The Long Road to Peace: The History of Haiti
(Ayiti: The Land of Many Mountains)

Written by: luminoUS, Editor at Large

 

When the Earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, I must admit that I knew very little about the people and the history outside of Voudou, Toussaint L’Ouverture, and Wyclef Jean. I sat in front of my teLIEvision as the news reporters went on about the devastation of this gravely poor republic with a sense that there was more to the story that wasn’t being told. Then, Pat Robertson stated that Haiti was in a state of poor affairs as a result of a curse, which was placed upon them after they made a pact with the devil. I did know that the religion of Haiti is Voudou, which is a great mixture of Roman Catholicism and African religious concepts. It is very ritualistic, but far from satanic, and they do not in any way shape or form worship the devil. This is where I decided to draw the line and eXpand my knowledge. I bypassed Internet media and headed to the bookstore after the recommendation of a friend. Sixty-five pages into An Unbroken Agony and I was left in frustration and anger as to what the republic of Haiti had endured at the hands of the US government and France.

 

Ayiti means "Land of Many Mountains". This was the name given by the Taino Natives, but Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the island in December of 1492 and decided to name the island la Ysla Espanola or Hispaniola. It was estimated that nearly 8 million Tainos were living on the island of Ayiti when Columbus arrived and, 30 years after Columbus and the Europeans arrived, the Taino population dwindled to less than two hundred. Columbus, in his arrogance, noted that since the natives didn’t have clothes, possessions, religion or speech they were fit to be servants and captives. Africans were also imported from the coast of Africa for the purpose of becoming slaves and servants. Needless to say, 50 years after Columbus’ arrival, the Tainos and their culture totally disappeared due to diseases leaving the Africans to serve alone as slaves.

 

Pat Robertson stated that Haiti was in a state of poor affairs as a result of a curse, which was placed upon them after they made a pact with the devil … This is where I decided to draw the line and eXpand my knowledge…

 

Shortly after the French Revolution, August 1791, Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines led armies of slaves in what would later be known as the Haitian Revolution. Unbeknownst to the European colonies that controlled the slave population at that time, many of the slaves were African soldiers who knew the odds and ins of fighting. Roughly 400,000 joined ranks and rebelled, leading to the end of slavery and, as a result, France lost two-thirds of its word trade economy.

 

On January 1, 1804, the island, which was named St. Domingue, was renamed Haiti and was declared a free republic. It has been said that Dessalines, leaving the red and blue behind, tore the white from the French tricolor flag. Dessalines also replaced the letters R.F. (Republic of France) with the words “Liberty or Death”. Offering refuge to anyone seeking eXcape from the European throes of government, Haiti was a place of refuge, but the rest of the world didn’t look at the Haitian Revolution as a victory. Haiti was shunned because of its willingness to stand strong and independent.

 

The education system for non-mulatto and poor Haitian citizens was horrible or next to null due to the fact that the formal education system was controlled by the religious structures and the Vatican refused to recognize Haiti as a newfound republic. This recognition came nearly 55 years later. By the time the church schools had been created, the mulattos, who were the elite, had fixed the system so that it would cater to their needs and many Haitians were left with little to no educational background.

 

Haiti was a place of refuge, but the rest of the world didn’t look at the Haitian Revolution as a victory. Haiti
was shunned because of its willingness to stand strong and independent.

 

As if things couldn’t get any worse, France demanded reparations from Haiti in the amount of $21 billion dollars as compensation for not wanting to be slaves. The United States teamed up with Europe and placed a global economic embargo on the Republic. These sanctions carried on until 1863. Nearly 100 years after the slave revolt, Haiti was paying an estimated 80 percent of the government’s resources in debt services to American and French banks on loans that were acquired to pay off the imposed reparations. In recent years, under the Bush administration, four loans in the amount of $146 million dollars were blocked. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) already approved these loans in 1998 and the Haitian government had already paid five million dollars to the IDB and signed papers, but never received the funds. This left them in a horrible economic bind.

 

Although the spirit of the Haitian people has been tried and tested, they have never broken. The Kreyol-speaking people of Haiti are resilient and have retained a vast knowledge of their African heritage, unlike any of the other African descendants throughout the Diaspora. It is their sense of pride and morals that have given them strength to make it through one hardship after another. In the midst of their current tragedy, the US has sent aid that has arrived days late and docked in the middle of the ocean in efforts to not allow Haitians to walk aboard ships to seek medical help freely. We have raised numerous funds to help them to rebuild, which, in my opinion, we are indebted to do, but I somehow believe that all of the funds won’t be used for what they have been raised for. Still, I have donated in faith. Sadly enough, it took for a natural disaster to occur in order for me to seek knowledge of my brothers and sisters outside of the US border, but I’m glad that I found the knowledge nonetheless. I encourage you all to seek knowledge outside of what is being spoken on the nightly news, printed in corporate-backed newspapers or floating in cyber space.

 

Much peace, love and light

 

 

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