Jimmy Jean-Louis is an actor, producer, activist, & ambassador-at-large to Haiti. He’s also known for his role as “the Haitian” in NBC’s Heroes.

Julia Tymoshenko is a Ukrainian voice speaking to the world about climate justice.

JULIA:  In the beginning of 2022, Russia invaded my country. My parents, my dad, and my grandparents survived Russian occupation. My activism started when I realized there was not enough Ukrainian voices in the overall English-speaking media. And: Europe’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels is a critical issue because it enables Putin.

JIMMY: When we have a voice, I think it's good to try to use that voice as best as possible to try to not necessarily change the big issues, but to stay focused on what matters. And if we stay focused, then it might take a few years, but change will come.

JULIA: It's so hard for us now that all of this is happening. We're Ukrainian, so suddenly we’re considered Europeans. Europe started taking a lot of Ukrainian refugees.

JIMMY: I can definitely validate that growing up in Paris. I understand that relationship from all the Eastern Europeans coming down to Paris or London, you know, the way they were treated. The important thing to remember from all of this is it's about strategic positioning for some of the superpowers. It's about what can they gain from that region for their own country, how they can benefit.

JULIA: Exactly, suddenly Europe is welcoming us, when they weren't before. Before they were like, “Oh, you were like a second grade Europeans.”

JIMMY: I understand your fight, your struggle with with the opposition as well with your relationship with Europe. I think it's interesting to compare the experiences that someone like me would have in the Caribbean, with someone like you in Europe. So many similarities, you know, it's, it's amazing. Right now, as for some Ukrainians, Haiti is not a place that I could I could go to, even though I'm Haitian, because it's so dangerous. And one of the main project was a TV show called Heroes in which I played a character called The Haitian ! And being the Haitian being a hero on national television, that sort of give me a solid platform. I launched my on foundation, Hollywood Unites for Haiti, and also worked with other organizations. But now just couple of weeks ago, I was in Paris, & I was invited to be the master of ceremonies of a big event at the Pantheon, in front of some of the ministers. I went completely went off protocol, & decided to read a letter I wrote to the president Emmanuel Macron….

The letter:

Jimmy Jean-Louis words on the anniversary of the death of Toussaint Louverture.

Paris April 7, 2023

Excellencies, Mr. Jean Marc Ayrault, Mrs. Valerie Pecresse, Mrs. Dominique Taffin, Mrs. Anne-Louise Mesadieu. Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am honored and moved to host this evening in such a prestigious place, as if I were attending a ceremony in my own memory. I felt merged with the character Toussaint Louverture who I played in the film "Toussaint Louverture" by Philippe Niang.

Toussaint Louverture had this sentence that became famous at the time of his deportation to France where he would die 220 years ago.

"By overthrowing me, they only cut down the trunk of the tree of freedom in Saint-Domingue, but it will grow again because its roots are deep and numerous."

Seized by treason, Toussaint was to die in the "Fort de Joux," a few months later.

Today, in Haiti, everything is being done to destroy the roots of the tree of liberty of which Toussaint spoke.

The State has collapsed along with all the international projects that have accompanied it over the last 40 years. Today, terrorist groups of unparalleled ferocity are holding the country hostage, while a frightening macabre ping-pong is being played out at the international level over the fate of the children, women and men of Haiti, who are being raped, kidnapped and massacred daily, for at least two years in the full view of the world. We will avoid making comparisons with Ukraine.

France is part of a group of countries called "the Core Group or Friends of Haiti."

The "Core Group,” which has been completely decried, has become the object of national mocking when it is not accused of being complicit in the situation.

France cannot forget the historical ties that unite our two countries and its responsibility in our drama, if only for the "Independence Ransom" of $125 billion that has burdened all the economic development of Haiti and to which a series of articles in the New York Times have recently drawn attention.

However, we cannot ignore the responsibility of Haitian political, military and business predators who have been plundering Haiti's wealth for generations. They have brought the current crisis to a head, sowing death and destruction among a peaceful population, unprepared to face a situation unprecedented in all of Latin America and the Caribbean.

For all these reasons, I think, and forgive my frankness, like many of my compatriots, that France has a duty of concrete assistance to a population in danger of death, by doing all that is in its power to:

-First: Pacify the country by immediately supporting any local and international initiative that would allow the disabling of all armed gangs on the Haitian territory.

-Second: Support any initiative of the United Nations and countries such as the United States, Canada, the European Union, the OAS, and CARICOM, who want to join forces to support the efforts of the representative groups of the civil society, despite their division, to set up the institutions of the State and the economy of the country.

It is at this stage that we must think of aid, like the Marshall Plan, which is no longer a charity, but rather substantial and massive investments in infrastructure, health, education, justice and the environment, which will create jobs. This is all that the working people of Haiti are asking for.

-Thirdly: We can then think about the realization of free and not manipulated elections that allow Haiti to develop according to its own interests.

Without the implementation of these steps, we will continue to go around in circles, spreading our compassion, complaining and stifling the cries of a people in distress.

Napoleon, in his memoirs of St. Hélène, will express his regrets for not having kept Toussaint at the head of Saint-Domingue. But it was too late. Let us act while there is still time in the case of Haiti today.