The French called the Island St. Domingue, and began importing thousands of African slaves to clear much of the land and build plantations. By the late 1700s, there were over half a million African slaves in St. Domingue, and dose to 40,000 whites, as well as almost as many "mulattos." (The word "mulatto" derives from the Spanish term meaning a young mule.) They were the "free people of color," the result of white men taking many slave women. [Adam Hochchild] goes on to tell us how very rich France became through its plantocracy on St. Domingue alone: "The colony's eight thousand plantations accounted for more than one third of France's foreign trade, and its own foreign trade equaled that of the newly born United States." White planters and merchants on the island lived a life of luxury unrivaled in "the New World." Hochchild tells us that on that fateful August night "a large group of slaves representing many plantations met under the night sky in a remote spot called Alligator Woods..." and these are the words reportedly shouted to the throng by a revolt leader: '"Throw away the image of the god of the whites who thirsts for our tears, and listen to the voice of liberty which speaks in the hearts of all of us."
At [Henry Christophe]'s death, Haiti was taken over by General Boyer and civil war ceased. It was Boyer who obtained Haiti's official independence from France for 150 million francs. Unfortunately, Haiti's employment is less than 30 percent and its illiteracy rate is above 50 percent. Though its official language is French, Haiti's most widely spoken language is kreyol. Ninety percent of Haitians are Catholic although 99 percent worship their native religion of voodoo. Despite its tropical resort geography, living conditions in Haiti are comparative to those of many Third World nations. The Haitian economy is almost entirely dependent upon U.S. companies who horde the country's resources and only pay slave wages.
According to historical records and stories passed down by the griots in Haiti, Christophe was born around October 6, 1767 in Grenada and brought to Haiti (then Saint Domingue) as a slave.
The book "Imaginarios ambiguos, realidades contradictorias. Conductas y representaciones de los negros y mulatos novohispanos, siglos XVI y XVII" by Úrsula Camba Ludlow is reviewed.
A brief overview of London's carnival and its beginnings in the late 1950s. Claudia Jones committed herself to both the culture and political underpinning of Caribbean carnival when she founded the event. London's West Indian community embraced carnival as an important source of celebration and cultural identity in the face of racist intimidation in Britain. The essay explores various difficulties that black British artists face gaining recognition, particularly those who work in carnival.
Allende,Isabel (Author) and Peden,Margaret Sayers (Translator)
Format:
Book, Whole
Publication Date:
2010
Published:
New York: Harper
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
457 p, The story of a mulatta woman, a slave and concubine, determined to take control of her own destiny in a society where that would seem impossible
Dessalines became a lieutenant in Papillon's army and followed him to Santo Domingo, where at first he enlisted to serve Spain's military forces against the French then he joined the "real" slave rebellion that was inspired by Dutty Boukman, a voodoo priest, and led by Toussaint.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
Papers presented at the Primer Seminario Internacional "La Abolición de la Esclavitud y los Procesos de Manumisión en el Perú, América Latina y El Caribe" held in 2004 in Lima., 224 p., Los ensayos reunidos aquí se proponen discutir, analizar y examinar desde una perspectiva interdisciplinaria, las representaciones de la transafricanía en América Latina y la situación de los transafrícanos a 150 años de la abolición de la esclavitud en el Perú.
This article reviews the book "Las Tropas Auxiliares del rey en Centroamérica. Historia de los negros súbditos de la monarquía española," by Jorge Victoria Ojeda.
