It's amazing to me the vast amount of people who are totally oblivious to the fact that Haitian history is intertwined with Black History. I've met educators who did not know about the Middle Passage and therefore could not make the connection between the two! While the latter was a heartbroken encounter, it also served as an opportunity to uproot the neo-colonized educational propaganda with seeds of true history.
In 1492, African kings and queens were captured from their homeland. The families were brutally separated, dropped off throughout the islands and the Americas never to be reunited with their loved ones again. The Africans who were taken to Haiti successfully masterminded a revolution that startled the world as they became the first black republic! The monumental victory afforded the Haitian people the honor of being the first to outlaw slavery in 1803; which inspired black political activism in the United States and around the globe. You can imagine the fears of the colonizers when they heard that Haitian "slaves" defeated France's powerful army. On the other hand, it fueled fire in the souls of other blacks to believe they too can overcome the tyranny they were under.
The Africans in Haiti spearheaded the movement of Black Freedom, which has catapulted a plethora of accomplishments for us as a race. It's the foundation of Carter G. Woodson's initiation to celebrate Black History Month in the United States in 1926. Frederick Douglass's reference to Haiti as "bright example" was a common sentiment among prominent black leaders at the time.
Today, as we commemorate the Haitian Flag that Catherine Flon sewed together in city of Archaie on May 18th, 1803, we're celebrating black history. We're celebrating a group of Africans who blazed a trail for their family members and countrymen to see the light of freedom back then, today, and generations to come!
I was blessed to pen a series of bilingual kid friendly books entitled "The Haitian Flag" and "Black Freedom" purchase your copies and begin to teach your children the truth about their history. Enjoy a special 1 DAY 20% discount on both books! Offer ends 5/19/20 Coupon Code for the Haitian Flag book is "HaitianFlag2020" Coupon Code for the Black Freedom book is "BlackFreedom2020"
Lastly, enjoy, a spoken word tribute to Haiti coupled with beautiful of images of the island. The track is produced by Harold St. Louis. Enjoy!
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