Regarding Haiti's educational history, two visionaries Elie Dubois and Louis Joseph Janvier are worth mentioning. [Fabre Geffrard] chose Dubois as Minister of Education in 1859 who established a national school structure at all levels, with a focus on solid foundation at the elementary level by opening Ecole Normale Primaire et Ecole Normale Supérieure. Louis Joseph Janvier (1855-1919) a respected Haitian scholar, trained in medicine, a diplomat in London and Paris, envisioned mandatory elementary schools in urban and rural areas as well as in Masonic temples. Educating the girls and empowering women through voting and having them teach Haitian values were his priorities also.
[Frederick Douglass] lamented the fact that the U.S. continues to shun Haiti although it has enriched American merchants, farmers and the country overall. He acknowledged a common complaint of Americans at the time that Haiti was more friendly to France and other European countries than the U.S. However, he partly blamed the US for not reaching out to Haiti with respect and friendship. He also cited Haiti's many institutional and cultural connections to France - language, literature, laws and government - as reasons for its friendship with France. Still, Douglass asserted that the main reason for the United States' ambiguous attitude towards Haiti was racial. In discussing Haiti's geography, Douglass lavishly praises its climate; lofty mountains; strikingly beautiful valleys, lakes, rivers and plains; blue waters and the exquisite Bay of Portau-Prince and Mole St. Nicolas. Douglass noted that the U.S. wanted the Mole for a naval station in order to dominate the area's commercial market before and after the then anticipated Nicaragua Canal was completed. The U.S. was also considering taking the Mole by force, if necessary. However, Douglass warned them that Haiti would not peacefully give up the harbor and that it would cost too much to take it by force.
Rep. St. Fleur and the panelists also called for a change in the Bush administration's policy denying safe harbor to Haitians fleeing Haiti for the shores of Florida by boat. In a strong show of support for St. Fleur's resolutions, representatives of presidential hopeful [John Kerry] circulated a statement from the candidate supporting the presence of a multinational police force in Haiti including police from the United States, OAS and CARICOM. The statement also called for U.S. funded training and support for Haiti's police force, the lifting current sanctions on aid to Haitians for health and education programs, and renewed pressure on international financial institutions to assist the Haitian government in confronting these issues. Kerry's statement went on to state, "If we hope to lead the nations of the world toward a more democratic future, we must act now to protect a fragile democracy in our own backyard."
Denying Haiti credit where credit is due is an established tradition. In 1893, at the end of the century that started with Haitian Independence and the Slave Trade Act, the orator, statesman and emancipated slave Frederick Douglass told an audience at the Chicago World's Fair how Haiti "taught the world the danger of slavery and the value of liberty." He pointed out that: The world had a chance to recognize Haiti three years ago, during the celebration of Haiti's bicentennial. But once again, Haiti was penalized. On the big day, January 1, 2004, Thabo Mbeki, President of the most powerful African nation, South Africa, came to celebrate. But the former slaveholding nations, led by the United States, boycotted the events, and forced the less powerful countries of Africa and the Caribbean to stay away. Instead of sending congratulations to the Haitian people's elected representatives, the United States sent guns and money to those trying to overthrow the government. When the international spotlight came to Haiti in 2004, it was to witness the return to dictatorship rather than to celebrate freedom from slavery.
Just as dance forms originating from Saint-Domingue made their way into southern culture, religion also left its indelible marks. It is well documented that the Vodou religion in New Orleans began to blossom around 1800 with Sanite Dede, a free woman of color who arrived from Saint-Domingue. The Saint-Domingan Vodou priestess was replaced in 1820 by New Orleans's native Marie Laveau, who became legendary. Haitians were for the most part Catholic; their presence in the various U.S. cities where they settled gave rise to the establishment of a number of biracial congregations. In Baltimore, in 1829, four colored Saint-Domingan women--Elizabeth Lange, Marie Magdelene Baas, Marie Rose Boegue, and Marie Therese Duchemin--established the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the world's first Black religious community, and founded the School for Colored Girls.
Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), emphasized the relevance of Haiti's historical past because Haiti was the land where the Negroes repelled the Whites and established an independent republic. In the same vein, writers of the Harlem Renaissance embraced Haiti's history and culture. Claude McKay's work, for example, is replete with tales of Haiti's heroic past. [Langston Hughes], perhaps the most central figure of the Harlem Renaissance movement, having read of "Toussaint L'Ouverture, Dessalines, King Christophe, proud Black names," made a pilgrimage to Haiti.
[Paul, Franck Laraque], Franck's brother and co-author, was not present in Boston for the event, but his spirit was represented by Lesly René, Laforèt Petit-Frère and [Jacques Antoine Jean] who read his poems from the bilingual, English-Creole anthology Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry (Curbstone Press, 2002) which Paul Laraque edited and other volumes (see Boston Haitian Reporter of May 2002). A revolutionary poet, he once corresponded with the celebrated French Surrealist guru André Breton, and was among the entourage of poets and intellectuals (René Depestre, Jacques Stephen Alexis, Théodore Baker, Gérald Bloncourt, Gérard Chenet, Pierre Mabile, etc.) who welcomed Breton in Port-au-Prince during the latter's famous visit to Haiti in December 1945.
While at its inception, the revolutionary ideals of the newly formed nation called Haiti held great promise, the reality as understood today detracts from this plesant image . Still , our rituals and their symbolic associations mirror these revolutionary ideals. For example, soup joummou, the New Year's and Independence Day celebratory pumpkin soup, signifies the communion of equals through the consumption of the once forbidden delicacy reserved for the colonial masters. Today, as family and friends gather around the dinner table, we are clearly proud of our freedom and accomplishments, yet know that there are countless Haitians who are hungry, sleeping under tents. Two hundred and eight years after independence, many Haitians live in abject poverty and have no rights as humans.
Bon Nouvel, Haiti's largest publication and oldest Creole magazine presented a historical overview of Haiti's flag in its May 2003 issue. To my surprise, there wasn't a so- called "creation" of the flag on May 18. There was rather a presentation that occurred during the month of May in a congress held in Arcahaie. Like Thomas Madiou, Haiti's renowned historian, Bon Nouvel did not write May 18 as the date of the presentation of the flag.
As I reflect on last year's political, social, and ecological events in Haiti and observing a future that looks dim for the younger generation, I want to take the same position that Dr. Rosalvo Bobo (1873-1929), a political leader, a physician, a researcher on herbal medicine, took at the eve of Haiti's centennial. I am not celebrating. Since January 1st is also a World Day of Peace, I would rather peacefully reflect on the following translation of Dr. Bobo's centennial speech addressed circa the end of 1903.
