=?x-unknown?q?17857=3A__Esser=3A_We_Need_Haiti_=96_Facing?==?x-unknown?q?_Reality_?=

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com


We Need Haiti – Facing Reality
Nation Newspaper Barbados

by David Comissiong
Monday 12, January-2004


TO A LARGE extent, we black people still remain the “hewers
of wood and drawers of water” of this world.

Of all the so-called races and ethnicities, we remain the
one that is most disorganised and lacking in an overarching
group or nationalist sensibility, thereby making us an easy
target of manipulation and exploitation.

We therefore, more than any other people, need to make full
use of every possible mechanism or event that has the
potential to unify us on an international basis and to
foster a collective sense of our own self-interest.

One such event is the celebration of the 200th anniversary
of the independence of Haiti!

The ‘bi-centennial’ milestone of a nation – particularly a
nation given birth to by a revolution – is a big thing! Many
of us will recall the worldwide attention that was fixed on
the United States of America and France when they celebrated
the bi-centennials of the American and French revolutions,
and the way in which those nations used the celebrations to
solidify their sense of history and national destiny.

Well, the bi-centennial celebrations of Haiti’s independence
and the people’s revolution that brought the nation into
existence had the potential to do a similar thing for black
or African people worldwide.

You see, the Haitian Revolution belongs to all black people!
By defending the armies of the three great slavery-
sustaining super-powers of the 18th century – Britain,
France and Spain – our African ancestors in Haiti struck a
blow that mortally wounded the worldwide European slavery
system.

Furthermore, the leaders of independent Haiti dedicated
their new republic to the overthrow of the enslavement of
all Africans. Jean Jacques Dessalines, the first leader of
independent Haiti, proclaimed his ultimate intention of
sending Haitian navies and armies to destroy the European
slave systems in the rest of the Caribbean and on the
African continent.

The Haitians established a national constitution which
stipulated that “no White man shall set foot on this
territory as master or land-owner”, and further declared
that all Haitians were to be known as “Blacks”, whatever
their colour.

One of Dessalines’ successors, President Alexander Petion,
gave refuge and critical material assistance to Miranda and
Simon Bolivar – the two liberators of South America – on
condition that they abolish the enslavement of black people
in every liberated territory.

Early Haitian scholars struck telling blows for African
dignity and freedom by carrying out researches into our
glorious African past, and proclaiming this long-suppressed
“good news” to a European dominated world. And many of the
lion-hearted sons of Haiti made their way to the United
States of America to fight for the cause of freedom during
the American Civil War.

This is the inspiring story that all Black people should
have been internalising and rallying around during the
course of massive year-long celebrations in Port-Au-Prince
and other major Black capitals. Unfortunately, this is not
happening, and one of the main reasons why it is not
happening is because of a lack of organisation and
leadership by the government of Haiti.

But none of us should be surprised to learn that in the
years leading up to this historic bi-centennial year,
President Aristide’s government has been systematically
sabotaged by the government of the United States. Washington
has done everything possible to ensure that Haiti is starved
of the capital-loans, aid and investment it so desperately
needs if it is to function efficiently and develop.

Of course, the right-wing hawks in Washington claim to be
punishing Haiti because of flawed parliamentary elections,
but intelligent black people must wonder whether we are not
also witnessing a calculated effort to ensure that the
international revolutionary potential of the bi-centennial
year is squandered.

Make no mistake about it, we Barbadians need Haiti. We need
the inspiration and sense of history that can be drawn from
a knowledge of the stories of Mackandal, Boukman, Toussaint,
Christophe, Dessalines and Petion.

But we also need Haiti because we need the strength and
support of a “Caribbean nation” and Haiti is central to the
construction of any such regional state. Caribbean
nationalism begins with the Haitian Revolution, and Haiti’s
territory and eight million strong population must take
their rightful place in the transformation of CARICOM into a
genuine regional nation state.

Copyright © 2001 Nation Publishing Co. Limited
http://www.nationnews.com/StoryView.cfm?Record=46168&Section
=LO