Jean-Jacques Dessalines’s 8 April 1804 proclamation to the Haitian people is among the most stunning critiques of race, slavery, colonialism, and white barbarity to have emerged in modern history. It is also a profoundly radical statement on Black freedom and self-determination, and the morality of revolutionary violence. On January 1, 1804, after a thirteen-year struggle marked by imperial intrigue and sanguinary violence, Dessalines declared Haiti an independent republic, forever abolishing slavery on the island. In the following months, he ordered the killing of the remaining white French colonists in the republic as a means towards preserving Haiti’s independence. Polish and German colonists were spared. But news of Dessalines’s actions quickly spread throughout the white Atlantic world, as French refugees to Philadelphia, Havana, New Orleans, and elsewhere recounted stories of the tragic horrors that had befallen the white planters and former slave owners of Saint-Domingue, and of the “savagery” of Dessalines and his soldiers.
In response, Dessalines issued a proclamation from Le Cap under the
banner “Liberty or Death” in which he justified his actions as both acts
of vengeance for the years of white savagery and brutality under French
rule, and acts of necessity to preserve the sovereignty of Haiti. He
also outlined a startling and far-sighted vision of what was needed to
preserve Haiti’s independence for future generations. In the first
instance, Dessalines urged the necessity of the maintenance of an accord
between “Black and yellow,” that is, Africans and mulattos. In the
second instance, he understood that white foreign ownership of Haiti’s
land or people would lead to the downfall of the Republic. “Never again shall a colonist or an European set his foot upon this territory with the title of master or proprietor,”
Dessalines declared. “This resolution shall henceforward form the
fundamental basis of our constitution.” In many respects, Haiti’s
history after 1804 has been marked by a continuous struggle against
those Europeans (and their evil spawn, the US) to undermine both
demands.
“Liberty or Death” was translated into English from the French origina l,
and reprinted widely in journals and annuals in the United States and
England. It was often prefaced with a statement describing the horrors
of emancipation and the imminent dangers of Black self-determination.
Arguably, the proclamation is a sort of foundational text jutifying more
than two-hundred years of the demonization of Haiti. At the same time,
it often becomes used by those contemporary white historians who,
despite their “love” for Haitian history, spend more time attacking
Dessalines’ actions than they do the violence of white rule and
enslavement. Dessalines anticipated the critiques. “Inhabitants of the
universe, do not, unheard, accuse us of cruelty,” he stated in another
proclamation, this time from Gonaives on 2 May 1804, “Remember our past
sufferings, and you will judge less severely our present acts of
necessity — of despair.”
LIBERTY OR DEATH.
JEAN JACQUES DESSALINES, Governor-General, of the Inhabitants of Hayti.
Crimes, the most atrocious, such as were until then unheard of, and
would cause nature to shudder, have been perpetrated! The measure was
overheaped. At length the hour of vengeance has arrived, and the
implacable enemies of the rights of man have suffered the punishment due
to their crimes.
My arm, raised over their heads, has too long delayed to strike. At
that signal, which the justice of God has urged, your hands, righteously
armed, have brought the axe upon the ancient tree of slavery and
prejudices. In vain had time, and more especially the infernal politics
of Europeans, surrounded it with triple brass! You have stripped it of
its armour; you have placed it upon your hearts, that you may become
(like your natural enemies) cruel and merciless. Like an overflowing
mighty torrent that tears down all opposition, your vengeful fury has
carried away every thing in its impetuous course. Thus perish all
tyrants over innocence, all oppressors of mankind!
What then? Bent for many ages under an iron yoke; the sport of the
passions of men, of their injustice, and of the caprice of fortune;
mutilated victims of the cupidity of white Frenchmen; after having
fattened with our toils these insatiate blood-suckers, with a patience
and resignation unexampled, we should again have seen that sacrilegious
horde make an attempt upon our destruction, without any distinction of
sex or age; and we, men without energy, of no virtue, or no delicate
sensibility, should not we have plunged in their breast the dagger of
desperation? Where is that vile Haytian, so unworthy of his
regeneration, who thinks he has not accomplished the decrees of the
Eternal, by exterminating these bloody-thirsty tigers? If there is one,
let him fly; indignant nature discards him from our bosom; let him hide
his shame far from hence; the air we breathe is not suited to his gross
organs; it is the pure air of Liberty, august and triumphant.
Yes, we have rendered to these true cannibals war for war, crime for
crime, outrage for outrage; yes, I have saved my country; I have avenged
America. The avowal I make of it in the face of earth and heaven,
constitutes my pride and my glory. – Of what consequence to me is the
opinion which contemporary and future generations will pronounce upon my
conduct? I have performed my duty; I enjoy my own approbation; for me
that is sufficient. But what do I say? The preservation of my
unfortunate brothers, the testimony of my own conscience are not my only
recompense: I have seen two classes of men, born to cherish, assist and
succour one another – mixed in a world, and blended together – crying
for vengeance, and disputing the honor of the first blow.
Blacks and yellows, whom the refined duplicity of Europeans has for a
long time endeavoured to divide; you, who are now consolidated, and
make but one family; without doubt it was necessary that our perfect
reconciliation should be sealed with the blood of your butchers. Similar
calamities have hung over your proscribed heads; a similar ardour to
strike your enemies has signalized you: the like fate is reserved for
you, and the like interests must therefore render you forever one,
indivisible, and inseparable. Maintain that precious concord, that happy
harmony amongst yourselves; it is the pledge of your happiness, your
salvation, and your success: it is the secret of being invincible.
It is necessary, in order to strengthen these ties, to recall to your
remembrance the catalogue of atrocities committed against our species:
the massacre of the entire population of this Island, mediated in the
silence and sang froid of the cabinet: the execution of that abominable
project, to me unblushingly proposed, and already begun by the French
with the calmness and serenity of a countenance accustomed to similar
crimes. Guadeloupe pillaged and destroyed: its ruins still reeking with
blood of children, women and old men put to the sword: Pelage (himself
the victim of their craftiness) after having basely betrayed his country
and his brothers: The brave and immortal Delgresse, blown into the air
with the fort which he defended, rather than accept their offered
chains. Magnanimous warrior! that noble death, far from enfeebling our
courage, serves only to rouse within us the determination of avenging or
of following thee. Shall I again recal [sic] to your memory
the plots lately framed at Jeremie? the terrible explosion which was to
be the result, notwithstanding the generous pardon granted to these
incorrigible beings at the expulsion of the French army? The deplorable
fate of our departed brothers in Europe! and (dread harbinger of death)
the frightful despotism exercised at Martinique. Unfortunate people of
Martinique, could I but fly to your assistance, and break your fetters!
Alas, an insurmountable barrier separates us…… Perhaps a spark from
the same fire which inflames us, will alight into your bosoms: perhaps
at the sound of this commotion, suddenly awakening from your lethargy,
with arms in your hands, you will reclaim your sacred and
imprescriptible rights.
After the terrible example which I have just given, that, sooner or
later Divine Justice will unchain on earth some mighty minds, above the
weakness of the vulgar, for the destruction and terror of the
wicked–tremble, tyrants, usurpers, scourges of the new world! our
daggers are sharpened; your punishment is ready! sixty thousand men,
equipped, inured to war, obedient to my orders, burn to offer a new
sacrifice to the manes of their assassinated brothers. Let that nation
come who may be mad and daring enough to attack me. Already at its
approach, the irritated genius of Hayti, rising out of the bosom of the
ocean, appears; his menacing aspect throws the waves into commotion,
excites tempests, and with his mighty hand disperses ships, or dashes
them in pieces; to his formidable voice the laws of nature pay
obedience; diseases, plague, famine, conflagration, poison, are his
constant attendants. But why calculate on the assistance of the climate
and of the elements? Have I forgot that I command a people of no common
cast, brought up in adversity, whose audacious daring frowns at the
obstacles and increases by dangers? Let them come, then, these homicidal
cohorts! I wait for them with firmness and with a steady eye. I abandon
to them freely the sea-shore, and the places where cities have existed;
but woe to those who may approach too near the mountains! It were
better for them that the sea received them into its profound abyss, than
to be devoured by the anger of the children of Hayti
“War and death to Tyrants!” this is my motto; “Liberty! Independence!” this is our rallying cry
Generals, officers, soldiers, a little unlike him who has preceded me, the ex-general Toussaint Louverture,
I have been faithful to the promise which I made to you when I took up
arms against tyranny, and whilst the last spark of life remains in me I
shall keep my oath. “Never again shall a colonist or an European set his foot upon this territory with the title of master or proprietor.” This resolution shall henceforward form the fundamental basis of our constitution.
Should other chiefs, after me, by pursuing a conduct diametrically
opposite to mine, dig their own graves and those of their species, you
will have to accuse only the law of destiny which shall have taken me
away from the happiness and welfare of my fellow-citizens. May my
successors follow the path I shall have traced out for them! It is the
system best adapted for consolidating their power; it is the highest
homage they can render to my memory.
As it is derogatory to my character and my dignity to punish the
innocent for the crimes of the guilty, a handful of whites, commendable
by the religion they have always professed, and who have besides taken
the oath to live with us in the woods, have experienced my clemency. I
order that the sword respect them, and that they be unmolested.
I recommend anew and order to all the generals of departments, etc.
to grant succours, encouragement, and protection, to all neutral and
friendly nations who may wish to establish commercial relations in this
island.
Head-quarters at the Cape, 28th April, 1804, first year of independence.
The Governor-General
(Signed) DESSALINES
The Secretary-General, JUSTE CHANLATTE
A true copy.
This version of Jean Jacques Dessalines, “Liberty or Death!
Proclamation,” was transcribed from “Orders issued by Dessalines, in the
capacity of governor-general,” The New Annual Register, or, General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature For the Year 1804 (1805): 192-195.
On Saturday, May 22nd, 2021, in anticipation of the global events marking African Liberation Day , the Black Alliance for Peace hosted African Liberation Day in the Americas ,
a webinar exploring the parallel struggles and inter-connected
histories of people of African descent throughout the Americas. The
webinar featured Black activists and academics from Haiti, Brazil,
Colombia, Venezuela, and the United States. Together, they examined how
anti-African repression extends across the geographic, national, and
linguistic divisions of the hemisphere – only to be resisted by a shared
culture and tradition of African revolt and autonomy. Haiti was at the
center of African Liberation Day in the Americas. As Professor Gerald
Horne’s remarks made clear, Haiti’s anti-slavery efforts contributed to
the freedom struggles of all of the laborers and toilers
throughout the Americas. For this reason, Haiti deserves the solidarity
of all African peoples, and of all workers.
My brief remarks will mostly be about slavery. That is to say, in the
first instance, I will be laying the foundation for how and why Black
people from Africa wound up in the Americas.
In the late 18th century, two profound processes unfolded in the
Americas that were to have consequences for the entire hemisphere.
First, in 1776, you had a revolt led by slave owners driven by the lust
for indigenous land. They also felt the desire to continue and
accelerate the enslavement of Africans, which they had thought might be
in jeopardy because of a growing abolitionist movement – not only in the
Caribbean, but also in London, itself. Second, another process began
unfolding in 1791, culminating in 1804 with the Haitian Revolution. It
was driven by anti-slavery.
Needless to say, the newly-born United States of America was quite hostile to revolutionary Haiti and indeed, in 1844, the US aligned with forces in a sizable portion of the island to engineer a split that led to the creation of the Dominican Republic. Haiti, on the other hand, sponsored abolitionists and anti-slavery movements. The efforts of Haiti compelled London to abandon the slave trade by 1807 and slavery itself by 1833. Interestingly, Texas (where I am now sitting) seceded from Mexico in 1836 on pro-slavery grounds because Mexico had moved to abolish slavery in the late 1820s under the leadership of Vicente Guerrero , a president of African descent.“
After Texas successfully seceded from Mexico on pro-slavery grounds,
Haiti, along with an international abolitionist movement, put so much
pressure on independent Texas it decided to join the United States in
1845, where it still resides. For Texas, it was an attempt to continue
its slave trading operations. During its brief existence as an
independent nation, Texas was a major slave trading force with slave
ships flying its flag found off the coasts of Angola, Brazil, and Cuba.
Mexico, it is fair to say, was probably the major victim of U.S.
expansionism — not least because Mexico offered a refuge to enslaved
Africans fleeing not only the United States, but from the Caribbean as
well. As a result, we saw the United States wage war against Mexico in
1846, which led to the United States seizing a sizable portion of
Mexican land, including California, which today is the wealthiest and
most populous state in the United States of America and by some
measures, ranks as the fifth-largest economy on planet earth.
Thereafter, the United States continued to try to seize Mexican
territory, often with the help of traitorous Mexican forces.
Brazil, too, was also a major victim of Washington. U.S. slave
traders are largely responsible for the fact that Brazil has the largest
Black population outside of West Africa itself. In the 1840s US-flagged
ships could be found off the coast of Mozambique, off the coast of
Angola, seizing and manacling Africans and dragging them across the
Atlantic to toil in Brazil. There were powerful forces in Washington as
well who wanted to execute in Brazil what they had executed in Mexico.
That is to say, they had this scheme that suggested that the Amazon
River was in some ways an oceanographic extension of the Mississippi
River. By this logic, the United States should seize the Amazon River
and indeed expel a good deal of the population of the United States of
America to be enslaved workers in the Amazon River valley.
Fortunately, that plan did not succeed. I should also say that all
the while these diabolical schemes were taking place, it was Haiti,
through its diplomatic missions, particularly in London, that was
plotting against the United States . Haiti did this even though the United States did not recognize Haiti diplomatically until
the U.S. civil war in the 1860s, when the United States government was
on the verge of being overthrown by energized, fanatical slave owners.
Central America was also a site where Haiti and the United States
clashed. It was in the 1850s that a U.S. pirate by the name of William
Walker seized power with a band of cut-throats in Nicaragua with the
idea of reviving the enslavement of Africans in Nicaragua which had been
banned in 1838.
Once again, throughout this entire period, Haiti stood tall as the
first independent Black republic campaigning on our behalf. It is fair
to say that the Haitian Revolution was not only a victory for the
millions of enslaved Africans in the Americas. The Haitian Revolution
was also a victory for all working class people because the existence of
slavery drove down the wages and working/living standards of all people
who sold their labor for a living. The Haitian Revolution needs to be
saluted by us all, just as independent Haiti today deserves our
solidarity.
In fact, I think we should stress that there are two nations in
particular that deserve the solidarity of us all. Not only the Haitian
Revolution, but the Cuban Revolution — executed successfully in 1959,
155 years after the Haitian Revolution.
Finally, let me make another point with regard to solidarity that could be considered scholarly solidarity. I proposed to the Haitian Studies Association ,
and there seems to be favorability towards this proposal, that we
enlist an international team of researchers to dig into the archives of
Caracas and Bogota in particular, but not exclusively, to uncover the
documents that document how abolitionist Haiti was the main campaigner
against enslavement of Africans before 1888, when the enslavement
process came to a kind of halt in Brazil. That is to say, to copy and
scan these documents, email them and forward them so they can be
published in books, so that they can be disseminated on the internet, so
that we can all gain a deeper understanding of the debt that all
working class people owe to Haiti and the debt that all Black people –
not only in the Americas – but worldwide owe to Haiti.
On May 1, 2021, on International Workers’ Day, the Black Alliance for Peace salutes the Haitian worker and applauds their long history of struggles for Black freedom and the universal rights of workers.
Haiti
is often derided as the “poorest country in the American hemisphere.”
Yet, we know it was the enslaved labor of Africans in the French colony
of Saint-Domingue (now the Republic of Haiti) that contributed to the
wealth of the European world, fueling the emergence of capitalism.
The
resistance of those Africans against slavery and capitalism also
provided a beacon of hope for the enslaved, peasants, and workers—both
Black and non-Black—throughout the world. From small acts of subversion
to slow-downs, Africans resisted slavery from the moment they arrived in
the New World. In the 17th and 18th centuries, escaped
Africans—maroons, or mawons in Haitian Creole—formed insurgent
communities in remote, mountainous areas. Among the most famous mawon
was François Mackandal, an African who in 1757 devised a plot to poison
the white planters and burn down the plantations. He was captured and
publicly executed as a warning to other Africans.
In 1791, a
plot against slavery led by Boukman Dutty and Cecile Fatiman was
launched at the famous Bois-Caiman ceremony. In the short term, their
plot would fail, but it lit a fire that could not be extinguished. It
sparked 13 years of revolt and counter-revolt that we now know as the
Haitian Revolution. The Revolution’s heroes—Toussaint Louverture, Jean
Jacques Dessalines and others are well known—but its success depended on
the struggle of the Haitian masses. Tens of thousands of unknown
enslaved Africans defeated Napoleon’s forces, ended slavery and
established the Republic of Haiti: the first Black Republic in the
Hemisphere, a place where all enslaved Africans would be granted
freedom, and a potent symbol of pan-Africanism.
Yet, Haiti’s
resistance did not end in 1804. With the establishment of the Republic,
Haiti’s Black elites became the primary obstacle for freedom, dignity,
democracy and economic sovereignty for Haiti’s African peasant classes.
Peasant insurgencies occurred in 1807 and 1811. In 1844, a “suffering
army” of peasants in southern Haiti were at the forefront of the Piquet
Rebellion’s demand for social equality, radical democracy and the rights
of small landholders.
In the 20th century, Haitian peasants
initiated the armed resistance against the U.S. military occupation
(1915-1930). A brief insurgency led by peasant insurrectionists, known
as cacos, lasted from July to November 1915 before it was crushed by the
Marines. Despite U.S. Marine efforts to arrest or assassinate suspected
cacos, their insurgency was renewed under the leadership of Charlemagne
Péralte and later Benoît Batraville. Péralte was assassinated on
November 1, 1919—and, like Makandal, his corpse was used as a deterrent
to future rebellion. Batraville was assassinated on May 20, 1920, his
death effectively marking the end of the caco insurgencies. Rebellion
against the occupation would be taken up by Haitian students whose
protests in 1929 led to a general strike combining both workers in
Port-au-Prince and other cities and peasants throughout the country.
These new protests led to the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 1934.
In
1934, the Haitian Communist Party was formed by writer Jacques Roumain
(author of the magnificent, fictional homage to Haitian labor, The
Masters of the Dew) and others. Inspired in part by Roumain, Haiti
Marxists, including Jacques Stephen Alexis, René Depestre and Gérald
Bloncourt were behind the “Revolution of 1946” that saw the overthrow of
the tyrannical regime of Élie Lescot, after student protests and
nationwide strikes. During this period the Parti Communiste Haïtien was
revived and the Parti Socialiste Populaire was organized, as was the
Mouvement Ouvrier et Paysan, the largest labor organization in Haiti’s
history led by the charismatic Daniel Fignolé.
While the United
States and Haiti’s military forces remained powerful influences in
Haiti’s political life, this movement of workers and peasants led to a
brief, progressive period in Haiti’s politics before the emergence of
the dictatorship of Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier (1957-1986). In
1961, communist Jacques Stephen Alexis led a coup against Duvalier that
ultimately failed. Alexis was brutally tortured and murdered for his
efforts. The Duvalier regime would not fall for another two decades,
after riots against poverty and student protests in the early 1980s led
to a 1986 grassroots uprising. This unseated the Duvalier regime and
eventually led to the coming to power of Famni Lavalas and Jean-Bertrand
Aristide.
In the decades since, Haitian workers and peasants
have continued a ceaseless fight against both the Haitian aristocracy
and the imperial powers for sovereignty, dignity and freedom. Today,
Haiti’s laboring masses continue this tradition of protest in their
attempts to unseat Jovenel Moïse and to destroy the imperialism of the
United States, the Core Group, the OAS and others.
To mark International Workers’ Day, the Black Alliance for Peace expresses its solidarity with the modern-day struggle of the Haitian worker—and our gratitude for Haiti’s history of resistance.
On Wednesday September 25, 1991, Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically-elected president of the Republic of Haiti, addressed the forty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. For Aristide, the address offered an opportunity to describe to the international community Haiti’s long historical contribution to the struggle for freedom and human rights, as well as to outline the very meaning of democracy for the Haitian people — especially as it was articulated through the strategy and praxis of the “lavalas ” movement.
Titled the “Ten Commandments of Democracy in Haiti,”Aristide’s address is expansive, generous, humorous , and radical, centering the poor and dispossessed over the rich and powerful. While Aristide captures Haiti’s historic struggle for democracy, he also maps out Haiti’s position in the wider world of the early 1990s, a world riven by “profound upheavals,” as he called them, that were fundamentally reordering global politics. As such, he addresses questions of poverty and militarism, of the fall of the Soviet Union and the struggles of South Africa, and of the history of Haitian-Dominican relations and the status and rights of Haiti’s “tenth department,” the Haitian diaspora. “
Significantly, while the bulk of the address was made in Haitian Kreyol—perhaps the first time the UN General Assembly had been addressed in what, under Aristide, would become one of Haiti’s official languages—its extended preamble (not included here) also contains fraternal addresses to the nations and peoples of the world in Swahili, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic, English, Italian, and German. While Aristide has been cast by the Western media as a demonic and demagogic figure, the “Ten Commandments” remind us of his roots as a humble parish priest whose thought is grounded in a humanistic practice of liberation theology and radical democracy, conveyed in his promotion of liberty, the democratization of wealth, and the preservation of human dignity.
It is perhaps not surprising that on September 29, less than a week after his address to the United Nations, Aristide was deposed in a U.S.-sponsored coup d’etat. Democracy in Haiti has been under attack ever since.
TEN COMMANDMENTS OF DEMOCRACY IN HAITI
Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide, President of the Republic of Haiti
Address to the Forty-Sixth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, New York City, September 25, 1991
This decade has begun with events that can shape the future of mankind and of course give rise to hopes and questions. The forty-sixth session of the General Assembly crystallizes, in our view, a period of profound reflection for the international community. Unlike previous periods, this session is taking place at a time when profound upheavals are appreciably changing the geopolitical axes of our planet. The dialectic of a bipolar policy is prompting the international community to wonder who is to accede to the seat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations? What about democracy at the global level?
We are talking about the future of the geopolitical axes, which should never be allowed to develop into totalitarian and absolute power.
At a time when the international community is concerned with changes in the geopolitical axes of the planet, let us turn to our dear Haiti, the rebellious, faithful daughter, a rebel against all imperialist dictates but faithful to all democratic prescriptions.
I should like to speak of ten milestones that line our way; we could call them the ten democratic commandments that arise from our democratic praxis. Our message will be confined to the democratic arena, where the ten democratic commands stand up in a straight line.
The First Commandment of Democracy: Liberty or Death
The first milestone, or the first democratic commandment, is liberty or death. As you know, Haiti was one of the first beacons of liberty in the western hemisphere. In 1791 we gave the world its first slave revolution, which enabled hundreds of thousands of Blacks to throw off the yoke repression. The leaders of that victorious revolution helped to finance the liberation crusades of Simon Bolivar in South America. It was in Haiti that slavery was first abolished, taking a giant stride towards human freedom. From the Haitian Revolution grew the roots of the declaration of human rights. The Haiti of Boukman, Dessalines and Toussaint Louverture was and remains the first black republic in the world.
Like a star of liberty, Haiti shines in the eyes of all. Throughout our history, often glorious, sometimes troubled, we have always recalled with pride the unprecedented exploits of our ancestors. The cries of “Liberty or death, liberty or death,” far from being stifled in a sterile past, ring out continually in the heart of a people that has become, forever, a free nation.
All throughout our long march toward 1991, in spite of our contribution to the free world, Haiti has not been able to open all the doors of the international community. The colonists of those days and their allies were afraid of freedom, as were our leaders and the traditional oligarchy. White colonists, black colonists—we had to throw off the yoke of black dictators and their international allies.
Happily, in 1986, to the surprise of the entire world, the Haitian people overthrew a dictatorial regime of 30 years’ standing. This was the beginning of the end of a dictatorship which has left indelible scars. But the more we recall these scars, the louder we cry: “Liberty or death, liberty or death!”
The Second Commandment of Democracy: Democracy or Death
The second milestone, or democratic commandment, is democracy of death. After having thrown out the repressive, corrupt regime of the Duvaliers on 7 February 1986, the people of Charlemagne Péralte had only one choice: to establish, once and for all, a democratic regime in Haiti. Hence, “liberty or death” is equivalent to “democracy or death.” We therefore struggled relentlessly for the attainment of our rights against minority groups that held a monopoly on power after 1986. A relentless struggle and a legitimate one, since those in power did nothing to change the nature of the State, which for such a long time created conditions for maintaining the status quo and the functioning of the machinery of exploitation and repression.
Finally, on 16 December 1990, thanks to the valor of the Haitian people and thanks to your contribution, for the first time we held free, fair and democratic elections. Honor to the Haitian masses. Glory to our ancestors, who thwarted colonialism at the beginning of the 19th century. Hail to the international community and hail to the United Nations!
This is indeed an important first in history. For once, for the first time, a people with an ingenious tactical movement brought a revolution by the ballot box. The election of the President of the Republic by more than 70 percent on the first ballot symbolizes the victory of the people, the power of the people and the demands of the people.
These free, honest and democratic elections are ultimately the result of our own political strategy, that is to say, the historic upsurge of ‘”lavalas.” We fought in the manner of “lavalas,” we won in the manner of “lavalas” and we are advancing in the manner of “lavalas.”“
In union there is strength, this is our motto. With the fork of division one cannot drink the soup of elections; with the fork of division, one cannot drink the soup of democracy.
In a way, the “lavalas” strategy is akin to the thoughts of the Pope, who, in his “Centesimus Annus” encyclical, suggested that events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were paving the way for the reaffirmation of the “positive character of an authentic theology of the total liberation of man.” In Haiti, this theological approach cannot be confined to a simple analysis of reality; it is meant to be, rather, a method of thought and action in the school of the poor, a privileged site of the revelation of God, the historical subject of this struggle for the total liberation of man.
It is on the basis of the experience of the poor that we base the teachings of the democratic praxis, fueled and illuminated, of course, by the theology of freedom. The dialectic to be established between the theology of freedom and the politics of freedom necessarily passes through the life and experiences of the poor.
When Jean-Paul Sartre criticized Hegel he noted that the latter had overlooked the fact that a void is devoid of something, and we liberation theologians can state that the void of poverty is an avid void, and not devoid of what is essential. A void of liberation, its void entails a legitimate expectation whose essence dwells within the spirit of the poor. It lives by giving life to democracy. We, who are elected democratically, must be faithful to its rights.
The Third Commandment of Democracy: Fidelity to Human Rights
I turn now to the third milestone of democracy: fidelity to human rights. If a man has duties, he certainly also has rights, rights to be respected and to respect, rights to guarantee that ultimately a State ruled by law will emerge.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is and must remain sacred. It is our heavy responsibility to observe the Constitution faithfully to guarantee our inalienable
rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, in keeping with our Act of Independence of 1804 and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
There must be respect for the Constitution in order to build a socially just, economically free and politically independent Haitian nation.
There must be respect for the Constitution, in order to establish ideological pluralism and political diversity, to strengthen national unity, to eliminate the differences between towns and rural areas, to ensure the separation and the harmonious allocation of executive, judiciary, and parliamentary powers; so as to establish a government based on fundamental freedoms and respect for human rights, a national dialogue, and the participation of the population as a whole in major decisions touching upon national life through an effective decentralization.
The Fourth Commandment of Democracy: The Right to Eat and to Work
The fourth milestone or fourth commandment of democracy is the right to eat and the right to work.
It goes without saying that the right to eat is an integral part of human rights. The existence of a person who is hungry because he is exploited indicts both the oppressor and the authorities who are responsible for enforcing respect for the inalienable and indefeasible right to life. In Haiti, victims of international exploitation have difficulty getting enough to eat because they themselves are being ground by the axes of international exploitation. In the arms race, the nations of the world are devoting to it more than $500 billion a year, or $1.4 billion every day. Only 15 days of such expenditure could eradicate hunger from the planet for many years.
The tragedy of hunger arises not out of lack of food but out of a lack of social justice. Work, more work, always work – this is what man needs if he is to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. It has been noted that if the amount being spent on building a B-1 bomber were to be spent on constructing dwellings, 70,000 jobs would be created.
How can we justify the fact that 71 percent of Haitian farmers cultivate only a small square of land, less than 1.2 hectares? How can we justify the fact that 30 percent of the wealthiest landowners in our country own more than two thirds of the arable land?“
We must rise above the age-old indifference of the dominant political and economic sectors and demand respect for the right to food and the right to work. The hunger of one man is the hunger of all men. Everyone must work to achieve a laboring civilization in which the roots of hunger will be eradicated. The hunger of one man is the hunger of all men.
We must go beyond verbiage and explore some of the factual pathways that have been traversed since 7 February 1991. On 7 February 1991 the “lavalas” government began to bring order to the administration. State resources have increased appreciably. In the last four months of the prior government, fiscal and customs revenues stood at a monthly average of 86.8 million gourds, in contrast to an average of 122.9 million for the first four months of our “lavalas” government, with a clear upward trend — 137.6 million in the month of June. As for expenditures, in November 1990 the former government spent 164.7 million goures; in June 1991, the “lavalas” government spent only 86 million. Thus, for the first time in a long time, public funds showed a surplus of 41 million gourdes.
An increase in food production is a necessity. In order to achieve this, we are going to implement the agrarian reform set forth in article 248 of the Constitution and provide peasants with the wherewithal for production.
The participation of the private sector is essential for the creation of highly labor-intensive business. Whereas in the past illegal practices made it possible for some sectors to plunder the country to the detriment of the vast majority of the population, our “lavalas” government is ensuring respect for the rights of all: the right to invest in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution; the right to work for human and economic growth. To our dear friends and investors abroad, Haiti here and now extends a most cordial and heartfelt welcome.
The Fifth Commandment of Democracy: The Right to Demand What Rightfully Belongs to Us
The fifth milestone of the democratic commandment is the right to demand our due. In the past five years the Haitian people have made an outstanding and remarkable contribution to the democratic struggle that is being waged throughout the world. As the democratic tide surged in—in Eastern Europe, in Asia, in the Middle East, South Africa and Central and South America—we in Haiti witnessed an avalanche of democracy we have called “lavalas.” No democratic nation can exist in isolation without geopolitical, diplomatic, economic, and international ties.
Today, we see our right to demand our due as part of this network of relationships, in which we can on the one hand recognize the fruits of a rich but impoverished past and on the other discern the fruits of an exploited but hopeful present, thanks to the opportunity we now have to combine a colonized past with a democratic present.
Heraclitus of Ephesus rightly said: “Awakened men have but one world, but men asleep have each their own.” Awakened men and women of Haiti, our world is a world of justice, justice for all, justice for us Haitians, who have all too often been the victims of social injustice.
If we scan the horizon of this world of justice, we wonder how long the impoverished will be forced to cry out, with Democritus: “We seek the good and do not find it; we find evil without seeking it.”
In the belief that mens agitat molem—mind can move matter—our policy will continue to be attentive to the masses, who are calling for the respect and dignity due them. The same applies for the treatment inflicted upon so many of our Haitian brothers and sisters who live in foreign lands.
The Sixth Commandment of Democracy: Self-Defence of the Diaspora
The sixth democratic milestone or commandment is: self-defense in the diaspora—the so-called tenth department. Hunted and harassed until 1991 by the blind brutality of the repressive machine, or by the structures of exploitation fashioned into an anti-democratic system, our Haitian sisters and brothers have not always experienced the joy of finding a promised land.
They were considered to be illegal because the torturers would not give their victims properly signed certificates of torture; they were considered to be illegal because they had to travel as boat people or without legal identity papers. But they made a large contribution to the economic prosperity of bosses who preferred malleable and freely exploitable human labor.
What can we say about our sisters and brothers imprisoned in Krome , and elsewhere? Is it not time, in the name of democracy, to study their cases and turn their suffering into rejoicing? With a view to encouraging the authorities concerned to take the appropriate steps to bring about this long-awaited rejoicing, we in the Haitian Government are constantly fighting against fraudulent practices and the procurement of false visas on Haitian territory.
As we address the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, we are expressing ourselves in these terms for the sake of the well-being of our community. We feel bound to denounce and condemn before the whole of mankind the flagrant violation of the rights of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. While we recognize the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic, we must firmly denounce and condemn this violation of human rights.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic are the two wings of a single bird, two nations which share the beautiful island of Hispaniola. Echoing the cries of all the victims whose rights are denied them, and in keeping with our commitment to respect human rights, despite the social problems and financial difficulties caused by this forced repatriation, we intend to show respect for both wings of the bird. This is attested to by the welcome that Haiti gives all those men and women who cross our border, be they Haitians or Dominicans. In solidarity with disadvantaged minorities, we call for reparation, as much for Dominican citizens by birth but of Haitian origin as for Haitian citizens who have fallen victim to this repatriation.
(spoken in Spanish)
It is not a matter of weeping when one realizes what is happening in the Dominican Republic; it is a matter of defending human rights, in the name of the Haitian people, in the name of all men who are really men and all women who are really women throughout the world. Therefore, we Haitians are working together with our Dominican brothers and sisters to be able to live in communion, with a continuing dialogue.
That is why, together with Dominican men and women who do not agree with this flouting of human rights, we Haitian men and women, we the entire Haitian people, declare to the world that we demand reparation.
We shall always walk side by side with the Dominican people as brothers and sisters, in order to live in peace, but a man worthy of the name can never bow his head when human rights are trampled upon as they now are in the case of Haitians born in the Dominican Republic or in Haiti, Haitians of Dominican origins, or Dominicans of Haitian origin. It is regrettable that the question of color comes into play even when Dominicans are involved.
(spoken in French)
Arrested and expelled into Haitian territory, they generally have no homes, families or employment. Conservative estimates place the number of repatriated persons at more than 50,000 already. In the hope that the international agencies concerned will assist us to ensure respect for fundamental human rights, we here and now solemnly proclaim with pride and dignity that never again shall our Haitian sisters and brothers be sold so that their blood may be converted into bitter sugar. Blood in bitter sugar is unacceptable—and the unacceptable shall not be accepted.
(Spoken in Spanish)
I hope that my Dominican brothers and sisters will always walk side by side with us in dialogue so that together we may protect the rights of all Dominicans and Haitians.
I say to my Dominican brothers, whom I love so much: let us go forward to build a world of peace.
The Seventh Commandment of Democracy: No to Violence, Yes to “Lavalas”
The seventh democratic milestone or commandment is: No to violence, yes to “lavalas.” Is an unarmed political revolution possible in 1991? Yes. Incredible, but true. This is “lavalas” teaching: the tactical and strategic convergence of democratic forces brandishes the weapon of unity to combat that of violence. A stunning victory, a historic surprise!
In the schools of the poor, the teaching of active non-violence and of unity is triumphing over institutionalized violence. 1804 was the date of our first independence, but 1991 marks the beginning of the era of our second independence.
Is there any democratic nation that is capable of remaining indifferent to this victory of non-violence precisely where structures of economic violence still exist? Is it legitimate to try the patience of the victims of economic violence? There is no policy apart from relations of strength, but there is also no economy apart from relationships of interest.
Because of the restoration of peace, the capital of non-violence that the Haitian masses have invested is yielding considerable economic interest. A simple psycho-social analysis is very eloquent. For the more social ego is attacked by oligarchical sclerosis, the healthier it becomes, psychologically, politically and economically. The teaching of non-violence should arouse a collective awareness of our land of non-violence. Ours is a land of non-violence, where 85 percent of the population is still crushed by economic violence, is still illiterate—but is not stupid. Making these victims literate requires help from the true friends of Haiti—not simply friends, but true friends. You who are our true friends, work with us not as observers but as performers, as citizens of the world. We hope we can count on your cooperation in our literacy campaign. Any cooperation at this level attests to a determination to combat economic violence by active non-violence. Where the guns of violence sound, let the sun of non-violence shine in the “lavalas” spirit.
The Eighth Commandment of Democracy: Faithfulness to the Human Being–the Ultimate Form of Wealth
The eight democratic milestone or commandment is: faithfulness to the human being —the ultimate wealth.
To speak of the human being as the ultimate wealth may perhaps suggest that one is disregarding gold, oil, and dollars. Far from it. There is wealth and wealth. According to certain experts, if the hydro-electric potential of the United States were to be fully exploited, it could provide more energy than all the oil consumed in the world.
All these riches should be placed at the service of mankind—the axis of the “lavalas” policy. We are ready to demonstrate our faithfulness to that approach by embracing anything that can promote the full development of the human being. Thus the harmonious links that we have already established with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are part of the framework of Caribbean solidarity, with a view to more effectively fostering human well-being.
We are also working to expand South-South relations, between us and our neighbors in Latin America. It goes without saying that South-South relationships are not the only important relationships for Haiti. For we share a political heritage with the United States, whose independence reminds us of the Haitian pioneers who fought and died precisely for the same independence. France, with which we also share a political heritage, the United States and other countries of North America, and the countries of Europe, of the Middle East, of Africa and of other parts of the world form a part, together with us, of the interdependent network of nations throughout the world.
We patriotically hail the Haitian men and women living in Cuba, and we also hail Cuba and the Cuban people, to whom we address our wishes for peace and democratic growth. We address the same good wishes for peace and democratic growth to the Middle East and South Africa.
In recent years the United Nations, under the guidance of Mr. Javier Perez de Cueller, has demonstrated that, given the means, it can be effective in settling conflicts. This is attest to by the cessation of hostilities between Iran and Iraq, the independence of Namibia and the dawning of a solution to the question of the Western Sahara. Further proof of this is the way in which the United Nations, in accordance with its Charter, reacted when one of the States Members of the Organization fell victim to such cruel aggression on 2 August 1990 at the hands of Iraq. The manner in which the conflict was handled raised some legitimate reservations, but the role of the United Nations was never challenged. Nevertheless, the Gulf crisis has given rise to a number of still unanswered questions.“
We all know that, in spite of the efforts of the United Nations, there are still parts of the world where divergent interests and lack of understanding between peoples continue to cause conflicts between States and within them. Despite the victories of the people of Azania over the juridical apparatus of the apartheid system, we are far from reaching the peak—that is, democracy.
Out of our sense of unity with the black people of Africa, who should enjoy all the rights recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we take this opportunity to appeal to the international community and, above all, the industrialized countries not to lift the comprehensive sanctions decreed against the Pretoria regime at this early stage. In its diametrical opposition to apartheid, the Republic of Haiti is struggling to ensure that the black majority of South Africa enjoys its rights to the full in a multiracial and democratic society. Bravo Mandela! Honor to Mandela!
If the memory of Mandela evokes such applause as I am hearing now, applause is surely due the memory of another truly great man—Martin Luther King.
The Haitian Government has noted with satisfaction the cease-fire recently arrived at between the parties in conflict in Western Sahara. We reaffirm our support for the process now under way.
The suffering of a single individual is the suffering of mankind. Our policy aims at providing, day after day, eloquent testimony to our faithfulness to man.
The Ninth Commandment of Democracy: Faithfulness to Our Culture
The ninth democratic milestone or commandment is: faithfulness to our culture.
The “lavalas” praxis intertwines cultural links at the very heart of the political universe. Resistance to cultural alienation guarantees the psychological health of the democratic fabric. For any cultural suicide leads to the devitalization of the social body and cannot but threaten the democratic cells of the body.
To live, and live to the full, is also to draw nourishment from the source of one’s culture. To live to the full is to send one’s roots deep down to the source of one’s own culture.
This embraces the totality of the life of a people. What is involved here is a depth of being that must be delved and explored, and by this being we mean a fabric of relationships, pluri-dimensional relationships. Defining man not as an end but as a bridge, Friedrich Nietsche places him—whether we like it or not—at the crossing point of the process of acculturation and inculturation. What is involved is a transmission of cultural seed which may give life to the being or wound it [sic] in its very essence.
The germs of pathologic culpability transmitted by contact between so-called dominant and dominated cultures can only be damaging to any democratic growth.
The “lavalas” praxis seeks to give our cultural identity its true value. Any in-depth change can be achieved democratically only if indigenous values are [interwoven] in a particular social-cultural tissue.
This faithfulness to the culture of mankind prompts us to share the concerns of the Kurdish people, the Palestinian people, the Jewish people, the peoples of Iraq—all cherishing the roots of their beings.
In this context of respect and peace, the Republic of Haiti warmly welcomes the accession of the two Koreas to the family of the United Nations.
Fidelity to our culture prompts us to sharpen our critical senses in order to protect our culture’s health against certain evils such as illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs. The Haitian Government wishes to recall that effective work to combat the production of drugs also involves greater assistance to Latin American countries.
As far as drug trafficking itself is concerned, it is important to recall that it is generated and fueled by the demand that comes from the North. Thus, at all cost, stimuli to production from the consumers of the industrialized countries must be eliminated. Concerted action between the States of the North and those of the South, with the assistance of the United Nations, would make it possible more effectively to combat this evil of drugs in its devastating effects on men and women.
The Tenth Commandment of Democracy: All Around the Table
The tenth—and last—landmark, or tenth democratic commandment: all around the table:
Yes, all around the democratic table.
Not a minority on the table.
Nor a majority under the table.
But all around the democratic table.
We are faced with an historic encounter as we approach 1992. It is an historic encounter on the eve of the 500th anniversary of the evangelization and of the struggle of the Haitian people to survive and retain its dignity and identity. As we approach this 500thanniversary of resistance, both qualitative and quantitative, we can speak of a meeting around the table. This is in truth a real challenge facing us at the threshold of the third millennium.
Brothers and sisters of Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Cuba, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique and so on, our past in the struggle against colonialism leads us inevitably to establish stronger and deeper links throughout our progress toward the Democratic Table.
A new social contract at the Caribbean, Latin American and international levels is necessary so that we may all one day meet around the Democratic Table.
Since 16 December 1990, the date of elections held under the lofty sponsorship of the United Nations, we in Haiti have been moving towards that meeting-place.
If we are all to get there, it is time that indebtedness cease to effect a net transfer of resources from our impoverished countries to the rich countries. In fact, between 1983 and 1988, the net transfer of resources to the so-called developed countries amounted to $115 billion. For one year alone, 1989, that transfer amounted to approximately $60 billion—financial resources the countries of the South desperately need for growth.“
I hope that the Fourth Decade will yield positive results in the context of the new international order that is to be established.
At this close of the twentieth century, the Republic of Haiti renounces absolute power, embraces participative democracy and sings the hymn of liberty, pride and dignity – liberty won; pride regained; dignity reborn.
At this close of the twentieth century, the Republic of Haiti has the honor to hail the unity of nations: the United Nations for a united world; the United Nations through united peoples.
As for the Haitian people, we once again hail its heroic courage, crying out tirelessly and in the spirit of “lavalas”:
It is better to perish with the people than to succeed without the people. But with the people there can be no defeat. So, victory is ours.
In the same vein: we believe in Man; where a Man is exploited, call on us. To your call we will respond “yes,” 77 times “yes.” To exploitation we will answer “no,” 77 times “no.” To defend human rights, such is the mission of the United Nations. We believe in peace; where war rages, call on us. To your call, we will answer “yes,” 77 times “yes.” To war we will answer “no,” 77 times “no.” Guaranteeing peace, such is the mission of the United Nations.
We believe in the brotherhood of peoples. Wherever people turn away from each other, call on us. To your call we shall answer “yes,” 77 times “yes.” To rejection we shall answer “no,” 77 times “no.” To be a place for dialogue: that is the mission of the United Nations.
We believe in the Haitian people. Wherever they are struggling tirelessly in the “lavalas” spirit, we shall be; we shall always be there. It is better to perish with the people than to succeed without the people.
With the echo of this creed resounding in our ears, by way of conclusion let the echo of the democratic creed also resound. We believe in these ten democratic commandments. We believe in this democratic policy. We believe in that meeting where there will be no minority on the table and no majority under the table, but where everyone will be seated around the democratic table. So be it in the name of the people, of its sons and of its Holy Spirit. Amen.
United we are strong. United in the Caribbean we are a Power. United in the world we are a power for peace, justice, love and freedom.
Have we the right to speak here? If we have, let us say it together so that the echo can be heard in Haiti.
The people of Haiti have been demanding freedom from the succession of U.S.-imposed dictators for decades. One such dictator, Jovenel Moïse, refused to leave office February 7, which marked the end of his term four years after an illegal election. This move catapulted yet another intense episode in the historic struggle of the Haitian masses against colonial intervention. Tens of thousands of Haitians went to the streets demanding democracy and an end to dictatorship. And what was the response from the U.S. puppet regime? Bullets, paramilitary terror, curfews, house raids, beatings and the imprisonment of opposition leaders.
With the election of U.S. President Joe Biden, folks believed this so-called “champion” of fair elections and the rule of law—who had expressed a commitment that “Black Lives Matter”—would rally to the side of Haitians and end U.S. support for the dictatorship.
But that did not happen.
When Moïse announced he would stay in office past February 7, and continue to rule by decree, the Biden administration signaled it supported that decision. Moïse’s rule by decree was made possible because elections were postponed in 2019, which allowed the mandates of most of the representatives to the National Assembly—Haiti’s parliament—to expire.
It did not matter that Moïse ruled by decree, that he violated the rights of his people and that the majority of the people wanted him gone. What mattered to the Biden administration was the purpose Moïse served in U.S. plans for the Caribbean and Latin American region.
In other words, the people must be sacrificed for the larger interests of the U.S. imperial project. These interests that could not be bothered with the trifle concerns about democracy, legitimacy or the rights of the people. Those rhetorical terms are only evoked as expressions of the United States’ so-called “values” when directed at an adversary like Russia, Venezuela, China or any other country the United States is actively attempting to destabilize. But those values cannot be allowed to complicate U.S. interests in Haiti or even in the occupied Black and Brown communities within the United States.
We ask Joe Biden and his supporters, who claim Biden cares about African/Black people: Why does it seem like the lives of African/Black people in Haiti do not matter? Is it that Black lives only matter when they are supporting U.S. and European colonial white power?
In the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), we know the answer to that rhetorical question. Both parties and the U.S. state have demonstrated the lives of non-Europeans mean extraordinarily little. And the values that the United States and Western Europeans pretend to uphold—like democracy and human rights—are dead letters when it comes to the fundamental human rights of the peoples of the global South.
The United States and the United Nations armed and trained Haitian police. Moïse has the full support of these armed paramilitary forces, who are committed to upholding the rule of the Haitian ruling class that serves international capital. That is why the Biden administration supports Moïse. Therefore, Moïse has no legitimacy.
Haiti emerged as a free society in the greatest revolution in human history in 1804, when the people of Haiti established the first Black Republic after fighting and defeating first the Spanish and then the French, at the time the greatest military power on the planet. Since then, the West has tried to destroy Haiti.
Invasions, occupations, death squads, economic plunder, attacks on their culture, political isolation and U.S.-backed dictatorships have exacted a severe price on the people of Haiti. Yet, they have never surrendered. That spirit of resistance is on display today in the streets of Haiti.
We, in the Black Alliance for Peace, will continue to support those efforts by organizing actions throughout the United States in solidarity with the Haitian people.
We are not confused. There is nothing exceptional about the United States, except perhaps its hypocrisy. Declarations made by white-supremacist politicians and heads of imperialist corporations that “Black Lives Matter” have rung hollow, opportunistic and completely in contradiction to the lived experiences of African/Black people in the United States from 1619 to the present.
Stripped of the veneer of liberal-rights discourse, the true core values of the U.S. settler-colonial project are obvious: Glorification of violence, white supremacy, patriarchy, social Darwinism, materialism and extreme individualism. These core values facilitated the land theft that allowed for the creation of the United States, enslavement and the most rapacious forms of capitalist accumulation on the planet.
The abandonment of the people of Haiti affirms once again the United States is committed to white power. Subversion, war and brutal sanctions are just some of the instruments employed to maintain the structures of white colonial-capitalist power.
So, our appeal is not to the conscience of Biden and the neoliberal imperialist Democrats—they only have objective interests. Instead, we call on the people of the United States to demand an alteration both in U.S. policies regarding Haiti and in its relationship with Haiti as well as with all nations that currently find themselves in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialist reaction.
However, we understand our commitment to peace and People(s)-Centered Human Rights, social justice, democracy and self-determination cannot be realized without an organized people who are struggling for power.
The people of Haiti are fighting for power, for the ability to determine their own destiny. Stand with them. Stand with us. Fight for freedom and for a new reality in Haiti and the world.
There is a present-day tendency to retreat into the realms of dystopia, of catastrophe and disaster, of failed states and fascism, of environmental collapse and economic apocalypse. This tendency is neither wrong nor mistaken. Yet it is often suffocating, only adding to the pressurized dread of the era, offering no antidote to the plague of cynicism, the chokehold of hopelessness, the drift, or, perhaps, the plunge, into a miasma of pessimism and hopelessness. Of course, there are other tendencies, other possibilities, other ways forward. Here, we briefly mention five recent books, loosely grouped under the banners of anarchism, autonomy, and utopia, that propose better worlds to come – as better must come.
It is often said that the hopes and dreams of the Anglo-Caribbean left were dashed by the failure of the Grenada Revolution. Against this tendency, Laurie Lambert, in Comrade Sister: Caribbean Feminist Revisions of the Grenada Revolution (University of Virginia),returns to the history of the Revolution to explore its visions of a future, more egalitarian world. Recovering the literary output of the Caribbean women writers of the 1980s, Lambert demonstrates how they both critiqued the masculinist limits of revolutionary politics, while foregrounding the possibilities of revolutionary Black feminist imaginations.
If the question of land and Black sovereignty should be at the center of any debate on reparations and Black freedom, then we are lucky to have historian Edward Onanci’s Free the Land: The Republic of New Afrika and the Pursuit of a Black Nation-State (University of North Carolina). The first historical study of an organization that has been both misunderstood and neglected, Free the Land offers an important assessment of the Republic of New Afrika’s efforts to create an autonomous Black nation within the boundaries of the United States. Onanci makes a compelling case for the RNA’s contribution to the revolutionary ideologies and political struggles of the sixties and seventies.
In The Point is to Change the World Selected Writings of Andaiye (Pluto), Alissa Trotz has gathered together some fifty years of essays, letters, and journal entries of the late Andaiye, the radical Guyanese activist and educator who was among one of the Caribbean’s most important political voices. The range of Andaiye’s ethical and political commitments dazzles. Andaiye’s writing examines her work with Guyana’s Working People Alliance as well as with the women’s development organization Red Thread. She considers questions of Black-Indian relations in Guyana, the political economy of waged and unwaged labor, and of the ethics and politics of care work. She also reflects on the life and work of her old comrade, Walter Rodney. The Point is to Change the World is an intervention that is both critical and timely – not just for Guyana and the Caribbean, but for anyone committed to radical praxis.
First published in 1979 and revised and reissued in the early nineties, Chattanooga-based writer and activist Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin’sAnarchism and the Black Revolutionis as legendary as it is prescient. While it quickly became something of an underground classic within the historiography of Black libertarian thought, it also posed a number of serious critiques of – and challenges to – the ideological positions of the Left. Ervin’s insights into racism and capitalism, fascism and police violence, the politics of mutual aid and community, and, above all, the liberal fetishism of the state as an ultimate political authority, make for necessary reading. Have the courage to read this book.
While there may be many books that are about performance and culture, there are few books that actually perform culture. Kevin Adonis Browne’sHigh Mas: Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture is one of those rare monographs that fall into the latter category. High Mas is a stunning compilation of photography and prose that documents Trinidad carnival while shattering any perceived notion we might have of the book as an object itself. But High Mas does even more. With its breathtaking documentation of the kinetic and quivering movement and motion of Caribbean revelers – combined with Browne’s dynamic amalgamations of poetry, criticism, and autobiography — High Mas provides us with an archive of Caribbean autonomy and freedom. We need Browne’s work now, more than ever.
The 2020 U.S. elections seem to be over and much of the world is preparing for a new Biden-Harris administration. So, what now? What changes should global Black communities expect? Our sense is that expectations need to be tempered by the lessons of past experience. Long ago we learned that representation is not a sign of radicalism, that the slick and polished surfaces of neoliberal multiculturalism do not mitigate the cynical viciousness of anti-Blackness, capitalism, and imperialism. And yet, as many people are looking towards 2021 as a new era that breaks decisively with the last four years, it becomes more urgent than ever to expand the terrain of critical analysis and historical inquiry, to move away from the easy sophistry of punditry, and to develop a clear-sighted and autonomous forum for the discussion of ideas, histories, and texts about and by the Black radical left. That is the purpose of The Black Agenda Review.
