Two individuals who played vital roles during the Haitian Revolution are Dutty Boukman, the papaloa or voodoo priest, and Alexandre Petion, who fought side-by-side with Henri Christophe.
An exploration into the social networks of the Anglo-Caribbean African population from the mid 18th to early 19th centuries. Details are given describing the unique identity and culture of an international Black Protestant community established during the period. The transition from White evangelism of slaves to the self-sustained and promoted religious community of the African population is noted. Individual leaders such as William Hammet, William Meredith, and Denmark Vesey are also profiled.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
213 p., One hundred years ago in Brazil the rituals of Candomble were feared as sorcery and persecuted as crime. Its religious objects were fearsome fetishes. Nowadays, they are Afro-Brazilian cultural works of art, objects of museum display and public monuments
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
270 p., Cuba's geographic proximity to the United States and its centrality to US imperial designs following the War of 1898 led to the creation of a unique relationship between Afro-descended populations in the two countries. Drawing on archival sources in both countries, the author traces four encounters between Afro-Cubans and African Americans.
The article discusses discrimination against free blacks and colored (mixed-race) people in the justice system of 18th-century Curaçao, then a colony of the Netherlands run by the Dutch West India Company. Two examples are examined, that of the Dutch prosecutor Hubertus Coerman, who complained of the situation to company directors in 1766, and the Curaçaoan free black woman Mariana Franko, who complained to the directors in the same year after being falsely accused of theft and banished from the colony. Differences between the administration of justice in the Netherlands and in the Dutch West Indies are then discussed.
this article charts the connection between gendered concepts of 'whiteness' in Anglo-Caribbean contexts and in metropolitan discourses surrounding British national identity, as articulated in eighteenth-century colonial legislation and official correspondence, popular texts and personal narratives of everyday life. It explores the extent to which the socio-sexual practices of British West Indian whites imperilled the emerging conflation between whiteness and Britishness.
"There was a real need for a facility like this back in the 1990's," [Jan Mapou] said. "Young people needed to be more aware of their Haitian heritage . . . their real heritage." The bookstore is best known for its excellent collection of Haitian literature much of which is written by Mapou and his advocate group, Sosyete Koukouy, which means "Society of Fire Flies." There are also learning booklets, Bibles translated in French and Creole, folklore novels, paintings, Haitian periodicals, maps and figurines that make up the store's inventory. In addition, the store also offers tasty treats including Kremas Mapou - a Haitian syrupy drink made from a secret family recipe.
