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Haiti A Slave Revolution 200 Years After 1804 Kim Ives
Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Kim Ives; Pat Chin; Greg Dunkel; Sara Flounders
ISBN(s): 9780974752143, 0974752142
Edition: Updated
File Details: PDF, 17.14 MB
Year: 2010
Language: english
 Haiti: A Slave Revolution
200 years after 1 804

(c) Copyright 2004, 2010

ISBN 978-0 -97 47 s2t-4-3

International Action Center

55 W. 17th St., 5th Floor, NewYork, NY 10011
Phone: 212 633-6646
rA e,'r,
Website: www.iacenter.org tit,'n!,,,ts.
E-mail : iacenter @iacenter. org !, 1Q"
., A,
.,,t,0
L l/
|

We want to make the ideas in this book available as widely as possible.

Any properly attributed selection or part of a chapter within "fair-use" guidelines
may be used without permission.

"The Only Way," "Exile Is Stale Bread" and "Reign of a Human Race" O Paul
Laraque and used here with author's permission.
"Thank You Dessalines" O F6lix Moniseau-Leroy and used here with permission
ofthe author's estate.
"No Greater Shame" @ Edwidge Danticat and used here with author's permission.
"The Longest Day" O Stan Goff and used here with author's permission.

Opinions expressed by contributors to this book represent their personal views

and are not necessarily those of the Intemational Action Center.

Cover design: Katherine Kean. Cover lithograph: Ambush at Ravine aux

Couleuvres, designed by Karl Giradet, engraved by Outwaite. Back cover photo:
Haitians at a pro-Aristide rally in Kenscoff on Dec. 6, 1990, by Carol Halebian.

Cataloging Data
Haiti: revolution: 200 years after 1SO4/edited by Pat Chin, Greg Dunkel,
a slave
Sara Flounders, and Kim Ives.-Revised and expanded edition.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographic references and index.
ISBN 978-0-9747521-4-3 (pbk.: alk. Paper)

1 . Haiti-History-Revolution, I 79 I - I 8 0 4. 2. Haiti-History-American
intervention, 1994-199 5. 3. Haiti-Relations-United States. 1. Title.

F1923.H128 2010 LCN 20t0924478

972.940773
Tnalr Or ConrENrs

Prefaces
2004: Why This Book
2010: Why a Revised Edition vlll
Timeline IX

Dedication xlll
Haiti's Agonies and Exaltations Ramsey Clark I
Photo Bssay on Haiti selected by Pat Chin t7

Part l- Haiti in History 35

ThankYou Dessalines Fdlix Moniseau-Leroy JI

Haiti Needs Reparations, Not Sanctions Pat Chin 4l

Haiti's Impact on U.S.-what "voodoo economics"
& high school textbooks reveal Greg Dunkel 45

Cuba, Haiti and John Brown-to rebel is justified

Sara Flounders 59
Lecture on Haiti Frederick Douglass 65

The Birth of the Haitian Flag-its heroic history

Fleurimond W. Kerns 97
U.S. Embargoes against Haiti-from 1806 to 2003
Greg Dunkel 103

Part ll - Aristide's Election t07

The Only Way Paul Laraque 109

Interview with Ray Laforest-H aitian trade union organizer

Johnnie Stevens r11

Crushing Victory for Aristide-Despite Bazin's maneuvers

Haiti-Progrds Staff 119

Carter Tries To Intimidate Aristide Haiti-Progrds Staff 123

Aristide: The People's Candidate-
Road banicaded against Macoutes Haili-Progrds Staff t27
Part lll - After the Coup 133
Exile Is Stale Bread paul Laraque 135
The Real Objectives of the Occupation Ben Dupuy t37
Behind the U.S. Rhetoric on Haiti Sam Marcy 149
Tenth Department Haitians Massively Mobilize
Greg Dunkel 155

Part lV - After the Second U.S. Occupation 161

Reign of a Human Race Paul Laraque 163

No Greater Shame Edwidge Danticat 165
The Longest Day Stan Goff 173
Class Analysis of a Crisis Kim Ives t87
Haiti: A Politicat and Class-conscious People Maude LeBlanc 193
Haitian Struggle for Freedom MumiaAbu-Jamal t95
Review of a Review: Answering recent distortions Kim Ives 197
Struggle of Haitian Workers-alliance with USWA Local 8751
Steve Gillis &Frantz Mendes 20s
Part V - The Coup and the Earthquake 2004-20'10 215
Haitian Leader Charges: White House Behind Coup
Sara Flounders and Johnnie Stevens 2tl
2,000 Rally in Brooklyn to Denounce U.S. Coup in Haiti
Monica Moorehead 222
The Struggle forAristide's Return to Haiti
Greg Dunkel -2004-2010 227
Beyond the Catastrophe How Imperialism Undermined Haiti
FIST statement Larry Hales 235
UN Paying Haitians $5 a Day to Work Saeed Shabazz 238
Beyond Haiti's Extreme Poverty-
U.S., France looted first Black republic Abayomi Azikiwe 241
Foodo Not Troops - End the U.S. Military Occupation of Haiti
Petition: International Action Center 246
Author Biographies 249
Bibliography 253
Index 255
Preface to the 2004 edition

Wnv rHIs BooK

Editors

This book is a joint project of the Haiti Support Network (HSN) and
the International Action Center (IAC). Both organizations since their
founding have tried to promote solidarity with the continuing Haitian
Revolution.
As the bicentennial of Haiti's independence approached, we
considered how to commemorate this singular event in the history of
the world, the successful revolution in Haiti against the French slave
owners. Just holding a meeting or a series of meetings didn't seem to
be enough. So we decided to compile a book to mark Haiti's 200 years
of struggle against racism and colonialism, to mark the only time slaves
managed to rise up, break their chains and set up a new state and social
order that reflected some of their aspirations and hopes.
The mainstream press and politicians say they celebrate the
bicentennial of the world's first Black republic and its achievements.
But they explain its poverty and political instability by pointing to
"poor leadership," a lack of "democratic traditions" and isolation due
to geography and language.
This book is going to combat 200 years of racist indoctrination
and propaganda about the Haitian Revolution. It is essential to challenge
these stereotypes in order to build true, informed solidarity with Haiti.
Chapters in this book point out how the United States and other
imperialist powers like France and Germany have persecuted,
exploited and from time to time, occupied Haiti and how the
Haitian people have resisted by any means possible.
At least half of Haiti's population in 1790 were killed before 1802
and still the Haitian people won. They crushed France's genocidal at-
tempt to re-enslave them by crushing Napoleon's army. This hard-won
victory meant Haiti was a beacon of hope and inspiration to enslaved
African people of the United States, even after they obtained their free-
dom. Frederick Douglass, the famous Black abolitionist who was the
U.S. consul in Port-au-Prince in the 1880s, expressed this clearly in a
speech, included in this book.
VI Haiti: A Slave Revolution

This book is not a traditional history of Haiti. It's a people's his-

tory. We link historical events to current realities and show a continu-
ity ofoppression and resistance.
This book exposes some little known and carefully hidden history.
For example, how the slave-owning George Washington got his slave-
owning secretary of state Thomas Jefferson to send $400,000 a vast
sum at the time -
to supporl the slave-owners of Haiti in their vain
attempt to put down- the revolt. We connect this, the first significant
foreign aid the United States ever granted, to the millions the U.S.
gave Marc Bazin, a former World Bank Official, to run againstAristide
in his first campaign.
The Jefferson-Washington grant and the money granted to Bazin
are the historical precedents for the funds the Intemational Republican
Institute gives to fund the so-called Democratic Convergence, which
opposes the current Aristide govemment.
We include the explanation given by Ben Dupuy, the leader of the
National Popular Party, of why the United States invaded Haiti in 1994.
We have an analysis of the huge demonstrations that the Haitian com-
munity in the United States held to protest the coup against Aristide,
police brutality and how they were stigmatized using the AIDS hyste-
ria. These were not just demonstrations, they were also one-day strikes.
Since this is a people's history, we have a diversity of voices.
Edwidge Danticat, a well-respected Haitian-American author, has a
chapter on how Haitian refugees are detained in Florida. Stan Goff,
who served in the U.S. Army's Special Forces during the 1994 occupa-
tion of Haiti and was moved to condemn this occupation in his book
Hideous Dream. We selected a chapter.
Fleurimond W. Kerns, a columnist for Haiti-Progrds, points out in
his chapter on the birth of the Haitian flag that the Congress ofArcahaie
in 1803 was the occasion when the more privileged sectors in the Hai-
tian revolution put themselves under the command of the most op-
pressed. Former U.S. Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, who is the
founder of the IAC and investigated the 1991 coup as a member of the
Haiti Commission, has an overview of Haitian history.
We were very happy when Local USWA 8751, representing Bos-
ton school bus drivers, a union which is75Yo Haitian, asked to contrib-
ute a chapter. The struggle that the Haitian working class in the diaspora
has waged against racism and U.S. neocolonialism has been part and
parcel of the local's daily activity.
We hope the translations from two of Haiti's most celebrated poets
 Preface vil

-Paul Laraque and the late Fdlix Morisseau-Leroy - will give the reader
an impression of the Creole language's beauty and imagery and how
Haitian poets raise political themes.
We could not cover every aspect of Haitian history we would have
liked: for example, Haiti's intervention in the Dominican Republic,
which ended slavery there; the cacos'struggle against the U.S' occupa-
tion from 1916 to 1922;the mass uprisings against the U.S. occupation
in the late '20s and early '30s. We wanted to focus on the impact Haiti
has and has had on the United States.
We hope this book builds a better understanding of Haiti's impor-
tance in the history of this hemisphere, and indeed, the world.

Pat Chin, Greg Dunkel, Sara Flounders, Kim Ives

Notes

If a chapter appeared earlier in another publication, we put the date when it

appeared at the beginning ofthe chapter and the publication where it appeared
at the end. We indicate the translator for chapters that earlier appeared in French
or Creole.
We spell the last name of Toussaint Louverture the way he did; a common
altemative is L'Ouverture. We italicize all the quotes from Creole that are used
in this book. We use the word "voodoo" to refer to a religion in Haiti that is
called and spelled "vodou" in Creole because we want to examine the contexts
in which this word is used in North American English.
Here are some terms thal are used in the book:
Cacos were armed peasants, who fought under the leadership of
Charlmeagne P6ralte and then Benoit Batraville against the first U.S' occupa-
tion;
ffianchis were slaves who bought or were granted their legal freedom
under French rule, or the children of colonists and enslaved mothers freed at
birth; often they had significant wealth and were slave owners;
putsch is a sudden political uprising, almost a synonym for coup d'6tat;
Lavalas, what Aristide called his movement, is a Creole word meaning
sudden flood;
Macoutes or Tonton Macoutes, formally the Volunteers for National Se-
curity, were a paramilitary organization that Frangois Duvalier set up to neu-
tralize the Haitian Army and terrorize the Haitian people;
Tenth Department isthepopular term for Haitians living outside of Haiti,
which has nine Departments (provinces or regions)'
Preface to the 2010 edition

Wnv A REVIsED EDrnoN

The original edition of this book was published in early 2004, in
time to celebrate Haiti's 200 years as an independent nation. A few
months later, President Jean-BertrandAristide was removed from Haiti
on a U.S. Air Force plane and flown to the Central African Republic.
At the time, the International Action Center and the Haiti Supporl
Network immediately reacted. A joint delegation followed the presi-
dent to the Central African Republic, organized a major press confer-
ence and initiated an intemational campaign to get out the truth about
what had happened. Aristide was able to speak to the world and declare
that he had been kidnapped by the United States.
That year, the movement to supporl the struggle of the Haitian
people discovered that this book had some very useful tools to under-
stand Haiti, its struggles against U.S. and French domination and their
impact on the world, It was a people 's history and a people's tool.
By the fall of 2004, the International Action Center was out of
printed copies but still received many requests for the book. However,
the political situation in Haitiwas still changing rapidly and most of the
book was online.
The Jan. 12,2010, earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, leav-
ing at least 250,000 people dead, nearly as many injured and 500,000
homeless, focused worldwide attention on Haiti. Half of the people in
the United States contributed to its relief.
The International Action Center took parl in this effort to raise
funds for Haiti's relief, but felt we should also raise consciousness
about its history and struggles. That's why we decided to reprint the
book, with the addition of material on what happened in the years from
2004 to 2010 and putting the earlhquake's devastation into the context
of continued U.S. interventions in Haiti. In this revised edition, the con-
tents of the original book, covering pages 1 to 213, remain unchanged.

Greg Dunkel, Sara Flounders

Timeline
1492 Christopher Columbus lands near today's city of Cap Hailien and
claims the island of Hispaniola for Spain. The western third of the island
is now Haiti and the rest of the island is the Dominican Republic.
1625 First French settlements on Toffuga Island, offthe nofthwest coast,
are established.
mid-1500s French settlements and plantations are established in coastal
areas on the western third of the island.
1697 Under the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick, Spain cedes the west-
ern third of Hispaniola to France.
1700s The French colony of Saint Domingue is the most lucrative
colony in the world, at this time, more lucrative than the l3 Colonies.
Its slave-produced tropical crops-sugar, rum, cotton, tobacco, and
indigo-generated great wealth. Near the end of the lSth century,
500,000 to 700,000 people, mainly of western African origin, were
enslaved by the French.
1791 The Haitian Revolution begins when a group of slaves gather at
Bois-Calman in the northern part of the colony. Jamaican-born Dutty
Boukman holds a voodoo ceremony that launches the struggle.
1 803 The Haitian blue-and-red flag is adopted at the Congress ofArcahaie.

The Battle of Verlidres is the last victory of the Haitians over the French'
1804 Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared Haiti independent on January
l, after crushing the French army sent to re-enslave Haiti. Over half
the people in Haiti die before the struggle has run its course.
1806 Jean-Jacques Dessalines is assassinated at Pont-Rouge.
1815-1816 Sim6n Bolivar gets asylum in Haiti twice and also receives
military assistance to liberate South America from Spain.
1822 Haiti invades the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo (today's
Dominican Republic), and ends slavery there.
1838 France fully and unconditionally recognizes Haiti's independence.
It had given Haiti "conditional" recognition in 1825 after Haiti prom-
o'compensation" for itsoolosses'"
ised to pay 150 million gold francs as
x Haiti: A Slave Revolution

1844 The Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo ends.

1862 The United States recognizes Haiti.
1889 Frederick Douglass is appointed as U.S. Minister and Consul
General to Haiti.
1915 United States Marines invade Haiti and occupy it. A largely peas-
ant guerrilla army, known as the cecos, resists the occupiers under the
leadership of Charlemagne P6ralte, who is betrayed and assassinated
by Marines in 1919.
1934 As popular resistance grows stronger, the nineteen-year U.S. oc-
cupation ends.
1937 Between 17,000 to 35,000 Haitians living in the Dominican Re-
public are massacred by the Dominican armed forces on the orders of
President Rafael Trujillo. U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull subse-
quently declared "President Trujillo is one of the greatest men in Cen-
tral America and in most of South America."
1957 Frangois "Papa Doc" Duvalier becomes President of Haiti.
1958-1964 Duvalier attacks his opponents violently, driving many of
them into exile.
1 964 P apa Doc declares himself "President-for-Life. "
1971 Frangois Duvalier dies and is succeeded by his son, Jean-Claude
"Baby Doc" Duvalier.
1970s-1980s Thousands of Haitians flee poverty and repression in
Haiti by boat, often arriving in South Florida.
1982-1984 The U.S. State Department's Agency for International De-
velopment and the Organization ofAmerican States (OAS) oversee the
slaughter of Haiti's'ocreole pigs," accused of being carriers ofAfrican
Swine Fever. This is a major blow to the peasant economy.
1985 Widespread protests against repression force Baby Doc to flee Haiti
on February 7th. The U.S. Air Force flies him to exile in France. A military
junta, headed by Gens. Henri Namphy and Williams Regala, takes power.
1987In July, big landowners (grandons) massacre hundreds of peas-
ants demanding land in Jean-Rabel. In November, presidential elec-
tions are canceled after Army soldiers and former Tonton Macoutes
massacre dozens of would-be voters.
1988In January Christian Democrat Leslie Manigat is elected in mili-
tary-run elections boycotted by the Haitian people and most candi-
 Timeline XI

dates. In June he is overthrown in military coup by Gen. Namphy. In

September Namphy is overthrown by Gen. Prosper Avril.
1990 PresidenVGeneral Prosper Avril declares a state of siege in January.
Rising protests convince Avril to resign in March. A Provisional Govem-
ment led by Supreme Court Justice Ertha Pascal-Trouillot is formed. Demo-
cratic elections take place on December 16, 1990' Father Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, well known throughout the counfiry for his supporl of the poor, is
elected president with 67.5%o of the counted popular vote. The "U'S. fa-
vorite" MarcBazin finishes a distant second witht4.2o/o .

1991 In January, a coup by former Tonton Macoutes head Roger

Lafontant is foiled after tens of thousands pour into the streets of the
capital, surrounding the National Palace. Aristide is sworn in as presi-
dent February 7. On September 30, a military coup deposes Aristide,
who goes into exile first in Venezuela, then in the United States'
1991-lgg4Thousands of Haitians flee violence and repression in Haiti
by boat. Although most are repatriated to Haiti by the U.S' govem-
ment, many enter the United States as refugees.
1994 The de facto military government resigns at the request of the
United States in September, which then sends in troops to occupy Haiti.
This occupation is sanctioned by the United Nations in violation of its
own charter. The U.S. returns Aristide as president October 15.
1995 The U.S. nominally hands over military authority to the United
Nations but maintains effective control of the occupation. Aristide dis-
solves the Haitian army. In December, former prime minister Ren6
Pr6val is elected president.
1996 Aristide leaves office on February lth and is succeeded by Rend
Prdval.
2000 Legislative, municipal and local elections are held in May. The
OAS disputes how the sovereign electoral council calculates the run-
offs for eight Senate seats. In November, Aristide is reelected for a
second five-year term with 92o/o of the vote in elections boycotted by
the opposition. The last IIN peacekeeping forces withdraw from Haiti.
2001 Aristide succeeds Prdval for a second five-year term.
2001 -2003 With Washington's support, Aristide's bourgeois opponents
use the OAS challenge to the 2000 elections to increase economic and
political instability. Former Haitian soldiers carry out guerrilla attacks,
primarily along the Dominican border and in the capital.
2004 January 1. Haiti's 200th anniversary of independence'
xil Haiti: A Slave Revolution

2004 February 5. Full-scale insutgency begins in GonaiVes, led by

opposition forces, soon joined by troops based in the Dominican Re-
public under command of Jodel Chamblain.

2OO4 February 22. Chamblain overruns Cap Hailien.

2004 February 29. PresidentAristide and his spouse, Mildred Trouillot
Aristide, are kidnapped, forced onto U.S. Air Force jet and flown to
Central African Republic .

2004 March 9. An International Action Center/Haiti Support Network

delegation travels to Central Africa Republic, organizes a major press
conference and an international campaign. Aristide is able to tell the
world of his kidnapping by the U.S.
2004 March 15. Rep. Maxine Waters chafters a jet, takes a second del-
egation to CAR and escorls President Aristide to Jamaica.

2004 March. U.S., French and Canadian troops occupy Haiti; interim
government formed and hundreds ofAristide supporters are killed.

2004 May 30. Aristide leaves Jamaica for South Africa.

2004 June. IIN forces, called MINUSTAH, take over from the allies.

2004 September. UN begins a campaign against Aristide supporters

in Citd Soleil and Belair.

2005 July 6. Major UN assault in Citd Soleil kills as many as 30

people, including Dred Wilme, a militant popular leader.

2006 February 7. Prdval wins postponed presidential election with

51%.
2006 December to 2007 February. Major UN assaults in poor areas
of Port-au-Prince, especially Citd Soleil.

2008 Year of hunger in Haiti, with large, angry protests demanding

food and Aristide's return.

2009 Fanmi Lavalas boycott of elections reduces tumout to less than 10%.

2010 January 12. Earthquake kills more than 250,000 people. Then,
20,000 U.S. troops occupy Haiti and asseft control over all of Haiti's
sea and air ports. This deployment impedes urgent humanitarian aid.
 qGrB

To Pat Chin -
bel oved J am ai can-bo rn iou rn ol i st,

photographer, activist - and

co-editor of the first edition of
"Haiti: A Slave Revolution.'

*6l}p

Tothe hundreds of thousands of Haitians

who perished, were injured or made homeless
by the Jan. 1 2,2010, earthquake.

The courage, determination and strength

of the people of Haiti have inspired the world
for more than 200 Years.
Haiti's Agonies and
Exaltations
Ramsey Clark

The history of Haiti will break your heart. Knowing it, the weak will
despair, but the caring will strive to break the chains of tragedy'
When Columbus landed on the island in Decembet 1492, he found
a native Arawak, or Taino, population of three million people or more,
well fed, with cultivated fields, lots of children, living in peace. It had
by far the largest population of any island in the caribbean. Twenty-
two years later, there were fewer than 27 ,000 who had not fallen vic-
tim to the sword, the ravages of forced labor, and diseases heretofore
unknown to them. The spaniards called the island La Ysla Espaflola,
which in use became HisPaniola.
The native people called the island Haiti, a word that three hun-
dred years after the Europeans arrived would strike fear throughout the
empires of the hemisphere built on slave labor and societies that ac-
cepted its practice, but bring hope to slaves as they heard ofit'
Only a few who came with the Conquistadors dared, or cared, to
speak out against the genocide. The historic exception was the priest
und lut"r Bishop of Chiapas, Bartolome de Las Casas. For his only
briefly successful efforts to persuade Charles V and the Pope to protect
the peoples of "India" from slavery and abuse, Las Casas became "the
most hated man in the Americas" among the violent, rich rulers ofNew
Spain. In a census Las Casas conducted in 1542, only 200 Taino were
found. The soil of Haiti was already red with human blood'
Slowly the population of Hispaniola was replenished, the slaugh-
tered Indians replaced primarily by the importation ofAfricans in chains
who rarely knew, but never forgot, those who perished first at the hands
of their masters.
Few Spaniards settled in far westem Hispaniola. By the mid-l7th
century French buccaneers gained footholds on its coast. In 1697,
France was recognized as sovereign over the western third of the is-
land in a minor concession from Spain by the treaty of Ryswick, which
 2 Haiti: A Slave Revolution

ended the war of the Grand Alliance and resettled the map of western
Europe. France called its new colony St. Domingue.
By the 1750s, St. Domingue was France's richest colony, rich from
the sweat of slave labor's brow.
Hispaniola declined in importance as Spanish colonies in Mexico,
Peru and the caribbean spread through South, central and North
America.
On the eve of the revolution in France, St. Domingue had a popu_
lation of about 32,000 from France , 24,000 freedmen of mixed utobo,
and nearly 500,000 African slaves. The native population was extinct.
The creole language found birth in the slave quarters and secret
places slaves could meet as their need to support each other and
to
resist grew. African languages permeated the French with African
melody and African drums. English, Spanish and occasional Indian
words were gathered into it by chance and attraction. creole became
the heart of Haitian culture, shared with others who were torn out of
Africa and canied to European colonies in the Caribbean.
In trials of Haitian-Americans charged with planning to overthrow
Jean-claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier in the mid-l9g0s, the most skilled
French-English translators and professors of French in the universities
of New orleans could not translate creore into English for the court. It
is a beautiful, separate language bom from the suffering of African
slaves of French masters and their determination to maintain their own
identity.
In Paris, the philosophers of the Enlightenment condemned sla-
very. Diderot wrote that slavery contradicts nature. Montesquieu ob-
served that when we admit that Africans are human, we confess what
poor christians we are. Abb6 Reynal proclaimed that any religion that
condones slavery deserves to be prohibited. Rousseau confessed that
the existence of slavery made him ashamed to be a man. Helvetius
observed that every barel of sugar reaching Europe is stained with
blood. voltaire's adventurous hero, candide, meets a slave whose hand
was ground off in a sugar mill and leg was cut off for attempting to
escape and proclaims, "At this price you eat sugar in Europe.';
Few periods in history have given rise to more intense thought and
concem about freedom and the rights of humanity, but St. Domingue
was a long way away and the wealth of France and its slave masters
were not impressed.
IJnaware, or contemptuous, of the enlightened views of France's
philosophers, "His Majesty" in l77l considered requests for
the eman-
 Haiti's Agonies and Exaltations 3

French colonies and au-

cioation of mulatto slaves in Haiti and other
of to explain his views:
iiotit"a his Minister Colonies

...such a favor would tend to destroy the differences that

nature has placed between whites and blacks, and that po-
litical prejudice has been careful to maintain as a distance
which people of color and their descendants will never be
able to bridge; finally, that it is in the interest of good order
not to weaken the state of humiliation congenital to the spe-
cies, in whatever degree it may perpetuate itself; a prejudice
all the more useful for being in the very heart of the slaves
and contributing in a major way to the due peace of the
colonies...

within two decades the people of France and Haiti would provide
Louis XVI a clearer understanding of what was in their heart'
In L6ogdne in 17'72, a Haitian woman named Zabeth, her story
recorded, lived a not uncommon life and death. Rebellious, like many,
from childhood, she was chained for years when not working, chased
and attacked by dogs when she escaped, her cheek branded with a fleur
de lis. Zabeth was locked up in a sugar mill for punishment. She stuck
her fingers in the grinder, then later bit off the bandages which stopped
the flow of blood. She was then tied, her open wounds against the
grinder, where particles of iron dust poisoned her blood before she
died. Her owner lived unconcerned across the sea in Nantes'
For five years, the French Revolution, consumed with the struggle
for human rights ignored the slaves of Haiti even over the protests of
Marat and Robespieffe and the words of the Declaration of the Rights
of Man.
OnAugust 14,l7g7,the slaves of St. Domingue rebelled' News of
the insurrection sent electrifying waves of fear throughout the hemi-
sphere. The slave states and slave owners in all parts of the U'S' and
eisewhere in the Americas were forced to face what they had long
dreaded, that the cruelty of their deeds would tum on them in violent
slave rebellio,ns. Their fear produced hatred and greater cruelty toward
the slaves that led to the barbarity of lynchings in the late 19th and
early decades of the 20th centuries and the excessive force employed
with zeal by police in race riots into the 1960s in the U'S'
The struggle ofthe Haitian slaves for freedom dragged on for more
than a decade, the French army caring less and less about the destruc-
tiveness of their arms and about the lives of the Haitian people'
4 Haiti: A Slave Revolution

President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas

Jefferson, both slave owners, supported France in its efforts to sup-
press the slaves of St. Domingue. Their successors have consistently
acted against the rights and well-being of Haitians ever since.
In 1794, after fighting both Spain and Great Britain to control St.
Domingue, harassed by the slave insurrection led by Pierre-Domin-
ique Toussaint Louverture, and in need of troops easily recruited from
freedman before the rebellion, France declared the abolition of slavery
in its colonies.
Frightened by the freedom of slaves in Haiti, the next year the
King of Spain ceded the rest of the island, Spain's first colony in
America, to France. The island was once again, temporarily, united.
By 1801, Toussaint Louverlure, a slave himself before the insur-
rection, proclaimed a constitution for Haiti, which named him gover-
nor-general for life. Napoleon was not consulted.
Later lhat year, Bonaparte sent General Charles Leclerc with a
veteran force of 20,000 trained soldiers, including Haitian military of-
ficers, among themAlexandre P6tion, to crush the "First of the Blacks."
In 1802, Napoleon ordered the reinstatement of slavery. Toussaint was
captured by ruse and sent to France where he died a prisoner on April
7, 1803. Fearful that Napoleon would succeed in restoring slavery, Af-
rican and mulatto generals in the French Army joined the bitter revolt
against France. U.S. merchants sold arms and supplies to the former
slave forces, while the U.S. govemment supported France.
The French army of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by Haitian
former slaves. It surrendered in November 1803 and agreed to a com-
plete withdrawal.
Haiti lay in ruins, nearly half its population lost. TheAfrican slaves
of Haiti had defeated the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. The l2-year
war for liberation had destroyed most of the irrigation systems and
machinery that, with slave labor, had created France's richest colony
and were the foundation of the island's economy.
On January 1, 1804, independence was declared for the entire is-
land in the aboriginal name preferred by the former slaves: Haiti. In
September 1804, Dessalines was proclaimed Emperor Jacques I.
Nearly all whites who survived the long violence fled the island
before, or with, the departing French army.
Profound fear spread among white peoples throughout the Ameri-
cas wherever Africans were held in slavery. In the U,S. slave states,
news from Haiti of the slave rebellion, the emancipation, the imprison-
 Haiti's Agonies and Exaltations 5

ment and death of Toussaint Louverture in France, the failure of

Napoleon's effort to reestablish slavery after sending 20,000 profes-
sional soldiers for the task, and their final defeat sent shock waves
infinitely greater than those of 9-11-2001 two centuries later. Years
before Nat Turner and the even earlier slave rebellions in the United
States, the fear of slave rebellion became a brooding omnipresence'
As word spread among slave populations' exaltation embraced its
people who could now believe their day of freedom too would come.
the conflict between fear and newborn faith sharpened the edge of
hostility that separated slave and master, creating greater tension and
more violence.
Dessalines' nationalization and democratic distribution of land led
to his assassination in 1806 by jealous elements of a new ruling class,
both black and mulatto, emerging from the ranks of the Haitian gener-
als. The alliance between the formerly freed-the freedmen or
affranchis-and the newly freed-the former slaves-was dissolved
with Dessalines'murder. A new ruling class of big landowners and a
merchant bourgeoisie supplanted their colonialist predecessors. There
ensued civil war primarily between the mulatto Pdtion, who was elected
president in Port-au-Prince over the south, and Christophe, a full-
blooded African, who was proclaimed King Henry I in the north.
Christophe committed suicide in 1820 after a major revolt against his
rule. Jean Pierre Boyer, who had succeeded Pdtion in the South in 1818,
then became president of a united Haiti.
Haiti was reviled and feared by all the rich nations of the world
precisely for its successful slave revolt which represented a threat not
only in nations where slavery was legal, but in all countries, because of
their large under-classes living in economic servitude. The strategy of
the nations primarily affected, including the U.S., was to further im-
poverish Haiti, to make it an example. Racism in the hemisphere added
a painful edge to the treatment of Haiti, which has remained the poor-
est country with the darkest skin, the most isolated nation in theAmeri-
cas. Even its language, spoken by so few beyond its borders, made
Haiti the least accessible of countries and peoples.
In one grand commitment, Haiti, through President Pdtion, con-
tributed more to the liberation of the Americans from European colo-
nial powers than any other nation. Twice Haiti, poor as it was, provided
Simon Bolivar with men, arms and supplies that enabled the Great
Liberator to free half the nations of South America from the Spanish
yoke. On New Year's Day 1816, P6tion, his country still in ruins, block-
6 Haiti: A Slave Revolution

aded by France and isolated from all rich nations, met with Bolivar,
who had sold even his watch in Jamaica, seeking funds. He promised
seven ships, 250 of his best soldiers, muskets, powder, provisions, funds,
and even a printing press. Haiti asked only one act in repayment: Free
the slaves.
Bolivar surely intended to fulfill his promise and achieved some
proclamations of emancipation, but at the time of his death in 183 l,
not even his own Venezuela had achieved de facto freedom for all of
its slaves.
Thus Haiti had achieved the first successful slave rebellion of an
entire colony, the defeat of veterans of Europe's most effective fight-
ing force at the time-Napoleon's legions-and made perhaps the
decisive contribution to the liberation from European colonial govem-
ments of six nations, all larger and with more people than Haiti. Each
act was a sin for which there would be no forgiveness.
Spain retained effective control over the eastern part ofthe island
after its concession to France in 1795. The Dominicans revolted against
Spain in 1822, joining nearly all the Spanish colonies in the Americas.
President Boyer blocked Europe's counter-revolutionary designs against
Haiti by laying claim to the Spanish lands where he abolished slavery,
but Haitian control was never consolidated. The Dominicans declared
independence in 1844 which, after a decade of continuing struggle,
was finally achieved.
In 1825, France was the first nation to recognize Haiti, from which
it had profited so richly, but at a huge expense to Haiti through a more
sophisticated form of exploitation. Haiti agreed to pay France
150,000,000 gold francs in "indemnity." The U.S. permitted limited
trade with Haiti, but did not recognize it until 1862, the second year of
the U.S. Civil War.
Haiti, true to its struggle against slavery, permitted Union war-
ships to refuel and repair in its harbors during the Civil War. In 1891,
the U.S. sought to obtain M0le Saint-Nicolas on the northwest tip of
Haiti as a coaling station by force, but failed. A decade later, the U.S.
obtained Guantanamo Bay from Cuba afterthe Spanish-American war.
M6le Saint-Nicolas and Guantanamo are strategically located on the
Windward Passage between Haiti and Cuba, the best route from the
Atlantic to the PanamaCanal First France, then the U.S., coveted the
notion of a base at M6le Saint-Nicolas.
Between 1843 and I 9l l, sixteen persons held the highest govern-
ment office in Haiti, an average of four years, three months each, but
 Haiti's Agonies and Exaltations 7

eleven were removed by force and its threat from a still revolutionary
peoPle.
During the period from August l91l to July 1915, in which many
Haitians believed their country was being taken over by U.S. capital,
one president was blown up in the Presidential Palace, another died of
poison, three were forced out by revolution, and on Jrtly 27,1915,
irresident Mlbrun Guillaume Sam was taken by force from the French
legation where he had sought sanctuary and killed.
The next day U.S. Marines landed in Haiti and began an occupa-
tion that lasted nineteen years. The U.S. invoked the Monroe Doctrine
and humanitarianism to justify a criminal occupation. Haiti was forced
to sign a ten-year treaty,later extended, which made Haiti a U'S. politi-
cal and financial Protectorate'
Shortly before World War I, U.S. bankers, in the most debilitating
form of intervention, obtained shares in the Haitian Bank which con-
trolled the government's fiscal policies and participated in a huge loan
to the Haitian government, again placing the people in servitude to a
foreign master. U.S. capitalists were quickly given concessions to build
a railroad and develop plantations. As the Panama Canal neared comple-
tion, U.S. interests in Haiti grew.
Franklin D. Roosevelt,thanassistant secretary of the Navy, drafted
a constitution for Haiti, something Toussaint Louverture had been ca-
pable of one hundred and fourteen years earlier.In 1920, while cam-
paigning for the vice-presidency, Roosevelt boasted of his authorship
accomplished on the deck of a U.S. Navy destroyer off the coast of
Cap Haitien. Such is the certainty of the U.S. in its natural superiority
and right in matters of governance.
oofarcical" plebiscite for the new
In 1 9 1 8, US Marines supervised a
constitution. Among other new rights, it permitted aliens for the first
time to own land in Haiti.
Haiti paid dearly. U.S. intervention in education emphasized voca-
tional training at the expense of the French intellectual tradition. The
racist implications were clear to the people. The national debt was
funded with expensive U.S. loans. The occupying force imposed harsh
police practices to protect property and maintain order, but with little
concern for injuries it inflicted, or protection for the public. In the spirit
of democracy, Haitians were virtually excluded from the government
of their own people.
Over the years, opposition to the occupation grew, and slowly
Americans joined Haitians in protest against it. In 1930, after student
 8 Haiti: A Slave Revolution

and peasant uprisings, President Hoover sent missions to study ending

the occupation and improving the education system. The first election
of a national assembly since the occupation was permitted that year. In
turn, it elected Stenio Joseph Vincent president. Vncent opposed the
occupation, and Haitians quickly took control of public works, public
health, and agricultural services.
In August 1934, Franklin Roosevelt, now president of the U.S., to
confirm his celebrated Good Neighbor Policy, ended the occupation
and withdrew the Marines. When the occupation was over, Haiti was
as poor as ever and deep in debt. The U.S. continued its direct control
of fiscal affairs in Haiti until 1941, and indirect control tntil 1947 , to
protect its loans and business interests.
Among accomplishments the U.S. proclaimed for its long gover-
nance was a unified, organized, trained and militarized police force.
Called the Garde d'Haiti, it guarded Haitians less than it guarded over
them.
In 1937, Haiti was weakened by nearly two decades of foreign
occupation and subjugation and a huge part of its unemployed work
force was in the Dominican Republic laboring under cruel conditions
at subsistence wages. The Dominican dictator, President Rafael Trujillo,
directed the purge of Haitian farm workers and laborers in an overtly
racist campaign of government violence to keep his country o,white.,,
As many as 40,000 Haitians were killed. The Organization of Ameri-
can States interceded and forced the Dominican Republic to acknowl-
edge 18,000 deaths for which it paid $522,000 in restiturion with no
other consequence than an angry neighbor. A Haitian life was worth
$29 to the OAS, with most lives unrecognized,.
Art flourished in Haiti in the late 1930s. By the mid-I940s, there
was a "Renaissance in Haiti." Artists painted furiously on any surface
that offered the opportunity. Haitian artists gained intemational repu-
tations and fame: Philom6 Obin, Andr6 Piere, Castera Bazile,Wilson
Bigaud, Rigaud Benoit, Hector Hippolyte, and others. Their work com-
manded prices unimaginable to the poor of Haiti. With the painting,
the richness of Haitian culture burst out in music, poetry, literature and
cuisine. But more tragedy lay ahead.
Vncent served until 1939 when, under U.S. pressure, he retired in
favor of Elie Lescot. When he sought to run for a second term, Lescot
was forced from office by student strikes and ultimately mob violence
in 1946. A military triumvirate directed a new election of the National
Assembly in 1946. The Assembly elected Dumarsais Estim6 president.
 Haiti's Agonies and Exaltations 9

Near the end of his term in 1950, the same

military triumvirate seized
to leave Haiti. col. Paul E. Magloire, a member
oo*r., forcing Estimd
if th. ,rir.virate, was then chosen to direct public elections as presi-
leave the country as his
dent. Magloire was in turn forced to resign and
term exPired in December 1956.
After a period of turmoil, strikes and mob violence, during which
served
several men, then an Executive Council and anArmy commander
briefly as provisional leadership, Frangois Duvalier, a physician, was
elected president, with Army approval, on Septembet 22,1957 '
The brutality, capriciousness, and arbitrary exercise of power and
violence by Duvalier provides a classic study of dictatorship in poor
countries.
In 1960, he forced the catholic Archbishop Frangois Poirier into
exile to prevent interference and opposition by the church of Haiti's
official religion. Duvalier organized and licensed the notorious Tonton
Macoutes from among his core supporters to terrorize the people to
accept his rule.
ih. t.''ot of Duvalier's long reign is described nowhere better for
non-Haitians than in Graham Greene's classic, The Comedians, pub-
lished in 1966. Greene knew Haiti before Duvalier. He loved the people,
He thought they were beautiful. When he returned in 1963, he found
the Tonton Macoutes, searches, road blocks, aplace where "terror rides
and death comes at night." Rebels were in the hills.
He stayed long enough to develop material for a book. Before he
could return for a last impression, he was warned he should not. He
had written a harsh profile of Duvalier in the English press.
Instead he flew to the Dominican Republic, traveled to the border
to observe and walked "along the edge of the country we loved and
exchanged hopes for a happier future." The Comedians ends on the
border, but it contains a testament to the misery and the beauty of the
Haitian people and the power of the committed among them.
Inlg64,Duvalier imposed anew constitution on Haiti which made
him president-for-life. To please the u.S., show he knew how to handle
problems, and unintentionally confirm the accuracy of the sobriquet
Comedians, the death penalty was decreed in 1969 for the "propaga-
tion of communist or anarchist doctrines through lectures, speeches, or
conversations" and for accomplices in such propagation and persons
who merely received or listened to such doctrines.
In I971 ,ooPapa Doc" Duvalier caused the constitution to be amended
to empower him to name his successof and lower the age requirement
 10 Haiti: A Slave Revolution

for the presidency to age 18. He named his son, Jean-Claude, then 19,
and died, having extended his dynasty by another 15 years.
Baby Doc's regime was as brutal as his father's, if somewhat more
subtle. when President carter criticized Haiti's human rights record in
1977, a few token prisoners were released. But arrests and disappear-
ances continued. A young Haitian-American, the son of a former of-
ficer in Papa Doc's air force who had fled into exile, was arrested for
public criticism of the Duvalier dynasty and held in cells under the
Presidential Palace where the president could witness the discomfor-t
of people he did not like. A barrage of entreaties for his release were
ignored until the eve of the first visit in 1983 of a pope to Haiti. The
prisoner was released, taken to the airport with his lawyer, provided
first-class seats on an Air France flight to Miami without explanation,
or apology.
By 1980, there was a mass exodus from Haiti by sea. The U.S.
coast Guard policy was to interdict boatloads of Haitians fleeing at
great risk toward freedom. when it caught boats close to Haiti, it forced
them back to what could be death for some. others caught in the wind-
ward Passage were taken to prison at the U.S. Naval Base at
Guantanamo, where they were held as early patrons of a cruel experi-
ence which was later refined for Muslims, usually never named or
charged, but treated with a cruelty that would make Baby Doc blush.
other Haitians reached Florida's waters. The bodies of some washed
up in the surf on Ft. Lauderdale beaches. Local residents were out-
raged, or horrified, depending on their character. other Haitians caught
on land or sea were taken to the Krome Avenue Detention center in
Miami. The treatment they endured there caused many Haitians to yearn
for the free, if impoverished life, of cit6 Soleil or Haiti's northwest,
from which they had fled.
As opposition to Baby Doc grew and his hold on power weakened,
vibrations of rebellion in Brooklyn, eueens, Miami, and other Haitian
communities in the U.S., resonant with those throughout Haiti, rose
and fell with conditions in the beloved country.
The Duvalier signature means of intimidation-bodies of its most
recent victims left casually in the streets and byways to remind the
people the next morning of the price of disobedience-became daily
fare.
The U.S., to defuse outcry and support for revolution, sent recruit-
ers-agents provocateurs-house-to-house and through the streets,
to find and recruit young men identified by u.S. intelligence as hostile
 Haiti's Agonies and Exaltations 11

to the Duvalier regime. Many were escorted to an airfield on Long

Island to see a plane without markings loaded with
guns to be used,
they were told, in the overthrow of the Duvalier regime. Aplaneload
of
eager recruits was flown to New Orleans. They were promised training
to participate in an invasion of Haiti.
Among these was the youngest son of fourteen children in the
perpignon family, who escaped separately with their mother from Haiti
in his
after their father, a prominent lawyer, was murdered by Duvalier
first days as President. Duvalier had his body dragged through the streets
of Porf-au-Prince behind a mule for a week.
The men were set up in rooms in a motel and questioned in front of
a concealed camera. They were asked why they wanted to overthrow
the government of Haiti and encouraged to boast about what they would
do when they captured Duvalier.
More than 40 Haitians and Haitian-Americans were then arrested
in New orleans, far from their homes, and charged with violations of
the Neutrality Act of 1797, an act U.S. agents and paid assets violate
every day. Most were released within a few days when lawyers re-
tained by their families showed up to meet with them. Despite the crimi-
nality of the entrapment, and the fact that all freely admitted they were
not in condition to capture a Boy Scout camp, some remained in jail
for several months. This was late 1985: The last year for Duvalier.
within the u.S., editors in the flourishing Haitian exile media, risked
assassination as befell the courageous anti-Duvalierist Firmin Joseph,
a founder of Haili Progrds, in front of his home in Brooklyn in 1983.
Thirteen years later, Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, who headed a U'S'-
supported death-squad called FRAPH before and after the U.S. inva-
sion in 1994, found asylum in New York. For other leaders of the 1991-94
coup d,6tat in Haiti, Washington ananged golden exiles in countries
like Panama, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.
Finally, after nearly 30 years under the heel of the Duvaliers, con-
doned, if not protected, by the U.S. government, the end had come' On
February 7, 1986, Jean-Claude Duvalier and his family, with most of
theirpossessions, flew on aU.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane to France,
where he has lived safe and comforted by the spoils from the toils of
countless Haitians he abused so badly.
The question must be asked: how could the heirs of slaves who
defeated Napoleon and who founded freedom in the hemisphere be
subjugated to such petit tyranny? This book will help find the answer
and the means of ending its furtherance.
 12 Haiti: A Slave Revolution

A liberation theology priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, trusted because

the people had witnessed him share their danger and privation, ran for
President in the first real post-Duvalier elections in 1990 over the muted
but fierce opposition ofthe U.S. The U.S. choice, MarcBazin,who had
served at the World Bank in Washington, was provided millions of dol-
lars in direct support and assistance and highly touted in the subservient
U.S. media. Aristide with no resources, soft-spoken, but honest, won
by a huge margin, with some 67Yo of the vote. Bazin, who came in
second, bought l4% ofthe vote.
Aristide, despite support from the overwhelming majority of the
people of Haiti was driven from office within nine months by the U.S.
organized,, armed and trained military and police. At least twice he had
escaped attempts on his life. Finally on September 30, 1991, with only
a handful of Haitian security officers, bearing just side arms and rifles,
President Aristide was trapped inside the Presidential Palace. outside
thousands of loyal supporters, a huge Haitian throng, unarmed but of-
fering their bodies as protection, faced an army with overwhelming
firepower. The dreaded Colonel Michel Frangois in his red jeep led his
police force in assaulting the Palace and the crowd. President Aristide
faced the end.
Hundreds ofTonton Macoutes long alleged to have been disbanded,
could be seen in their blue jeans and red bandannas milling about the
center of the city, a warning to the wary.
PresidentAristide was saved by the intrepid ambassador ofFrance,
Rafael Dufour, who with perfect timing drove to the Presidential pal-
ace, placed President Aristide in his limousine, drove to the diplomatic
departures area at the international airport, and escorted the president
to a plane ready to depart for Venezuela.
Duvalier was flown to life on the French Riviera by the U.S. Air
Force. The U.S., fully aware ofAristide's peril, did nothing to protect
him.
Within ayear,MarcBazinwas Haiti's de facto prime minister. And
that is about how long he lasted. Popular protest forced his resignation.
The U.S. could install him in office, but for all its power, it could not
keep him there.
The richness of Haitian culture and character has survived all these
centuries of suffering. The "Renaissance in Haiti" in the 1940s was
forced into exile for its open expression, but it was never silenced.
Haitian authors and poets like F6lix Morisseau-Leroy, paul Laraque,
Edwidge Danticat, Patrick Sylvain, Danielle Georges, artists and intel-
 '13
Haiti's Agonies and Exaltations

and singers carried the torch of Haitian culture and

lectuals, musicians
truth abroad. TheY knew

you say democracY

and it's the annexation of Texas
the hold-uP of the PanamaCanal
the occuPation of Haiti
the colonization of Puerlo Rico
the bombing of Guatemala

from "Reign of a Human Race" by Paul Laraque' (The full

poem ls
included in this book.)
oostop
In September 1994, to brutal atrocities" and "restore Presi-
dent Aristide to office," the U.S., having secured united
Nations ap-
proval, landed a 20,000 troop, high-tech military force in Haiti, accepted,
if ut t|. last moment, by the military govemment of Haiti. It was an
army of the same size as that led by General Leclerc who came to
destioy the "First of the Blacks." It was called "Operation Restore
Demotracy.,, It met no armed resistance, suffered no casualties, but
managed to kill several dozen Haitians.
In 1915, an excuse for U.s. intervention had been the slaughter of
some 200 political prisoners at the National Penitentiary in Poft-au-
Prince.
This time, the U.S. priority was 'oforce protection," the security of
its own men. It made no plans or efforts to protect political prisoners,
or other Haitians. Once again, Haiti suffered under a U'S' occupation'
A lone U.S. Army captain, Lawrence Rockwood, assigned to
counter-intelligence and aware of the danger faced by political prison-
ers held by the FADH, the Armed Forces of Haiti, made a valiant effort
to persuade the military command to take quick and easy action to
protect prisoners at the National Penitentiary,to no avail. The FADH,
genetaliy supported by the U.S., represented the spirit of militarism
ihat had contributed so much to death and human suffering over five
centuries in Haiti. The prisoners were not seen as friends of the United
States.
Rockwood went alone, over the wall of the military compound at
the airport, found his way to the National Penitentiary succeeded in
gaining entry and secured the facility. He observed a hundred or more
prisorrers, several score in conditions as bad as those in any prison of
buvalier, and by his mere presence protected the others. For his effort,
 14 Haiti: A Slave Revolution

though a fourth generation officer in the U.S. Army, he was court-

marshaled, threatened with seven years imprisonment, and finally sepa-
rated from the service as a danger to the morale of the military. He is
the perfect military officer for a free and democratic nation and for
international peacekeeping. For these reasons, he was no longer ac-
ceptable to the U.S. Army.
The U.S. had waited out three years ofAristide's presidency. With
most of his term stolen, President Aristide returned to Haiti and served
the final year. Although most Haitians called for Aristide to serve out
the three years he spent in exile, Washington forbade it. He stepped
down. But he did not run from the people of Haiti, and after five years
he was elected to his second term at the beginning of the second mil-
lennium.
With the steady opposition of the U.S., and we know not what acts
of subversion by it, the provocateurs of the old establishment seeking
to return to the past, and the ever present poverty, progress has not
been easy.
But a new day for Haiti is essential if the world is to address its
greatest challenge: to end the exploitation of the growing masses of
poor everywhere in the face of greater concentration of wealth and
power in the few who have in their control armies with the capacity of
omnicide and media that can veil the truth and mislead the poor to self-
destruction.
The challenge for all who seek peace and freedom and economic
justice, a decent standard of life for all, and believe the cycle of trag-
edy and misery for Haiti and all the poor nations and peoples of earth
must be broken is to unite in a vision of peace and compassion and
persevere until they prevail.
There is no other way to fulfill the promised legacy of Toussaint
Louverture as written by William Wordsworth, deeply troubled by
Toussaint's imprisonment two hundred years ago. It is the legacy we
must promise all Haitians.

TO TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE

Toussaint, the most unhappy man of menl

Whether the whistling rustic tend his plough
Within thy hearing, or thy head be now
Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den-
O miserable Chieftain! where and when
 Haiti's Agonies and Exaltations 15

Wilt thou find patience! Yet die not; do thou

Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow:
Though fallen thyself, never to rise again,
Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind
Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies.
There's not a breathing of the common wind
That will forget thee; thou hast great allies;
Thy friends are exaltations, agonies,
And love, and man's unconquerable mind.

AND NOW-TO ALL HAITIANS

Photo Essay
on Haiti

.64"

Selected by Pat Chin

 Heroes of Haiti

Haitian revol utionaries Toussaint Louverture,

top right and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, above.
Lower right, Charlemagne Peralte, leader
of the peasant guerrilla resistance
to the 1915 United States invasion
and occupation.
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New York City, November 23,1979,top.

New York City, August 1987,left

.-.
President Francois Duvalier
It and U.S. Gov. Nelson Rockefeller
I c'l
in Port-au-Prince, bottom.
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lrving Fierstein
"Haitian Rebellion, 1 986."

Haiti is the
poorest country
in the Western
Hemisphere.
Port-au-Prince,
August 1974.
Liberation News Service
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New York City, Novemb er 1gB7

Chedia(

Fort Dimanche had been a prison and

torture center
under the U.S.-backed Duvaliers.
I,at Chin

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Crowds greet President Aristide at inauguration of Ft. Dimanche as a museum,
February 1 99i .
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National Popular Party (PPN) May Day 2002.Their Kim lve

shirts say,,National production Agrarian
Reform." lf Haiti wants to have its own food, =
it must give the rand to the peasants.

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Cuban sports trainers now teach young

Haitians at this former Duvarier ranch. Pat Chin
 PPN SecretarY-General
Ben DuPuY, right.
Cuban and Haitian flags
hang from Podium.
Pat Chin

Ben Dupuy and Pat Chin

with a security officer at
the April 1999 Congress
of the National Popular
Assembly (APN),left.
Delegates voted to
transform the APN
into the PPN.

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Below, delegates to
the 5th Congress of
the PPN,2003.

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Pat Chin
 Haitian Women in the Struggle

Maude Le Blanc, ppN leader.

Peoples Vjdeo Network/Key Martjn

APN Congresses, April 1999,below; May 1995,bottom

Pat Chin

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September 21 ,1994.

t f ,' f,0 { L, rd\LNf Bill Hackwell

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The U.5. murdered

Charlemagne
Peralte in 1919
and put his body
Greg Dunkel

York City, August 1978. on display.

New

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Here Haitians in NewYork City honor their revolutionary history in a protest

of President Ronald Reagan's support for the Duvalier dictatorship.
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Bill Hackwell
San Franclsco, October 4, 1 993. Boston, July 29, 2OO2

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Ray LaForest speakins at a raly ji;,lll

illegal detentions, 200 1 .

Springfield, Mass., Octobe r 15, 1994,ief

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Boston demonstra tion against the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration Stevcrr Gillil
over scapegoating of Haitian community at beginning
of AIDS epidemic
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 Bácskai rajz.
A napraforgó, mint az őrült
Repül a pusztán egymaga,
A tébolyító napsugárban
Kibomlik csenevész haja.
Bolond lotyó – fejére kapja
A sárga szoknyáját, s szalad.
Szerelmese volt már a kóró,
A pipacs és az iszalag,
Elhagyta mind, most sír magában,
Rí és a szörnyű napra néz,
A napra, úri kedvesére,
Ki részeg s izzik, mint a réz.

Azután eszelősen, bután

Rohan a gyorsvonat után.
 Mély éjeken.
Mély éjeken hányszor nézlek, te Térkép,
Hogy sistereg fehéren künn a hó.
Így rohanok egy pirinyó vasuton,
S ringat tovább egy pirinyó hajó.
Festéktócsádon, a lilán, a zöldön,
Én vagabund, dalolva utazom.
Járok japán, olasz és muszka földön,
Síró vizen és sívó szárazon.
Távolságok és sínek gombolyagja,
Ölembe gombolyul a messzeség.
Hipp, itt a vizen, hopp, most ott a földön,
Hipp-hopp valóra válnak a mesék.
Megszínesül a lázamtól a karton,
Zászlók feszülnek ki a sárga parton,
Az óceánon vezetem a tollam,
Azt mondom csendben: itten nyugalom van,
Sápadva mondom, hol kékebb a festék:
Itt viharoktól vemhesek az esték
És tollammal, ha nem lát senki, senki,
A festett vizből hinárt emelek ki.
Az ablakon fehért fehérre hímez
A fagy, akár egy kinai leány.
Békés szivar füstöl a hosszú utca
És nesztelenül iszom a teám.
A villanyom – Aequator napja – lángol,
A kis vasut is mintha zengene
A mély s a messze egy ütemre lüktet
És zúgni kezd a térkép tengere.
Egy új poéta panasza
a régi holdhoz.
Hogy a hűs márványerkélyre léptem,
Rámnyujtotta bús, hideg kezét.
Görbe, zöld hold az Ezeregyéjben
És kérdezte: emlékszel-e még?
Hogy a hűs márványerkélyre léptem,
Húrozottan rezdült az azúr,
Hipnotizált pilláim lehunytam
S borzongott idegem és a multam,
Mint holdfényben a zongorahúr.

Ottan ültem esti toalettbe,

Búsan ringatott a kerti szék
S éreztem szájamban émelyegve
A pezsgő s a nyúl kövér ízét.
Gondoltam hanyatló életemre
Messze volt már s olyan furcsa volt.
Messze rémlett, messze, mint egy álom.
Üvegablakon, diákszobákon
És fölöttem ugyanaz a hold.

Rokkant álmodó, zavart szemekkel

Néztem, amíg tovavágtatott,
Mint aszfalton, délben, a vakember
Vak szemével nézi a napot.
Cinikusan, hitetlen szemekkel
Néztem őt és nem láttam meg őt.
De szelíden rámhajolt és átfont,
Altatódalt hintett, éji mákonyt
És derengett szemeim előtt.

Csak még egyszer nyúlhatnék feléje

Tárt kezekkel, álmaim fokán
És imádnám – ó Kelet regéje –
Álmok éji napját, egy pogány.
Csak még egyszer szállhatnék feléje,
Nyűtt szerszámmal, züllött csillagász
Látnám, koponyákon hogy világol,
Innék szörnyű varázsitalából
S fásult csontom fűtené a láz.

Messze estem, jaj de messze estem

Tőle s attól, ami életem.
Vonszolom unottan lomha testem
S mint vadállatot úgy etetem.
Mostan eljő még s azt mondja: élek.
Holt hitem fényével öntözöm.
S a testvértelen magányban elleng,
Elmegy ő is, ahogy minden elment
És megtépem sírva köntösöm.
Délutáni meditáció.
Milyen lesz a halál,
Vajon rosz lesz-e, jó,
Ez a végső, komoly
Nagy-nagy szenzáció?
Lehet, hogy semmi lesz
Egy sárga délután
Elalszik szivarom
S kinyilik néma szám.
Lehet, hogy furcsa lesz,
Reám tör rémesen,
Hogy belekancsulok
S kocsonyává esem.
Lehet, hogy enyhe lesz,
Úgy, ahogy áhitom
S átzúgok rajta, mint
A vasuti hidon,
Mint mély vizek felett,
Hogy a testem pihen
A hálófülke lágy,
Párnázott mélyiben.
Lehet, hogy egyszerű,
Csöndeskés és sivár.
Azt mondják: »ez nem ő«,
Azt mondják: »ez a sár«.
Lehet, hogy szörnyű lesz,
Mint puskadurranás,
Fülembe lárma zúg
S nem hallja senki más.
Nagy dinamit-robaj,
Velőkig felható,
Álkapcát tépdeső,
Babonás puskaszó.
Csodás, iszonytató,
Iszonytató, csodás,
Vörös és fekete
Utolsó felvonás.
Oly messze még e zaj
S előre reszketek,
Mint vad szcéna előtt
Szinházban a gyerek.
Oly távol még e zaj,
Oly messze, kívülem
Szeretném hirtelen
Befogni a fülem.
 Keserű ének.
Rövidre nyirnám a hajad,
Mint egy vezeklő zárdaszűznek,
Hogy engem láss csak és magad.

És megvakítnám a szemed,
Ezt a két ledér éji pillét,
Mely cifra lámpákhoz lebeg.

És hátrakötném a karod,
Hogy csendesen magadba fordulj
És úgy feküdj, mint egy halott.

Akkor borulnék csak reád.

Halott szemed bús éjjelében
Ragyogva ölelnélek át.
 Mérgek litániája.
Mind szeretem. A titkos zűrzavarban
Csendben susognak hozzám mint a sír.
Oly egyszerűen, gazdagon, ragyogva,
Akár a gyémánt, a rubin s zafír.

Az ópium volt első ideálom,

Az álom az én altató arám;
Csak rám lehell és az enyém, mi drága,
Enyém lesz Kina, Tibet és Japán.

Lihegve néztem ódon patikákban

Az atropin megcsillanó levét.
Bús kedvesünk szemébe álmokat lop
S sötét szeme az éjnél feketébb.

Szeretem a tápláló s gyilkos arzén-t,

Mert vézna arcunk tőle gömbölyü!
És éltető rózsás lehelletére
Az élet és a halál leng körül.

Fejfájasztó homályos délutánon

Az antipirin-hez esedezünk.
Egy perc s fejünk a semmiségbe törpül
És óriási lesz pici kezünk.
 A jó hold.
Mért nézel rám oly számadásra-hívón,
Ha éjfél után ballagok a hídon,
Hold?

Reggel ragyogtam fényesen a napban,

Aranypénzem te néked mutogattam,
Nap.

Egész nap öltem, győztem és raboltam,

Csak éjfél után járhatok a holdban
Már.

Nézd, honi holdam, pénzem meg se tartom,

A szájam áldás és tenyér a markom,
Könny.

Mert nem jó nékem, istenemre nem jó,

Ez a keménység, ez az úri tempó,
Nem.

Ami rajtam van, nem kértem, de adták,

El is hajítom, nem ér egy fabatkát.
Vedd.

Rongyokká szaggatom kevély ruhámat,

A mellem is ronggyá tépi a bánat,
Jaj.

Kiszórom néked pár fillérnyi kincsem

S a földre fekszem, ha kell, bizonyisten.
Most.
 Skála.
Őszi éjjel
A nők ágya,
Mint a vér

Vágynak ők is
Árva lelkek
A napér.

Lámpa füstől
Hosszú füsttel
Olykoron.

Hull az ágyra
Fekete hó
A korom.

Künn az ajtó,
Bús sóhajtó,
Nyekereg.

Tompa hangon
Rí a gangon
Egy gyerek.

Ülnek-ülnek
Az ágyaknál
Csendesen

Gondolkoznak
Régi rút
Emlékeken.

Egy se tudja,
Hogy mi bántja,
Mit akar?

Kóc a fésűn,
A fejükben
Zűrzavar.

Forró újjuk
Mely sok férfit,
Szívet ölt,

Most fázósan,
Fényes tűvel
Inget ölt.

A gavallér –
Aranytallér –
Hova ment?

Porlad ő is,
Mint a szívük
Odalent.

Hervadt ajkuk
Csókol álmot
Sirva kér.

Őszi éjjel
A nők ágya,
Mint a vér.
 Hideg.
Furcsa est ez, néma, hűvös.
A szobákban újra bűvös
Lámpa ég.

Fűtenek is innen-onnan
S rémlik a körúti lombban
Fönn az ég.

Istenem, mi végre élek?

Dúdorászok, árva lélek,
Egymagam.

A mesék arany kastélya

És a cukros, piros téa
Merre van?

Nem merek a ködbe nézni,

Sárga gallyakat idézni
Soha már.

Aki vén, az mint az ősz fáj,

Mint a hervatag, esős táj
S a halál.

Ó a mult nem ezt igérte

S ami van ma, könnyem érte
Mennyi folyt.

Elnémuljak, felsikoltsak?
Ennyi volt csak, ennyi volt csak,
Ennyi volt.

Menj, szegény öreg s a gáznál

Tébolyogj még és vigyázzál
Meg ne hülj.

És ha könnyű és ha lomb hull

Régi bútól, fájdalomtul
Meg ne halj…
 Kis, kósza vágyak.
Most úgy szeretnék egy párnát keresni,
Csak oly kicsit, mint egy kislány-kebel,
Vagy még inkább a földre arccal esni,
És elfeledni mindent, csendben, el.
Oly jó lenne mindent felejteni,
Oly jó lenne mindent elejteni,
Leszállani.
S a harc után,
A harc után
Megállani.
Csatakos virradat.
Reggelre minden ferde lesz
És széttörik ezer darabbá.
Ó költők, hol van ki az éj
Tündéri tükrét összerakná?

Csak köd van mostan és halál.

A kávéház égboltja szürke
S mint egy kialudt égi test,
Úgy bámul üresen az ürbe.

Meggyszínű plüsse is fakó,

Szívembe fáj bitang magánya.
De nézz reá és gazdagodj,
Az éj s a szív a bánya, bánya.

Egy ember ballag csöndesen,

Az éjszakától megveretve
S viszi-viszi a bánatát
Föl az ötödik emeletre.

Görnyed, mint egy tehervivő,

Baljós szeme meredve pillant,
Bámulja a hideg falat,
A piszkos lépcsőházi villanyt.

Egy kocsi megy a köruton,

Batárja éji gyászmenetnek.
Ki a halottja? Nem tudom.
Hull a köd. Tülkölnek. Temetnek.
Hol vannak most az angyalok,
A színésznők s más annyi csillag?
A téli aszfalt peremén
A lányok hosszú ingbe sírnak.
 Rózsa.
(Krúdy Gyulának.)

Egy régi név kiált az életemben,

Egy régi lány, kiről nem énekeltem,
Kinek a szívem rég adósa volt,
Ki rózsa volt s neve is Rózsa volt.

Diákkoromban mentem hozzá néha

Az árvalányhoz, én, kezdő poéta,
Megbújtam nála a díványsarokba
És ámbratestét néztem, szívdobogva.
Ó csipke-szoknya! Parfüm! Mézes esték!
Ó tükör! Ábránd! Méreg! Pillafesték!
Ó kisdiák, ki andalogva ballag
S nyakkendője egy vékony sárga szallag!
Üllői út! Bolondság! Régi tájak!
Eltüntek egyszer! és most újra fájnak!
Ó lány, kinek sokkal vagyok adósa,
Hadd zengek róla: rózsa, rózsa, rózsa.

Hol vagy ma, kedves? Jaj, hiába nézem

Az éjszakát, már eltakar egészen,
Vadmacskaszemed zöld deleje ég-e?
S nagy furcsa szájad? Vagy már vége, vége.
Forró fejed bután födi a föld el
S mint antik húgaid repedt tükörrel
És koszorúkkal fekszel mély koporsón
A kásás elmulás ágyában, olcsón?
Nem tudni soha hova száll a tündér,
Én sem tudom, hogy hova-merre tüntél,
Nem álltam ágyadnál ezüstkanállal,
Míg verekedtél a sovány halállal.
Valahol messze, a poros vidéken,
Halnak meg ők, egy tompa este, régen,
Igy mennek el, kik bennünket szeretnek,
Csak a szivünk marad itt, vén eretnek.

De azt tudom, hogy jó volt, mint a tűzláng.

Mely téli fagykor melegítve tűz ránk,
Csak azt tudom, hogy puszta volt szobája,
Akár egy cella oly szűzi és árva.
A hajsütővas égett szaga fojtón
Szállott köröttünk és ruhája folyton
Száradt a székén meg az asztalán.
Az élete: két arckép volt talán.
Hogy mutogatta. Egyiken merengő
Kislánykezében egy olcsó napernyő,
A másikon, mint síró árva démon –
Ki nem kap semmi gyöngyön, diadémon –
Egy elhagyott padon ül és mögötte
Egy élet rémlik a távoli ködbe.

Ahányszor néztük, remegett a lelkünk,

Mult és jövő, akik egymásra leltünk,
Én, ki indultam, ő ki lefelé ment,
Pihenni vágyó, elalélt, szegény szent,
Ki elvetette aranyát-ezüstjét,
Csak szívta a rosz cigaretta füstjét,
Tündöklő jáspis-karjait kitárta,
Úgy vágyott innen egy regény-világba,
A messzeségbe, messze-messze ürbe,
S kis pille, a szobáját átrepülte.

Mert táncosnő volt és Krakkóba táncolt,

S fehér nyakán egy halványlila lánc volt.
 A rosz élet.
Az őszi utcán fúj a szél.
A fa az éjszakába fél.

Csak fúj a szél, fúj, egyre fúj.

Azt mondja, nincsen semmi új.

Nincs semmi új, csak unalom.

Hányódás régi utakon.

Nincs semmi új, nincs semmi jó

És nem igaz, hogy lenni jó.

Nem jó az élet méze sem.

Nem jó aludni csendesen.

Nem jó ásitva kelni fel

S fülledt undorral telni el.

Nem jó feküdni gondtalan

És átkozott, ki gondba van.

Nem jó kacagni tétován

A virágfüstölős szobán.

Nem jó rohanni sebtiben,

Nem jó: a nem, nem: az igen.

Nem jó a csend, nem jó a szó.

A sirba tán még ott se jó.
De úgy szeretnék egymagam
A földre esni hangtalan.

Csak esni, bukni, hullani,

Minthogyha fájna valami.

Elhagyni sárga bútorom,

Csatangolni, mint egykoron.

Lakástalan és egyedül
Bolyongani, kivert ebül.

Ott, ahol senkise tanyáz

Bámulni, hogy lobog a gáz.

Halálba ringani vakon

A dagadt, őszi árakon.

Elveszni lassan, hallgatag

A sirva-síró ég alatt.

A vállamon egy rongy köpeny.

Igy állani közönyösen.

Sűrű esőben állani,

Mint a kopár fa ágai.

Csak fázni egész éjszaka

És ázni, mint egy árva fa…
 Egy kézre vágyom.
Jó olvasó, ki ülsz a lámpa mellett
Akárcsak én itt, most rád gondolok
S akárki vagy, versekkel ünnepellek.
Látom fejed, figyelmes homlokod.

Testvértelen és bánatos a költő

Az életek, a szivek alkuján.
És néha ő, a magányos ődöngő
Kétségbeesve nyúl egy kéz után.

Most a kezed kell – nincs kéz a világon

Mit így szorítanék, egy kézre vágyom,
Az éjen át nyújtsd, légy akárki bár.

Gondolj reám és messze útjainkra

S mondd, ki lehet, a ki e verset irta,
Ki ez a testvér és neki mi fáj?
 Akarsz-e játszani?
A játszótársam, mondd, akarsz-e lenni,
Akarsz-e mindig, mindig játszani,
Akarsz-e együtt a sötétbe menni,
Gyerekszívvel fontosnak látszani,
Nagykomolyan az asztalfőre ülni,
Borból-vizből mértékkel tölteni,
Gyöngyöt dobálni, semminek örülni,
Sóhajtva rosz ruhákat ölteni?
Akarsz-e játszani mindent, mi élet,
Havas telet és hosszu-hosszu őszt,
Lehet-e némán teát inni véled,
Rubin-téát és sárga páragőzt?
Akarsz-e teljes, tiszta szivvel élni,
Hallgatni hosszan, néha-néha félni,
Hogy a körúton járkál a november,
Ez utcaseprő, szegény, beteg ember.
Ki fütyürész az ablakunk alatt?
Akarsz játszani kigyót, madarat,
Hosszú utazást, vonatot, hajót,
Karácsonyt, álmot, mindenféle jót?
Akarsz játszani boldog szeretőt,
Pózolni sirást, cifra temetőt?
Akarsz-e élni, élni mindörökkön,
Játékban élni, mely valóra vált?
Virágok közt feküdni lenn a földön
S akarsz, akarsz-e játszani halált?
 Reggeli.
Az aviatikus,
Aki ezer méter magasban
Kóvályog most a nyári rónán
Nem oly boldog,
Mint én,
Ki lassan
Ringok a lelkem ütemén,
Míg elkészül e költemény.

A kerten
Ahol leverten
Sétáltam tegnap este
Már
A hajnal aranyosra festve
Jár.
Ó reggel, áldott tiszta reggel,
Kiáltozom,
Itt állsz csodálkozó szemekkel,
Én asszonyom.
Elém rakod a kávét és a mézet
És nézed,
Mily bőség,
Csodálod a port, a harmat esőjét.
A tengerből jössz, a habok
Hajnali álma ringatott.
Tekinteted a messzeségbe leng el,
A tengeré most a szived,
Kezed a tengertől hideg,
S a tested olyan, mint a nyári tenger.

Mondd, bűn-e ez:

Ez a fehér és boldog abrosz,
Min a szemem el-elkalandoz?
És bűn-e ez a
Nyugalom,
Kéken füstölgő
Szivarom?
Bűn-e,
Hogy mostan nem cikáz a villám?
Bűn-e,
Hogy mostan már ezüst a villám?
Bűn-e,
Hogy nem sikoltok
S egy percre boldog
Vagyok?
Hogy most
Csak ideges szemed nézem szelíden
És hallgatom fuldokló, árva szívem
Zaját?
 A jó élet.
Én csüggedt lelkem, én csüggedt szivem,
Daloljatok és mondjátok: igen,

Hurrázatok e nyári hajnalon,

S ne hagyjatok ködökbe hajlanom.

Korán keltem. Felhúzom a rolót.

A nyári nappal együtt lángolok.

Most kikiáltom, élni, élni szép.

Boldog, ki él, és boldog, a ki lép.

Boldog a táncos és a sánta is,

Az élet jó még ő iránta is.

Mert minden jó. Éhezni s enni jó,

Áldott az éhség s áldott a cipó.

Szomjazni is jó s ha a fény zizeg,

Meginni egy pohár jeges vizet.

Fürödni, úszni, míg erőnk kitart,

Elszívni a díványon egy szivart.

Ó július, aranyos a ködöd,

Torzult ajakkal tüzet gügyögök.

A vörös nyár zúgása bátorít,

Én, élet atlétája állok itt.
Szaladni tudnék s nem tudom hová,
Szeretnék élni, végtelen soká.

Száz évig, míg a testem megtörik,

Szeretnék élni, élni örökig.

Az arcom mostan csupa-csupa fény,

A isten karjaiba szálltam én,

Mint egykor anyám köténye alá

És úgy tekintek félve-bízva rá.

Én jó vagyok, ezrek jósága tölt,

Más vágyam nincs, tartson soká a föld.

Jó emberek, ezt kéri társatok,

Csak talpalatnyi földet adjatok.

A végtelenben egy kicsi helyet,

Hol meghúzódhatom és élhetek.
 Csendes, ünnepi óda
az élethez.
Nagy vagy, te föld, te víz, te tűz az égen,
Mellettetek olyan kicsiny vagyok
S te élet, mely sötéten felkomorlasz,
Mindenkinél nagyobb,

Nagyobb, veszélyesebb, iszonyú torlasz,

Mely kőkeményen az utunkban áll
S keményebb árnyakat boritsz fölébe,
Mint a kemény halál.

Hiába bújok el a föld ölébe,

Magas toronyba, léptem követed,
És szenvedést adsz, terhes aranyalmát,
Követ adsz, köveket,

És mindig érzem láncaid hatalmát,

Hogy élni nagyszerű és szomorú,
Egy néma száj nekem egy szörnyü harcdal,
Sors és bús háború.

E sekély korban bús-tragikus arccal

Vallom, hogy nagy vagy és mindig tudom,
A kávéházban és a villamosban,
A lármás körúton,

És féltve viszlek a tömegbe mostan,

Hol száz idegen szem mered felém
É