In 1803, the Haitian revolutionaries’ revival of the Tainos’ name for their most important settlement betokened above all a rejection of Europe and its colonial claims. It was a legitimizing link with the pre-Columbian American past, of which all Haitians could approve and which resonated with people of all social levels. David Geggus, “The Naming […]
Monthly Archives: March 2010
Haiti: Americas
But a deeper reason for coolness between the countries is this: Haiti is black, and we have not yet forgiven Haiti for being black or forgiven the Almighty for making her black. Frederick Douglass, Lecture on Haiti (January 2, 1893)
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Tagged African-Americans, americas, blackness, Haiti, independence, sovereignty
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Haiti: Vodou
The years when Haitian culture was first emerging as a major object of anthropological study both domestically and internationally were actually a period of prolonged penalization and persecution for many who served the Vodou spirits. Kate Ramsey, “Prohibition, persecution, performance,” Gradhiva (2005)
Posted in Haiti
Tagged anthropology, Haiti, history, peasantry, religion, repression, vodou
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Haiti: Americas
Antonio Maceo’s trip to Haiti was no less significant than his proclamation of March 1878 in favor of a “new republic” that would include Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Its boldness is also indisputable when one considers that it was the first of its kind made by an Afro-Cuban of his stature. Philippe Zacaïr, […]
Haiti: Africa
Haiti, where negritude rises to its feet for the first time and says that it has believed in its own humanity. Aimé Cesairé quoted in Richard A. Long, “Negritude,” Black World/Negro Digest (May 1969)
Haiti: Europe
To have Hegel not only reading Haitian events but drawing precise philosophical conclusions from them is not an easy proposition, since he said nothing about them until 1830, the year before his death, when he commended the Haitians for having created a real, legal state and a Christian one at that. Anders Stephanson, “The Philosopher’s […]
Haiti: History
It is on ancient record, that negroes were capable of repelling their enemies, with vigour in their own country; and a writer of modern date has assured us of the talents and virtues of these people; but it remained for the close of the eighteenth century to realize the scene from a state of abject […]
Haiti: Rebuilding
Stories of need coming out of Haiti have sparked a wave of solidarity. In New York City, home of some of the largest populations of Haitians and Dominicans outside of the island, various groups have converged to offer support to grassroots initiatives on the ground. Judith De Los Santos, “Beyond Port-au-Prince: Grassroots Women’s Group Brings […]