1930-03-01: (Mme.

1930-03-01: (Mme. Thoby’s Calypsonian Critique — When Commissioner Russell Suggested the March Date Was Ill-Advised Because It Was Also Carnival Day Mme. Thoby Responding That One Does Not Contradict the Other, Russell Concluding He Could Do Nothing About the Date and That It Came Directly from the Government — Mme. Thoby Smiling to Herself and Saying with Irony “The Government… You Just Have to Say It to Yourself and It Will Be Accepted Immediately,” Thoby Laughing at and Poking Holes in the Coherence of Occupation Logic and Authority, Sharing Her Inner Thoughts Publicly and Staging Her Own Calypsonian Critique of the Occupation Government — Le Nouvelliste Concluding That the Total Abstention from Carnival and the Colossal Demonstration of Ten Thousand Women Constituted the Most Convincing Testimony of a Sacred Union of All Social Classes for the Liberation of Haiti): As Mme. Thoby explained in multiple newspaper interviews, when the date for the demonstration was scheduled for the first of March, Commissioner Russell suggested the day was ill-advised because it was also the date for Carnival. But Mme. Thoby responded that one does not contradict the other — et voilà, with a little effort and a lot of will, they were able to bring together what she ardently hoped would continue to save Haiti. In the interview she revealed that Russell had concluded he could do nothing about the date and that it came directly from the Government. Printed with an extended dash separating Russell’s reported speech from Mme. Thoby’s inner thoughts, the interview continued: she could not help but smile to herself and say to him with a bit of irony — the Government, you just have to say it to yourself and it will be accepted immediately. As Thoby understood it, Russell was the government, so she questioned his deflection to additional bureaucratic channels. By disclosing Russell’s evasion to the newspaper-reading public, Thoby laughed at and poked holes in the coherence of occupation logic and authority, staging her own calypsonian critique of the occupation government. Le Nouvelliste aptly concluded in bold letters that the total abstention from the Carnival and the colossal demonstration of ten thousand women and young girls constituted the most convincing testimony the Commission could collect and the most concrete testimony of a sacred union of all social classes for the liberation of Haiti.