Fighting Back Against Hate: November 13th, 2010

So here's what my yesterday afternoon involved:

 

(All photo credits: Robert Haasch)

Yes, the National Socialist Movement, a neo-nazi hate group, was back in Phoenix. This time, they were protesting the recent judiciary actions that pared back the provisions in SB 1070, a law fully supported by the NSM. Think about that for a second. When a white supremacist hate group fully endorses your legislation, champions it even, it might be a good idea to rethink the implications of your legislation. Maybe redo the cost-benefit analysis. Right?

While Russell Pearce was conspicuously absent from THIS rally--it should be noted that he's attended (even sponsored) past anti-immigrant events hand-in-hand with a notorious former(?) NSM member. This former(?) NSM member, J.T. Ready, was there, apparently in full support of his comp-'hate'-riots.

A cueball-headed Ready, 11-13-10.

This, to me, is very scary. The fact that these guys have an apparent "in" to the innerworkings of the Arizona State Legislature is disturbing. The fact that one of their own was endorsed for political office in Mesa by the current President of the Arizona State Senate is horrendous. And the mere fact that people still think like this, in 21st century America, is beyond appalling. 

But I digress a bit, because the original intent of this blog post was to reiterate what was conspicuously absent in most of the mainstream media reports from yesterday's march/protest/riot: one entire side of the story. I'm not going to promise neutrality; I can't. I can only promise to relate what I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears. So here it is, emotional at times but as accurate as possible, written to the best of my memory and ability.

The counter-protesters arrived on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Washington, at the site of the eventual NSM rally. With the exception of a squad of police decked out in riot gear, and a couple of NSMers futzing with the sound system, we were alone. This was disorienting to many of us, who had been on time... apparently being a neo-nazi doesn't necessarily make you punctual.  People in clown costumes, anarchists with black hoodies and bandanas obscuring their features, people with drums and whistles and other musical instruments, a Unitarian church group in yellow shirts, members of the Brown Berets in their khaki and brown uniforms, and plenty of people like me: nondescript but passionate enough to rally for the cause, holding signs and megaphones and hoping that somehow, things would stay relatively peaceful.

That wasn't to be.

Word reached us that the NSMers were marching east down Jefferson, toward us. The people with the bandanas took off running in their direction. A large group of us followed at a slower pace. When I arrived at Jefferson and 8th Avenue, the anarchists had formed a human blockade of linked arms, stretching across the four-lane street.  We could see them, in the distance, their flags waving (warped, perverted variations of American flags with black swastikas), but almost completely obscured by the line of riot police forming a perimeter around them. 

At 8th Avenue, things ground to a halt. People stood toe-to-toe with police, shouting obscenities and chanting at the NSMers, who retaliated with yells of "Seig Heil" and racial epithets. A few objects were thrown over the cops' heads, into midst of the NSM group--a few homemade noisemakers, a bag of bloody meat. The police stood silent. The tension was physically tangible.

I need to say that at this point, I did feel sympathy for many of the officers. I remember telling somebody, "I bet some of them are thinking 'What shitty luck I had to come into work today.'" I locked eyes with a few and held up a peace sign; I couldn't see their full reactions behind their helmet-shields. I wonder if theirs were thoughts of appreciation, indifference, or derision for the (relatively) quiet girl with the anti-Nazi sign and the "Am I Legal?" shirt. Even after events unfolded afterwards, I still very much believe that not all police officers are "fascist pigs" (although some of them certainly don't try very hard to disprove those who think so). So when I heard one girl scream "fascist fucking pigs" in their direction for the eleventh time, I couldn't stay quiet anymore. I briefly repeated my sentiment, and she looked at me like I was one of the people with the nazi flags. I guess they were all the same, in her eyes. And as for me, a sympathizer was a sympathizer, in her mind. My general feeling of sympathy would alter drastically, however, in the span of an hour.

People were yelling, and sweating in the afternoon heat, and blowing airhorns, and not moving. I saw one of the bandana-wearers remove his shirt to reveal a Star of David tattoo on his upper left chest. No one budged. This went on for about an hour. It felt like much longer. 

*Never once did I hear an order for the crowd to disperse. It may have been ordered, but no one near me heard it. Let it be said again: standing on the sidewalk, not 10 feet from the line of police, I did not hear any spoken warning from the Phoenix PD.*

A call went out among the counter-protesters: the gas masks were going on. The anarchists braced themselves against the riot shields. Those of us on the sidewalks held our breath. And suddenly, there was pepper spray in the air. Everywhere. One of the local reporters and bloggers at the Phoenix New Times was right in front, and reportedly got the worst of the initial onslaught (read his account here). Even from the relative "safety" of the sidewalks, we were sent scrambling, coughing and gagging. The air was thick with it; you couldn't avoid it. The feeling of thick, blistering pepper spray lodging in your throat, eyes and nose is one that I won't forget any time soon. 

Holding vinegar-soaked rags to their faces, everyone was sent running as the cops discharged what is probably the most liberal amount of spray I've ever seen used on people at any protest, unprovoked. I say unprovoked, because (contrary to news reports) protesters did not charge the police barricade. I've heard this justification used several times. It didn't happen. What did happen was mutual pushing, as protesters struggled to hold their ground against police with riot shields. Meanwhile, the NSMers laughed and chanted "Gas the Jews," over and over. The kid with the Star of David tattoo flashed through my mind. Sympathy for the cops quickly morphed into 'pissed off' in general. 

The counter-protesters regrouped about a block away. This time, heavy metal newspaper receptacles formed a less-vulnerable barricade across the street. While the anarchists reformed their line, volunteer riot medics on bicycles rode around with water bottles full of magnesium hydroxide, to pour in spray victims' eyes in order to counteract the burning. I watched a fellow protester and peace advocate (a friend of mine) get a blast of pepper spray full in the face; she was holding a sign that said "Free Hugs" so I can see how they might have thought she was a credible threat. Sorry, editorializing. But I'm really not sorry. The image of this woman, brought to her knees on the side of the road, screaming in pain from the burning in her eyes and mouth and scalp, is not one I'm likely to ever get over.

*Official mainstream media reports, by and large, ignored this equal-opportunity gassing of the Arizona activist populace by its law enforcement.* Instead, they reported a few "bumps and bruises" suffered by NSMers and by police, due to the events that followed (read on):

Then someone threw a rock. I can't say exactly where it came from, except from someone in the street, but it hit one of the NSMers in the head. Then rocks were flying from multiple directions. I don't condone this type of action at all, but it seemed to me that an inevitable chain of events had been set in motion from the moment the police decided to bring out the pepper spray. People were enraged. You can't ignite a spark in a dry field on a windy day and expect not to have a wildfire on your hands. 

What commenced was essentially a violent back-and-forth between the Phoenix PD and the anarchists. Which, I think, was something the NSM was hoping for. It certainly was something the mainstream media were hoping for, since that aspect of the day was all that was reflected in the newscasts that evening. Purple tear gas was dispensed by the police, nails were scattered across the road by the anarchists to supposedly puncture the tires of the police vehicles, and back and forth; the whole procession slowly made its way down Jefferson to the courthouse.

So the nazis held their rally. The counter-protesters were restrained behind a concrete barricade about forty feet from them, but we continued to hold our signs and chant and make noise. I didn't hear what Jeff Schoep (head Furher) was saying over the speaker system, as our noise drowned most of it out. A lot of the NSMers--even more emboldened because of the distance, and the reinforced barricades of concrete and riot police--waved their flags at us, gave us the nazi salute, and pantomimed targeting and shooting protesters with imaginary guns. Fairly anticlimactic, but we stayed as long as they did. And "escorted" them to their cars.

*This post isn't an attack on the First Amendment.* I am instead trying to underscore the fact that the general attitudes about immigration in this state are creating environments where ideologies of hate groups like the NSM flourish. They were able to come here under the guise of "illegal immigration"; they have come before, and they have come often. Our Senate President, Russell Pearce, used to rub shoulders with J.T. Ready; Pearce has recently denounced neo-nazi movements, but Ready has implied otherwise. 

Another point I cannot stress enough is that there are times when sitting home just doesn't work. People are always torn when it comes to the decision to demonstrate against groups like the NSM: ignore them and make them march alone, reducing the chances for media coverage and making them look like fools? Or in situations like these, is silence another word for implied consent?

I believe the latter. Despite the slanted media coverage, despite the fact that people were hurt, and despite the fact that I would have preferred nonviolent tactics over what did transpire yesterday... I believe that in instances such as these, if you say nothing, do nothing, in the face of evil on your doorstep, evil is soon inside your house. 

If the National Socialist Movement has the constitutional right to march and rally under their racist banner, then we who oppose that disgusting mentality have every equal right to show up and scream loudly our dissent.

Here's one last (skewed?) video recap.  And yes, that is me at 2:02, in my typical role of peace advocate. During the impasse at Jefferson and 8th, I was interviewed by a local Fox affiliate. Yes, ironically, of all the news stations out there, Fox News asked me for an interview. *Sigh.* 

While not all of my comments made it to the airwaves, I do remember talking about the need for civil dialogue. And how the presence of the NSM--their hateful ideology, their deepening involvement in political matters in this state--all but eliminates that possibility. 

An Epic Probiotic Adventure (Or: A Nonpolitical, Non-Arizona-related Type of Post)

So about two weeks ago, I decided to try an experiment.

I boiled up about a liter of water, steeped some organic black tea leaves, dumped in some sugar, allowed the brew to cool down to room temperature, and poured it into a glass jar. I then added the contents of one bottle of store-bought raw kombucha. It’s been sitting on my kitchen counter ever since.

Some of you probably know where this is going.  J

Yes!  I decided to try to grow my very own SCOBY! For those of you unfamiliar with the phenomenon that is kombucha, “SCOBY” stands for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast and is the primary component of kombucha-making. Kombucha is a fermented beverage made from tea and the byproducts of the SCOBY feasting on sugar, which yield tremendous amounts of beneficial organic acids and probiotics. If it sounds gross, it isn’t. If you want to know more, click here. 

For those of you who ARE familiar with this delicious and nutritious probiotic nectar, you might know that for a while I’ve wanted to try my hand at home-brewing the stuff. If there is any chance I could avoid spending 4 bucks on a bottle every time I feel the kombucha urge, I’m going to take it.

Anyway, back to the story. Approximately a week ago, I was growing discouraged by the lack of progress in my jar, so I decided to expand on the experiment a little. A second jar was filled with only half of a store-bought bottle, with no tea or sugar added. I set Jar #2 next to Jar #1 and promptly forgot about them for a few days. Grad school and all.

But, flash forward to yesterday, when I finally remembered to check on my little experiments. SUCCESS! Not one, but two baby SCOBYs! They are still thin and fragile-looking, so I don’t know if I should transfer them to bigger jars yet and start actually brewing… I think I’m going to wait until they’re at least 1/4” thick, since most of the home-brewing websites I’ve found recommend that. I wasn't expecting such positive results, so I’m ridiculously proud of myself. Hopefully I’ll be enjoying my own delicious fermented tea beverage within the month!

If any of you have suggestions, advice, or just want to talk kombucha, feel free to post!

  

A quickie update from the shell-shocked hippie.

Well, I'm back.

Sort of. 

I'm about to start Year Two of my grad program at ASU. Returning to the baked desertlands of Arizona merely three days ago, I checked the syllabi for my fall semester classes, uploaded a shit-ton of Tanzania pictures onto Facebook, and then promptly fell into a strange dazed limbo of un-productivity. Needless to say, culture shock. Jet lag. Mental weariness and homesickness for a country that's not technically "home." Yet, it is.

 

This morning, however, I snapped out of said limbo by means of an electronic roundhouse kick to the face, in the form of an email from one of my professors, reminding us we have an assignment due at midnight. On an entire book. A book I have not purchased yet. Let alone read. B'ohh.

Time to wake up, I guess. But for those of you who need some context, here's a little recap of pre-summer events:

So in May, my first year of grad school was D.O.N.E. Done! Big collective sigh of relief? Thank you. The last semester was a good one... yours truly scored a 4.0 GPA (yeah, I'm bragging a little). It's also been busy because of all the shenanigans going on in the AZ legislature... crazy bills being passed and whatnot... so this little activist has been spending a lot of free (?) time up at the State Capitol. Like I said, there is a blog post regarding these shenanigans that is looooonnnng overdue. It's been very educational, to say the least, and my heart is telling me more and more that my future lies in advocacy work in some form. Something that many people around here (including some in my program) are finding difficult to understand. I think a lot of people don't quite know what to make of me... we have a lot of future government bureaucrats and policy analysts who try not to be political, and a few mid-career private sector folks with conservative leanings who probably think I'm the devil incarnate. But so far no one has said that to my face. At least not in class. At the rallies, I've been called more than a few things.  ;-)

So educationally, I'm doing A-OK. In terms of rock 'em-sock 'em experiences, I'm doing just  fine. What I'm having trouble with is the readjustment from my mind-blowing trip to Tanzania.  

I moved from downtown Phoenix to Tempe at the end of May, into a room in a house I found for rent on the ASU student advertising listserv. Awesome. There's nothing like moving in with strangers two weeks before you leave for the summer. The place is about 70 years old and, as such, has a lot of 70-year-old quirks... i.e. my closet-sized bathroom with a faucet nozzle in the wall (yeah have you ever heard of something called a swamp cooler? It was new to me until I moved to Arizona), and the RAD peach and brown floral wallpaper gracing one of my bedroom walls... but the place is totally my style. Which is, I think, eclectic and humorous and with TONS of character. And the rent is cheaaaaap.

So I'm back in most respects, but not emotionally. Not yet. Emotionally, I'm still somewhere else...

     

First blog post in over 4 months... and I'm promoting another blog.

At least it's MY other blog.

There is no legitimate reason why I have not written on this blog.  It's not that things haven't happened that merit documentation... a horrible immigration law passed by intolerant Arizona politicians, and the protest movements that sprang up, occupied most of my free time in my remaining weeks in Phoenix.  While it should have been written about as it happened, day by day, for many reasons it didn't.  I apologize for that.  The summary and timeline of events that I WILL write won't equate to a minute-by-minute record, but they will be something.  

My purpose for writing THIS entry is about the reason why I didn't write about the above situation (follow?).  I am volunteering overseas for a month, and have set up a blog to document my experiences in Karanga and Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania, AFRICA.  Yes.  A lifelong dream is about to be realized.  So while this blog remains on hiatus for at least another 4 weeks, you can follow my adventures abroad at jenstanzaniajournal.blogspot.com, documenting a perspective--a lifetime's worth of experience--from the other side of the world.

Paz,

Jen

Buh-bye, benefits of urban revitalization...

No parks.  No museums.  No youth programs.  Less public transportation.  I understand there are very few options, but how is this a good idea?

Phoenix City Council approves budget plan 

(Scott Wong, The Arizona Republic, March 3, 2010)

Do you enjoy your basic human rights?

Don't feel like having your civil liberties trampled by a bunch of corrupt Wild West cowboy-wannabes?

Then don't vote for this guy.

I've been wanting to write something on Joe Arpaio since moving to Phoenix and hearing first-hand accounts of his corrupt policies and practices. I've fully intended to post a rap sheet listing the various crimes and abuses of power on the part of Sheriff Joe and his Good Ol' Boy Posse. It seems, thanks to an increasingly powerful grassroots movement on Facebook, that now is the perfect time to do so. While I'm writing (and it might take awhile; the list of abuses is lonnnnnng), you can check out the Facebook movement for yourself:

People against Sheriff Joe Arpaio

And here's a very brief summary of the "Arpaio Abuses" complete with links to relevant articles. If I've forgotten any critical points here, I will add them in later posts:

• Arpaio's controversial (see: unconstitutional and nonfactual), so-called "crime suppression" sweeps, targeted predominantly at Hispanic populations, that are actually searches for undocumented immigrants and amount to nothing short of racial profiling (and essentially constitute a campaign of fear);
• The abhorrent conditions within the Maricopa County jail system and "Tent City," which infringe on the basic human rights of both convicted long-term residents and undocumented immigrants (who, though "guilty under the law" [I even have issues with this phrase, touted by many a pro-Arpaio fan, as is implies criminal activity... crossing the border without documents is a civil violation], are still human beings), and inmates being held in the jails awaiting trial (who should be allowed to exercise that little right called presumption of innocence until proven guilty);
• The excessively rough, even brutally abusive, treatment of individuals who are temporarily housed in Arpaio's jails awaiting trial, many held on relatively minor offense charges (punishment = crime?... nope); and even instances of brutality and victimization toward individuals who are disabled or who have potentially life-threatening medical conditions;
• In a similar vein, the horrendous abuse of women's rights within the MC jail system (see: forcing a pregnant woman to give birth while shackled);
• The frequent, systematic targeting of vocal Arpaio critics--public officials, news media, and average citizens--in the form of arrests, "investigations" and threats of filed charges against said critics... blatant attempts at censorship and retaliation that foster fear;
• Overt disregard of federal mandates that limit Arpaio's power to locally enforce federal immigration laws, and blatant refusal to cooperate in the federal investigation of his policies and practices.

Human rights are for EVERYONE. Fear campaigns and persecution have NO place in upholding the law. Stand up to human rights abuse. Spread the word.

The Reading Pile

No, I don't just read textbooks right now. I would go loop-a-doop-loopy if that were the case. While I don't have a special shelf on my bookcase for the "fun" books I'm reading (or will-read-in-the-near-future queue), I do instead have a sloppy little stack of goodies teetering right next to my bed. For those who are interested, here's the annotated bibliography of what is currently on The Pile:

1) "They Take Our Jobs!" and 20 Other Myths About Immigration, by Aviva Chomsky

I'm just getting into this one. During almost the entirety of last semester, I was bothered because I was having difficulty finding conversation and resources about immigration advocacy and open-immigration reform policies. Amazon.com surely saved the day this semester. This book touches on the 20 most common false perceptions about immigration, including "illegal" immigration, and offers strong counterpoints to anti-immigration drivel... er, arguments. 

 

2) The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan

This book, judging from all of Dr. Sagan's works I've read thus far, is going to be amazing. Furthermore, it appeals to the scientific-methodist (gaahh, bad pun!) and woo-skeptic in me. Basically, drawing from history, culture, and--of course--science, "Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies as witchcraft, faith healings, demons, and UFOS." Sagan also discusses and discredits (see: delivers a roundhouse-kick to the face of) the growing popularity of modern pseudoscience practices such as "channeling," ESP, past lives, alien abduction, and paranormal activity. Oh, joy.  :-) 

3) Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants, by David Bacon

Another gem from Amazon.com. The author--a photojournalist, former labor organizer and immigrant rights activist--documented connections between labor, migration of people, and the global economy for twenty years. Twenty. Years. This book is an analysis of our national immigration policies and economic practices and how they produce "even more displacement, migration, immigration raids, and an increasingly divided and polarized society."  

4) Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism, by David Mills

This one, I started awhile back when I was considering writing a blog on Christian Fundamentalism and how I think it's wronnnnnnnng. Unfortunately, Atheist Universe got stuck on the back burner last semester, as grad school started to kick in. It really is quite awesome, however, and Mills plants himself firmly in the religious skeptic's corner, detailing "why God is unnecessary to explain the universe's diversity, organization and beauty." A logical breath of fresh air in that murky, awkward realm that is a religious conversation with my grandparents.

5) The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers, by Jane Guskin & David L. Wilson

Sensing a theme? I tried to find a book that was more "middle-of-the-road" then the other two I purchased (I have absolutely no desire to pick up a copy of Arpaio's biography or a different 200-page anti-immigration bundle of word vomit). Although, paging through it, I'm finding it of similar structure to Chomsky's book, as it identifies the main players, questions, and misconceptions in the national immigration debate. Guskin and Wilson appear to take a rationalist's approach to the subject, which is good. If you can remain neutral in tone while providing a solid analysis of a subject that has so many people shrieking bloody nonsense, your credibility is never in question.

6) Beyond Civilization: Humanity's Next Great Adventure, by Daniel Quinn

I'm almost ashamed at how long this book has been sitting on the pile, 1/3-read. Quinn, as some of you may know, is the author of Ishmael, one of my favorite books in the entire world. Yes, it is about a talking gorilla. But it is also about changing the world. I'm not going to give too much away, because I think you need to experience Ishmael (and this book, for that matter) for yourself, unbiased. Beyond Civilization touches on this new world created in Ishmael, and bravely proposes how humanity as a whole can transform itself into something different, something better. It's revolutionary, really. I love Daniel Quinn.

7) The Origin of Species -and- The Descent of Man, by Charles 'THE MAN' Darwin

I think we all know what this one's about. I mentioned I was almost ashamed about procrastinating Quinn. I am PROFOUNDLY EMBARRASSED about procrastinating Darwin. The sparkly gems of evolutionary science, straight from the mind of the guy who originally theorized about them. Dinosaurs and monkeys and homo sapiens, oh my! This book should be a must-read for everybody. Even the Crazy Creationists. I want to read this book so much it's ridiculous, but I've never made the time. Travesty. I will remedy this as soon as possible. 

Okay, that's all for now. I should mention that I am reading my textbooks, which do take up a significant amount of my time, so getting through this list is going to feel like slow-motion. That said... what are YOU reading?

What do cartoon cats know about 'illegal' immigration?

Quite a lot, surprisingly, from this video. Interesting perspective on the illegal immigration debate... a perspective that, I've noticed, gets drowned out by the whack-job rants or shrugged off by a lot of the moderates who still cling to the "illegal is still illegal therefore criminal" mentality. Which ends up comprising the bulk of immigration conversations in this state, from what I've read so far. I'm doing some research and will have an AZ-relevant blog post soon, but grad school has other plans at the moment. For now, enjoy the articulate, animated kitties...

Yes, it starts a little slow. But neither Pinky--nor her cantankerous counterpart Daisy--say they're in this because of a lust for power and fame, nor do they attempt to stir the metaphorical hornet's nest of fear and prejudice. You want that, talk to Glenn Beck. I hear he does one hell of a carnival act.

TIME sheds light on child slavery practices in Haiti

The scary thing is, this "practice" (see: travesty) has been in place for enough years (see: centuries?) so that it is ingrained in Haitian society. And in Africa. And several countries in Asia. In addition to enraging me beyond belief (see: desire to put forehead through cement wall), it epitomizes one important reason why I decided to continue my education.

Human Predators Stalk Haiti's Vulnerable Kids

By TIM PADGETT WITH BOBBY GHOSH / PORT-AU-PRINCE Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010

 

(CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS)

Mia Pean's heart sank last week when she saw the Toyota pickup truck cruising the debris-cluttered streets of Léogâne, ground zero for the earthquake that has devastated Haiti. Each time the driver saw a child — especially a young teen — he would stick his head out of the window and shout, "Manje, manje," Creole for "eat." Pean says she watched the hungry kids, four or five at a time, hop into the back of the pickup, which then disappeared. "I saw the same man again a few days later in Carrefour," a poor suburb of Port-au-Prince, says Pean. "I asked him, 'What are you doing with all those children?' He said, 'Don't worry, we're going to put them in safe homes.' Then he drove off."

But Pean, a Haitian-American emergency consultant for the Andrew Young Foundation, doubts that altruism is the motive of the pickup driver and others like him who are now prowling Haiti's streets. The quake that has killed 150,000 people has left thousands of children orphaned and consequently vulnerable to being preyed upon by child traffickers and Haiti's shameful tradition of keeping child slaves, known as restaveks. "I really fear," says Pean, "that most of the kids you see being picked up on the streets in Haiti right now are going to become restaveks or victims of sexual trafficking."

Pean isn't the only one who is concerned. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive on Tuesday expressed the fear that amid the clamor to airlift Haitian orphans out of the devastated country to waiting adoptive parents in the U.S. and Europe, others are being trafficked. The U.N. says it's on alert to prevent the exploitation of the thousands of Haitian kids who have lost or been separated from their parents and who wander aimlessly in search of food, water and shelter. UNICEF, the U.N.'s child-advocacy arm, as well as groups like Save the Children and the Red Cross, say they're registering at-risk kids and setting up shelters exclusively for them. Says a UNICEF official who is monitoring reports of scenes like the one witnessed by Pean: "Traffickers fish in pools of vulnerability, and we've rarely if ever seen one like this."

The earthquake seems to have shaken more Haitians into vigilance as well — and perhaps, unfortunately, some vigilantism. In the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Petite Place Cazeau on Wednesday, a crowd of quake survivors living in tents surrounded a pickup truck and beat up the driver, saying he had for several days been trying to kidnap young girls. Bleeding from his nose, mouth and scalp, he managed to get back in his truck and flee. (The angry crowd then threatened to beat up a journalist for even asking questions about child trafficking.)

But the problem remains daunting, and it is exacerbated by the fact that children are not accorded much if any protection under Haitian law or culture. That's a big reason restaveks are still so prevalent today, not just in Haiti but even in Haitian-American enclaves in the U.S., such as New York and Miami, as TIME first reported in 2001. Restavek in Creole means "to stay with," an innocuous term for a far more sinister practice — children, often given up by their poor Haitian families, "stay with" more affluent families as slaves. And like most slaves, they're usually subject to physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Before the earthquake, the Haitian government estimated that more than 300,000 Haitian children were living as restaveks in the country, and more of them abroad. Those numbers are likely to grow, says Danielle Romer, a Haitian-American social worker and head of Haitian Support Inc. in Miami, who has long fought the restavek practice — her efforts still often met with denial and even anger by many Haitians. "We were starting to see some improvement before the earthquake, both in terms of getting more of these children into orphanages and missions and in terms of getting some teaching about it out to Haitians," says Romer. "But I'm afraid the earthquake just opens the box to a scarier situation."

Joan Conn, executive director of the Jean Cadet Restavek Foundation in Cincinnati, agrees. "We had been building more awareness in Haiti than ever before," says Conn. "At least people were actually starting to say the word restavek out loud for once. But with so many children now abandoned and alone, the task could become even harder." Conn's organization — named for Jean-Robert Cadet, a former restavek whose 1998 autobiography, Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle Class American, lifted the lid on the problem — works to give restaveks refuge in Haiti. In the wake of the earthquake, its staff and volunteers have fanned out across Port-au-Prince and the provinces to watch out for vulnerable kids.

Under prodding from the U.N., the Haitian government last year had finally begun to move against the restavek practice. Last May, some 500 Haitian officials attending a conference with Conn and other child advocates pledged to make restavek and child protection a legislative priority. But word has yet to trickle down to the general Haitian population, says Conn, and most restavek recruiters and other child traffickers still feel they have carte blanche to funnel kids to wealthier Haitian families or abroad.

Worse, says Pean, many of them are exploiting the rush to get Haitian children out of the quake-ravaged country. She recalls the man in the Toyota pickup telling her that "Senators in Washington want us to expedite getting the kids to the U.S." But, she adds, "the Senators are talking about kids who already have adoption papers ready. These guys are trying to exploit all that confusion." The situation for Haitian youths was difficult enough before the earthquake. Now, in addition to losing their families, many are under the threat of losing their childhoods as well.