculation, Simeus decides to make a run for Haitian Presidency in August 2005. Simeus' political platform includes making it easier for companies to invest in Haiti, promoting jobs, and rooting out corruption by making government accountable.
Simeus said "I want to create a Haiti where people are proud to stay because there are opportunities." ...
"I want a Haiti where there is access to capital for the average guy, for the poor guy who was born in a hut like I was born in." During his campaign he runs into a few challenges.
His status as a dual national has become a challenge.
Simeus says he still has Haitian citizenship despite taking the US Oath of Allegiance, which renounced all other citizenships.
The Haitian Electoral Board disagreed.
Eventually this matter was taken to the Haitian Supreme Court.
The Haitian Supreme Court recently ruled that Simeus could place his name on the ballot, but he still faces election council challenges to his candidacy and a threat of prosecution alleging false candidacy claims on election papers.
Article 135 states a presidential candidate must "be a native-born Haitian and never have renounced Haitian nationality," and have resided in the country for five consecutive years before the election.
Another challenge is his public acceptance.
On a campaign rally, he was cordially received in Solino, a crumbling and crime-plagued neighborhood of the Haitian capital Port au Prince.
But when his tour reached the Bel Air neighbourhood, a stronghold for supporters of ex-president Aristide, dozens of angry men and women rushed onto the streets, hurling rocks and chunks of concrete at Mr. Siméus's car, forcing him to flee.
His lack of public acceptance may have to do with his extensive ties to the Bush administration.
Simeus served on Jeb Bush's Haiti Task Force.
Simeus is a major Republican Party donor.
His campaign manager, Robert Allyn, worked on the campaigns for George W. Bush, and Mexico’s president Vincente Fox, in the Bahamas and in Indonesia.
On Sep. 27, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, 6-hour visit to Haiti, publicly and pointedly called on Haiti’s interim government to hold “inclusive†elections.
Rice pressed de facto Prime Minister Gérard Latortue for Siméus to be readmitted to the race. On Oct. 11, the Supreme Court ruled in Siméus’ favor, ordering the CEP to put the Texan back on the ballot.
Dumarsais Simeus lost the election and has seemingly thrown his support towards the winner of the election, President-designate Rene Preval.
Family
Simeus is married and a father of three.
He has brought 40 relatives to the United States but his parents remain in Haiti.
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Coming next "On a Positive Note (Part 19 of 50) Why Preval has not said a word about the MINUSTAH treaty?
Peace and Reconcilaition
G.
Simon
