Long live the Haitian Revolution! 

January 1 marked the 217th year of independence for the Republic of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution was led by formerly enslaved Black revolutionary François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture and later by Jean-Jacques Dessalines. A majority of Louverture’s army had been born in Africa.

The Haitian Revolution began in 1791 after a Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman, where a Vodou mambo and a Vodou priest, Cécile Fatiman and Dutty Boukman respectively, spoke of an uprising by those enslaved, who were encouraged to take revenge against their French oppressors. One week later, the revolution broke out; 1,000 enslavers were killed and 1,800 plantations destroyed.

Over the next 13 years, the Haitian army, created from enslaved Africans who had liberated themselves, fought vigorously with the French colonizers in Haiti. Besides Toussaint Louverture, there were other prominent leaders: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Sanité Bélair, a Haitian woman and Black revolutionary leader who was captured and executed in 1802.

After Louverture was captured by French trickery in 1803, Dessalines continued to lead the revolution — destroying Napoleon’s army and declaring Hayti (later Haiti) free and independent on January 1, 1804. Haiti was the first Black independent republic and the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery.

Haitians rally against police brutality, June 7, 2020.Kim Ives/Haïti Liberté

Today, Haiti is still weighed down by burdens imposed by French and U.S. colonialism and imperialism. It is kept subjected through embargoes and sanctions, demands for debt repayment and a U.S. occupation behind the veil of U.N. peacekeepers.

Workers World Party honors the freedom fighters of the Haitian Revolution, whose struggle had worldwide resonance. We congratulate the Haitian people on another year of revolutionary struggle against colonialism and imperialism! We say unequivocally: Stop all embargoes and sanctions on Haiti; cancel the debt, and pay reparations to Haiti!

Devin Cole

Share
Published by
Devin Cole
Tags: Haiti

Recent Posts

German police shut down Palestine Congress in Berlin

By Andrew Johnson An anti-imperialist Palestine Congress “against German complicity in the genocide in Gaza”…

April 26, 2024

Taking protests from the streets to the sea

The following article first appeared on the Resistance News Network, April 22. In two days,…

April 26, 2024

Workers World:  May Day means ‘Solidarity with Palestine’

May Day is a day of solidarity with workers everywhere. This year’s priority is to…

April 26, 2024

Finally! DA admits hiding evidence in Melissa Lucio’s case

Houston The prosecution, the defense and the judge  all agree now that evidence hidden by…

April 26, 2024

Money for war, but not for the poor

The Supreme Court of the United States is set to begin hearings in April on…

April 26, 2024

New York Times censorship for imperialism: All the words you cannot say

Since October 7, the New York Times has had no trouble filling its pages with…

April 26, 2024