The article discusses the history of Santo Domingo (which was renamed the Dominican Republic) under the French General Jean-Louis Ferrand from 1804 through 1809. Particular focus is given to Ferrand's efforts, under the direction of the French Emperor Napoleon I, to re-enslave Santo Domingo and overthrow Haiti's ruler Toussaint Louverture. An overview of the slavery laws in Santo Domingo is provided. Ferrand's use of black Haitian captives as slaves, including the Haitians captured by the French who lived near the border with Santo Domingo, is provided.
For the last three weeks, the readers of this column have been able to follow Dr. [Anthony P. Maingot]'s speech about Haiti's history of war of liberation and internicine struggles which have been such a burden for the First Black Republic. He began with "the issue of the moment," namely the reparation from France for 200 years of slavery. Haiti's political culture, its "developed legacy of behavior, " is not conducive to development. The second issue studied by Dr. Maingot is the U.S. occupation of Haiti, which "rested on the idea of the White Man's burden" - its Manifest Destiny. But, on balance, the occupation was not entirely negative. The very racism of the White invaders was a reality check for Haitian society. Yes, by treating all Haitians (whether dark skinned or light skinned Mulattoes) as "Niggers," no more no less, the foreign invaders reconciled the subjective ideas of superiority and/or inferiority of the Haitians with their own, i.e., their more objective, non involved, opinions as powerful occupying forces. Thirdly, Dr. Maingot analysed a cultural element that had, and continues to have, a great impact on Haitian society. That major cultural factor, of course, is the syncretic religion called vodoo.
On the fourteenth of July, the French Bastille Day, Ms. [Jacqueline Damour] will celebrate her 68th birthday. A vibrantly energetic widow, Jacqueline is proud of her Haitian heritage. She is the mother of six children whos-names are: Ossleine, Vaneek, Judith, Jacqueline, Amsden and James.
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.
Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, is a Haitian activist and leader of Fondasyon Trant Septanm (September 30 organization), named in commemoration of the coup against democratically elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide in 1991. His organization worked with victims of torture, rape and extrajudicial executions by the Haitian military and paramilitary. I met Lovinsky when I lived in Haiti. I admire his fervent commitment to educate Americans about the negative impacts of US policies towards Haiti. In 2004, under threat by the former military whose human rights abuses he had vehemently denounced, Lovinsky left Haiti for the US. But two years later, after democratic elections, Lovinsky returned to Haiti. Like many of his friends, I was concerned for his safety, but Lovinsky was unwavering. Last August, while working with a human rights delegation, Lovinsky received a telephone call and left his home. His car was found the next morning, but he has not been seen since. He is "disappeared", a term used to describe someone who is kidnapped out of a political motivation.
It goes something like this: A Dr. James D. Watson made a statement in an interview with the Times of London, which was interpreted to mean that blacks are dumber than whites (those are my words). Here's what he actually said: "...there are many people of color who are very talented," ...he is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Àfrica. ' "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really," the Times quoted him as saying. As a child growing up in Haiti, I often heard my peers making comments that would reflect views similar to that allegedly expressed by Dr. Watson. There's no truth to the belief that Haitians are inferior to citizens of other nations, but sadly, many Haitians believe that. Unfortunately, many non-Haitians believe that about Haitians as well. For as long as I can remember, there s been a cancer spread throughout that says that we as a people aren't capable of rising above our circumstances and becoming who we were created to be. It's time for all of us to recognize that all people are created in the image of God. One race or people group isn't created "better than another. We are all created equal and we are all loved equally by a Heavenly Father who desires the best for His creatures.
Portuguese and Spanish slavers supplied the Americas with "los Negros," the Blacks. Only those young and strong, impervious to European disease and able to withstand months of torturous living packed in the cruel quarters of slave shipholds survived the middle passage. Those who arrived, stunned and malnourished, lost in a foreign land, were easy prey to the slavers. Removed from a world that had nourished them, left to the mercy of those whose own lack of humanity prevented the recognition of theirs, they were utterly dependent and at the mercy of their captors. Vestiges of racism threaten to dismantle further progress in South America, as they do here. The prophecies of Willie Lynch, a slave owner who created a divisive plan to keep Blacks separate by fostering dissent among them, are coming true. Lynch outlined the differences in physical characteristics among the slaves-skin shade, hair texture, height, etc. By playing up these differences, Lynch promised, "The Black slave, after receiving this indoctrination, shall carry on and will become self-refueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands." Throughout North and South America, Lynch's plan lives on. Color lines rule, with the predominantly European strains remaining in power, and those of darker skin and crisper hair texture continue to be oppressed. It is a chilling reality that echoes down from the brutal suppression of the native peoples of Chiapas to the continued repression of Mexicans here and in their own country, to the harsh discrimination shown the Blacks of Brazil and America.
Discusses the social conditions in Haiti in 1965. Prevalence of violence in the country; Disasters suffered by Haitians; Human rights violations committed by the government.
On the deaths of feminists Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcellin, and Anne Marie Coriolan. Topics include their research on Haitian women, the use of micro-credit in Haiti and women's economic conditions, and Haitian women's participation in the political process.
Discusses the deportation of foreign-born youth with criminal convictions to Haiti, other Caribbean countries, and Central America, based on 1996 laws allowing the US Immigration and Naturalization Service to deny due process to non-citizens.
Discusses the status of women in Haiti in terms of accessing basic needs and services and education. States that women's invisibility was overshadowed by global media's coverage of the 2010 earthquake, wherein people were exposed to extreme poverty and gender inequity. It adds that Commission of Women Victims for Victims (KOFAVIV) is one of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that helped women victims from the prosecution of assailants.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
15 p., Warns about a series of crises that have increased the potential for serious trouble in Haiti. Suggests there is an urgent need for broad political consensus and improved relations between the executive and legislative branches of government, as well as a government-donor-civil society partnership to kick-start a community-oriented reconstruction process. This includes building a social safety net for hurricane victims and jobs-oriented infrastructure projects that prioritize areas hard-hit by the floods, boosting agriculture and enhancing a longer-term poverty reduction and economic growth strategy.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
10 p., In this submission, prepared for the Universal Periodic Review of Haiti in October 2011, Amnesty International raises concerns that key institutions for implementing reform of the judicial system have still not been established. The state has failed to provide security forces with adequate training and supervision in relation to the use of force. Haitian law does not provide a protective framework for children's rights. Hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless by the earthquake; and at the end of 2010, nearly a million people were still living in appalling conditions in camps.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
23 p., The January 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti. The risk of rape and other forms of gender-based violence in Haiti's camps has increased dramatically in the past year. This report highlights the protection needs of women and girls in camps against the background of research undertaken by Amnesty International and other organizations on violence against women and girls after the earthquake.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
160 p., Chronicles the history of slavery in Haiti through a recitation of the brutality of the colonisers and the often mundane and trivial ways in which they attempted to dehumanize Haitians. It seeks to illustrate how Haitians' 300-year journey to freedom was illuminated by the African philosophy of Ubuntu, a world view that embodies human solidarity, respect, dignity, justice, liberty, and love. In this philosophy, Africans found an unmatched strength to resist slavery.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
20 p., Cholera is both a preventable and easily cured disease, yet in July-nine months after it was inadvertently introduced into Haiti by UN troops-a Haitian was infected almost every minute, and 375 had died over the course of the month.
World Institute for Development Economics Research, United Nations University
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
48 p., After receiving at least US$20 billion in aid for reconstruction and development over the past 60 years, Haiti has been and remains a fragile state, one of the worse globally. The reasons for aid failure are legion but mostly relate to highly dysfunctional Haitian regimes, sometimes destructive US foreign policy and aid policy, and ongoing issues about how to deliver aid, all in the context of devastating natural disasters. The over-riding cause of aid failure has been the social, cultural and historical context which has led to domination by economic and political elites who have little interest in advancing Haiti, and who are totally self-interested-Haiti's fatal flaw.
Clemens,Michael (Author) and Velayudhan,Tejaswi (Author)
Format:
Pamphlet
Publication Date:
Oct 2011
Published:
Center for Global Development
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
4 p., The United States should take modest steps to create a legal channel for limited numbers of people fleeing natural disasters overseas to enter the United States. This would address two related problems: the lack of any systematic US policy to help the growing numbers of people displaced across borders by natural disasters and the inability of US humanitarian relief efforts to reduce systemic poverty or sustainably improve victims' livelihoods. The aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake presents a compelling case study of the administrative and legislative ways the US government could address both problems. Migration is already a proven and powerful force for reducing Haitians' poverty. A few modest changes in the US approach could greatly aid Haiti's recovery.
Part of a special journal issue dedicated to strategies for societal renewal in Haiti., Based on what is known about the role of women in development, the highest returns to investment are likely to come from initiatives that harness the productive capacity of women.
Examines how post-earthquake conditions in Haiti have left women and girls in a heightened state of vulnerability as well as the ineffectiveness of the U.N. and government to uphold obligations under international law to include grassroots women's leadership in the planning and implementation sessions to address sexual violence in displacement camps.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
13 p., When the January 12, 2010 earthquake hit Haiti, the country was in the midst of a second round of security and justice system reforms supported by the international community. The quake killed hundreds of thousands of people, including some who played a critical role in implementing these reforms. Damaged infrastructure and casualties in key justice and security positions hindered the existing security institutions' ability to respond to the problems caused by the destruction. This paper examines how the security and justice reforms were affected by the earthquake, and the new security challenges faced by the population in the post-earthquake period.
The recurrence of violence in Haiti since February 1986 has generated strong demands for reforms to the security and justice system, in the broader context and process of democratic construction. Important transformations have been implemented, but certain factors have hampered change. Challenges include an institutional culture that resists certain changes, weak links between the police and justice, inadequate support from international actors, and a deeply constraining economic context.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
156 p., The reconstruction of Haiti following the earthquake of January 12, 2010 was institutionalized through the creation of the Commission Interimaire pour la reconstruction d'Haiti (Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti, CIRH). More than a year later, the outlook for human rights in Haiti has not changed despite the great promise and strong rhetoric of change. This study seeks to provide evidence for understanding the many facets of extreme poverty in Haiti from a human rights perspective.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
52 p., Policy makers, practitioners, and experts alike have increasingly identified the protection of civilians as a priority for United Nations peacekeeping operations and as key to mission success. This report explores the analysis, decisions, and actions of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) to protect civilians during 2006-2007. It examines why MINUSTAH was relatively successful in protecting civilians; describes its shortcomings; and draws lessons for other contexts.
Heinzelman,Jessica (Author) and Waters,Carol (Author)
Format:
Pamphlet
Publication Date:
Oct 2010
Published:
United States Institute of Peace
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
16 p., Examines the role of Ushahidi, a crisis-mapping platform, in the disaster relief effort following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Explains that Ushahidi provided the international community with access to actionable intelligence collected directly from the Haitian population via text messages and through social media sources, allowing responders to quickly and effectively target resources in the rapidly changing disaster environment. Ushahidi provided a way to capture, organize, and share critical information coming directly from Haitians. Information was gathered through social media (e.g., blogs, Twitter, and Facebook) and text messages sent via mobile phones.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
78 p., This documents the lack of access to reproductive and maternal care in post-earthquake Haiti, even with unprecedented availability of free healthcare services. The report also describes how hunger has led women to trade sex for food and how poor camp conditions exacerbate the impact of sexual violence because of difficulties accessing post-rape care. It looks at how recovery efforts have failed to adequately address the needs and rights of women and girls, particularly their rights to health and security.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
33 p., Warns that without an inclusive national pact on critical priorities, President Michel Martelly faces the spectre of a failed presidency, and Haiti risks international abandonment. To finally start the long-promised transformation, Martelly should build on the tenuous Christmas Eve 2012 agreement for a credible electoral body to hold much delayed Senate, municipal and local polls quickly. He also should bring key actors into a national dialogue on selecting the Constitutional Council and resolving credibility questions about the appointment of the president of the Supreme Court and the Superior Judicial Council, as well as on pursuing other critical short- and longer-term public policies. Figures, Appendixes, References.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
32 p., Suggests that the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti needs a gradual reconfiguration of its operations prior to a withdrawal, to avoid a security vacuum and give Haiti the chance for sustainable development. The real debate is not whether MINUSTAH should leave but when, and what to change in Haiti and in the mission's mandate, structure and behavior to ensure that a phased withdrawal is linked to stronger institutions and progress toward lasting stability and development. Figures, Appendixes, References.
