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BLACK AUGUST - 2004<br>
===================<br>
[spec. for K. Nyasha, 7/17/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal<br><br>
Among these large bodies, the little
community<br>
of Haiti, anchored in the Caribbean Sea,
has had<br>
her mission in the world, and a mission
which<br>
the world had much need to learn.
She has<br>
taught the world the danger of slavery and
the<br>
value of liberty. In this respect
she has been<br>
the greatest of all our modern
teachers.<br>
-- Hon. Frederick Douglass, former
US<br>
Minister to Haiti *Lecture on Haiti*<br>
(Jan. 2, 1893) (Quinn Chapel,
Chi.)<br><br>
It was a sweaty, steaming night in August, when a<br>
group of African captives gathered in the forests of<br>
Marne Rouge, in Le Cap, San Domingue. It was<br>
August, 1791.<br><br>
Among these men was a Voodoo priest, Papaloi<br>
Boukman, who preached to his brethren about the<br>
need for revolution against the cruel slavedrivers<br>
and torturers who made the lives of the African<br>
captives a living hell. His words, spoken in the<br>
common tongue of Creole, would echo down the<br>
annals of history, and cannot fail but move us today,<br>
213 years later:<br><br>
The god who created the sun which gives
us<br>
light, who rouses the waves and rules
the<br>
storm, though hidden in the clouds,
he<br>
watches us. He sees all that the
white man<br>
does. The god of the white man
inspires him<br>
with crime, but our god calls upon us to
do<br>
good works. Our god who is good to
us<br>
orders us to revenge our wrongs. He
will<br>
direct our arms and aid us. Throw
away the<br>
symbol of the god of the whites who has
so<br>
often caused us to weep, and listen to
the<br>
voice of liberty, which speaks in the
hearts<br>
of us all.<br>
The Rebellion of August 1791 would eventually<br>
ripen into the full-fledged Haitian Revolution, lead<br>
to the liberation of the African Haitian people, to<br>
the establishment of the Haiti Republic, and the<br>
end of the dreams of Napoleon for a French-<br>
American Empire in the West.<br><br>
Two centuries before the Revolution, when the<br>
island was called Santo Domingo by the Spanish<br>
Empire, historian Antonio de Herrera would say<br>
of the place, "There is so many Negroes in this<br>
island, as a result of the sugar factories, that the<br>
land seems an effigy or an image of Ethiopia<br>
itself." [From Paul Farmer, *The Uses of Haiti*<br>
(Monroe, Me.: Common Courage Press, 1994),<br>
p. 61]. Haiti was the principal source of<br>
wealth for the French bourgeoisie. In the<br>
decade before the Boukman Rebellion, an<br>
estimated 29,000 African captives were<br>
imported to the island annually.<br><br>
Conditions were so brutal, and the work was<br>
so back-breaking, that the average African survived<br>
only 7 years in the horrific sugar factories.<br><br>
In 1804, Haiti declared Independence, after<br>
defeating what was the most powerful army of<br>
the day: the Grand Army of France.<br><br>
Haiti's Founding Father, Jean-Jacques<br>
Dessalines, at the Haitian Declaration of<br>
Independence, proclaimed, "I have given the<br>
French cannibals blood for blood. I have<br>
avenged America."<br><br>
With their liberation, Haitians changed history,<br>
for among their accomplishments:<br><br>
a) It was the first independent nation in Latin<br>
America;<br>
b) It became the second independent nation<br>
in the Western hemisphere;<br>
c) It was the first Black republic in the modern
world;<br>
d) It was the *only*incidence in world history<br>
of an enslaved people breaking their chains and<br>
defeating a powerful colonial force using<br>
military might.<br><br>
What did 'Independence' bring? It brought<br>
the enmity, and anger of the Americans, who<br>
refused to recognize their southern neighbor for<br>
58 years. In the words of South Carolina Senator<br>
Robert Hayne, the reasons for US non-recognition<br>
were clear: "Our policy with regard to Hayti is<br>
plain. We never can acknowledge her independence...<br>
The peace and safety of a large portion of our<br>
Union forbids us *even to discuss* [it]." [Farmer,<br>
p. 79].<br><br>
In many ways, Black August (at least in the West)<br>
begins in Haiti. It is the blackest August possible --<br>
Revolution, and resultant Liberation from bondage.<br>
For many years, Haiti tried to pass the torch of<br>
liberty to all of her neighbors, providing support<br>
for Simon Bolivar in his nationalist movements against<br>
Spain. Indeed, from its earliest days, Haiti was<br>
declared an asylum for escaped slaves, and a place<br>
of refuge for any person of African or American<br>
Indian descent.<br><br>
On January 1st, 1804, President Dessalines<br>
would proclaim: "Never again shall colonist or<br>
European set foot on this soil as master or<br>
landowner. This shall henceforward be the<br>
foundation of our Constitution."<br><br>
It would be US, not European, imperialism<br>
that would consign the Haitian people to the<br>
cruel reign of dictators. The US, would<br>
occupy Haiti, and impose their own rules and<br>
dictates. After their long and hated occupation,<br>
Haitian anthropologist Ralph Trouillot would say,<br>
"[it] improved nothing and complicated almost<br>
everything."<br><br>
Yet, that imperial occupation does not wipe<br>
out the historical accomplishments of Haiti.<br><br>
During the darkest nights of American bondage,<br>
millions of Africans, in America, in Brazil, in<br>
Cuba, and beyond, could look to Haiti, and<br>
dream.<br><br>
Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal<br><br>
[Read Mr. Jamal's latest work, *WE WANT FREEDOM:<br>
A Life in the Black Panther Party*, from South End Press<br>
(<a href="http://www.southendpress.org/" eudora="autourl">www.southendpress.org</a>);
Ph. #1-800-533-8478.]<br>
===============================<br><br>
"When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it
is<br>
just, yet refuse to defend it--at that moment you begin to die.<br>
And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about<br>
justice." - Mumia Abu-Jamal<br><br>
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