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.
Montréal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
354 p., This book, considered a founding work of anthropology of the Lesser Antilles, was written by Jean Benoist and his students from the University of Montreal. It provides information on the social organization of the archipelago and its vision of the world shortly before the disappearance of the plantation system.
Césaire,Aimé (Author) and Vergès,Françoise (Author)
Format:
Book, Whole
Language:
French
Publication Date:
2005
Published:
Paris: Albin Michel
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
148 p., Au moment où, pour la première fois en France, s'ouvre un large débat public sur les traces contemporaines de l'esclavage et du colonialisme, la portée historique et politique des écrits d'Aimé Césaire prend un relief tout particulier. Dans ces entretiens accordés à Françoise Vergès, le "père de la négritude" relate avec une très grande liberté de ton les principaux moments de son combat pour l'égalité des peuples à l'ère post-coloniale. Témoin capital de cette période de mutations, Aimé Césaire évoque son siècle, celui de la fin des empires coloniaux, en posant les questions fondamentales de l'égalité, de l'écriture de l'histoire des anonymes et des disparus du monde non européen. C'est la voix d'un homme immense qu'il nous est donné d'entendre, dans sa force et sa modestie.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
210 p., From the days of slavery, the Negro from Martinique has never stopped "marronner", that is to say, to try to escape his condition, winning the great woods, the plebeians districts boroughs or even the neighboring islands. Simon, principal figure of the book, was one of them. He knew in the 17th century the arrival of the first slaves from Africa Guinea, the eighteenth hell of sugar plantations in the nineteenth fever abolition, in the early twentieth that of marching strikes and, at the dawn of XXI, the mare desperadoes of false modernity.
210 p., In African and Caribbean literature the question of power relations is omnipresent. It is identifiable in the literature of the independence period, which explored socio-cultural issues while African and Caribbean nations were emerging from the grip of colonial powers, and also in that of today, where developed countries and developing countries are still negotiating their relationship. While the Black woman is the first to feel the effects of power, because the latter is doubly marginalized as a woman and black, she has historically been silenced by a literary canon that does not leave her room for self-expression. Through an analysis of power relations between Black women and the patriarchal institution, we reveal the tactics that women use to endure the alienating systems in which they are located: (1) the rehabilitation of their sexuality (2) feminine solidarity (3) formal education (4) supernatural power and (5) the reexamination of Western values.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
Originally published in Paris, France, as Peau noire, masques blancs, c1952., 188 p, A psychiatric and psychoanalytic analysis of colonial racism's effects on black colonials' identity, self-perception, and mental wellbeing. The psychiatrist Frantz Fanon was born in 1925 and grew up in Martinique, which was a French colony at the time.
de Fabregues, B. Peyre (author / Institut d'Elevage et de Medicine veterinaire des Pays tropicaux)
Format:
Conference paper
Language:
French
Publication Date:
1981
Published:
France
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 95 Document Number: C07410
Notes:
INTERPAKS, Mimeographed, 1981. Paper presented at Workshop on Linkages between Agricultural Research and Farmers in Developing Countries, Paris, France, May 13-14, 1981. 6 p., Describes a project aimed at integrating pastoral societies into a modern production economy. The method used was aimed at constant information and consultation with the breeders concerned. An interdisciplinary team of investigators/advisors visited the area concerned. Continuous participation of breeders was sought, taking into account their views and concerns. Special broadcasts on the national radio were used to inform breeders about modernization projects in the pastoral area.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
La Justice en Martinique a ouvert l'année 2002 de manière grandiose avec le nouveau Palais de Justice qui est situé, est-ce un symbole ou un signe, sur le terrain de l'ancienne prison de Fort de France. Mais comme l'habit ne fait pas le moine, le Palais de Justice ne fait pas la Justice. Derrière l'apparat de ses nouveaux locaux, la question de la crédibilité de l'institution judiciaire à la Martinique reste entière. Plus qu'en d'autres endroits, la justice est crainte en Martinique. Dans la tradition de ce pays, en créole on dit «Lalwa» avec un grand L et un peu d'effroi. De même, si vous êtes bien habillé, c'est que vous allez «paraître», comprenez comparaître devant les juges. Car on ne va pas devant ces gens sinon que déférents et donc bien habillé de la tête aux pieds. Ceci s'explique aisément. Pour le martiniquais, la justice est un phénomène étrange et étranger. Peut-on sérieusement soutenir que le Code Noir était neutre et que les juges de cette époque étaient des êtres hors des normes sociales ? Non ! Quelques affaires : la non-affaire Guibert, l'affaire Louis-Sidney, l'affaire Air Martinique, la postière et le Rastafari, etc. Quelques analyses : la discrimination au quotidien, une justice fort souvent démunie, la criminalisation des luttes sociales.Raphaël CONSTANT;
