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The Haitian Revolution was a successful anti-slavery and anti-colonial insurrection that took place in the former French colony of Saint-Domingue that lasted from 1791 until 1804. It was the only slave uprising that led to the founding of a state free from slavery and ruled by non-whites and former captives. The event was a defining moment in the racial histories of the Atlantic World. The legacy of the Revolution was that it challenged long-held beliefs about black inferiority and of the enslaved person's capacity to achieve and maintain freedom. The rebels organizational capacity and tenacity under pressure became the source of stories that shocked and frightened slave owners. What do you think?

The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony. The Haitian Revolution, however, was much more complex, consisting of several revolutions going on simultaneously. These revolutions were influenced by the French Revolution of 1789, which would come to represent a new concept of human rights, universal citizenship, and participation in government.

In the 18th century, Saint Dominigue, as Haiti was then known, became France’s wealthiest overseas colony, largely because of its production of sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton generated by an enslaved labor force. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789 there were five distinct sets of interest groups in the colony. There were white planters—who owned the plantations and the slaves—and petit blancs, who were artisans, shop keepers and teachers. Some of them also owned a few slaves. Together they numbered 40,000 of the colony’s residents. Many of the whites on Saint Dominigue began to support an independence movement that began when France imposed steep tariffs on the items imported into the colony. The planters were extremely disenchanted with France because they were forbidden to trade with any other nation. Furthermore, the white population of Saint-Dominique did not have any representation in France. Despite their calls for independence, both the planters and petit blancs remained committed to the institution of slavery.

The three remaining groups were of African descent: those who were free, those who were slaves, and those who had run away. There were about 30,000 free black people in 1789. Half of them were mulatto and often they were wealthier than the petit blancs. The slave population was close to 500,000. The runaway slaves were called maroons; they had retreated deep into the mountains of Saint Dominigue and lived off subsistence farming. Haiti had a history of slave rebellions; the slaves were never willing to submit to their status and with their strength in numbers (10 to 1) colonial officials and planters did all that was possible to control them. Despite the harshness and cruelty of Saint Dominigue slavery, there were slave rebellions before 1791. One plot involved the poisoning of masters.

Inspired by events in France, a number of Haitian-born revolutionary movements emerged simultaneously. They used as their inspiration the French Revolution’s “Declaration of the Rights of Man.” The General Assembly in Paris responded by enacting legislation which gave the various colonies some autonomy at the local level. The legislation, which called for “all local proprietors…to be active citizens,” was both ambiguous and radical. It was interpreted in Saint Dominigue as applying only to the planter class and thus excluded petit blancs from government. Yet it allowed free citizens of color who were substantial property owners to participate. This legislation, promulgated in Paris to keep Saint Dominigue in the colonial empire, instead generated a three-sided civil war between the planters, free blacks and the petit blancs. However, all three groups would be challenged by the enslaved black majority which was also influenced and inspired by events in France.

Led by former slave Toussaint l’Overture, the enslaved would act first, rebelling against the planters on August 21, 1791. By 1792 they controlled a third of the island. Despite reinforcements from France, the area of the colony held by the rebels grew as did the violence on both sides. Before the fighting ended 100,000 of the 500,000 blacks and 24,000 of the 40,000 whites were killed. Nonetheless the former slaves managed to stave off both the French forces and the British who arrived in 1793 to conquer the colony, and who withdrew in 1798 after a series of defeats by l’Overture’s forces. By 1801 l’Overture expanded the revolution beyond Haiti, conquering the neighboring Spanish colony of Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic). He abolished slavery in the Spanish-speaking colony and declared himself Governor-General for life over the entire island of Hispaniola.

At that moment the Haitian Revolution had outlasted the French Revolution which had been its inspiration. Napoleon Bonaparte, now the ruler of France, dispatched General Charles Leclerc, his brother-in-law, and 43,000 French troops to capture L’Overture and restore both French rule and slavery. L’Overture was taken and sent to France where he died in prison in 1803. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of l’Overture’s generals and himself a former slave, led the revolutionaries at the Battle of Vertieres on November 18, 1803 where the French forces were defeated. On January 1, 1804, Dessalines declared the nation independent and renamed it Haiti. France became the first nation to recognize its independence. Haiti thus emerged as the first black republic in the world, and the second nation in the western hemisphere (after the United States) to win its independence from a European power.

The Battle of Savannah, Georgia, which occurred between September 16 and October 18, 1779, became one of the bloodiest battles during the American Revolutionary War. At the time, British forces numbering 3,200 troops had occupied Savannah, then the capital of Georgia, for a year.  They were challenged by 600 Continental troops led by General Benjamin Lincoln who were supported by 3,500 French soldiers led by First Lieutenant Count d’Estaing, including 800 troops from Saint-Domingue (later Haiti) and other French Caribbean colonies.  The French had agreed to ally with the American Revolutionary forces following the royal ordinance issued by Louis XVI, the King of France, on March 12, 1779.

D’Estaing’s troops were mainly composed of colonial regiments coming from various locations such as Guadeloupe, Martinique, or Saint-Domingue. The 800 men from the French Caribbean colonies were organized into a regiment called Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue. These soldiers were des gens de couleurs libres (free men of color) who voluntarily joined the French colonial forces. The gens de couleur were mixed-race men of African and European origin from Saint-Domingue.  They were born free and thus were distinct from free slaves or affranchis, who were born enslaved or became enslaved during their lives and then freed themselves or were freed. This distinction allowed the gens de couleur a higher social and political in the French colonial West Indies. According to the 1685 French Black Code, they had the same rights and privileges as the white colonial population.  In practice, however, strong discrimination by white French colonial residents impeded the gens de couleurs from fully exercising them.

Nevertheless, due to their in-between status, some men joined the Chasseurs-Volontaires formed after the March 12, 1779 royal ordinance. They became part of the French command which supported the Continental Army in Savannah.  In fact, the gens de couleurs outnumbered the 500 American troops at the Battle of Savannah. Their role in the battle was also significant because they were sent in as scouts before the beginning of the hostilities on September 8, 1779. During the course of the battle, they were considered one of the most homogeneous and efficient allied group, fighting the English troops with obstinacy and boldness. But the knowledge the British had concerning the American plan of attack, due to a leak of information given by American deserters, impeded any chance of victory. The Chasseurs-Volontaires military group represented a large part of the 168 killed and 411 wounded soldiers in the French ranks following the battle.

On October 8, 2007, a memorial statue was unveiled in Savannah dedicated to the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue during the Battle of Savannah.  The memorial pays tribute to the significant role these soldiers had during the Revolutionary War and recognizes the support they gave to the founding of the United States.

A 1982 painting by deceased Haitian-Puerto Rican artist Jean-Michel Basquiat on Tuesday sold for $41.9 million at Christie’s auction house in Hong Kong, The New York Times reported. Titled “Warrior”, the auctioned painting depicts the struggles Black men have to endure in a world dominated by White people.

Though the British auction house said the amount paid for the painting was the highest for an artwork by a Western artist in Asia, that is actually not Basquiat’s most valuable piece of work. In 2017, his “Untitled” painting was purchased for $110 million by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.

With sales in the art industry significantly taking a slump over the year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Christie’s was reportedly hopeful the inclusion of Basquiat’s artwork in the auction would help revitalize the market.

“Basquiat is one of the strongest markets coming out of the pandemic,” Christophe van de Weghe, a dealer who specializes in Basquiat’s works, told The New York Times. “It’s worldwide. You can sell Basquiat, like Picasso, to someone in India or Kazakhstan or Mexico. You can have a 28-year-old spending millions on Basquiat and you can have a guy who is 85. He appeals to all kinds of people, from rappers to hedge-fund guys.’’

Though deceased, Basquiat is an important and rising figure in popular global arts and culture. He was born on December 22, 1960, to a Haitian father and a mother of Puerto-Rican descent in Brooklyn.

Basquiat experienced a great deal at a young age; he was in a car accident that resulted in a splenectomy at age seven, his parents divorced at the same age; his mother, who first introduced him to art, was committed into a mental institution, and he dropped out of school by the age of 15. But within a few years, he went from being homeless and unemployed to selling his paintings for $25,000.

Although many people know him for his celebrity status, as he was friends with pop artiste Andy Warhol, wore Armani suits splattered with paint from his work, and dated Madonna, the painter’s work was politic and deserves its own fanfare.

Basquiat was intentional and well versed in the social issues of his time. He once said, “the black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings. I realized that I didn’t see many paintings with black people in them.”

Basquiat died at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose but he lives forever through his art and the impact of his work and influence on American movements and pop culture.

Attracting business investment, particularly to third world countries like Haiti, has always been a challenge. Therefore, the burden of job creation turns to be on the government, despite scarce resources and its limited abilities.

One of the appeals of the Haiti government is for members of the Haitian diaspora to remit home for job creation and participate in the general growth of the country’s economy. While some have responded positively to the call, others have stayed away due to limited infrastructure. 

Jude Celiscar is one of those Haitians in the diaspora who is determined to contribute to the economy of Haiti. He co-founded Goodoo Courier, a shipping company in 2017. The idea to start a courier service business occurred to him after noticing the difficulties Haitians face in buying and delivery of consumer goods.

He recalls how people will contract him to bring them certain goods from the United States and when he arrives in Haiti, they repay him for the purchases. 

Celiscar also realized the challenge many Haitians face purchasing goods online. Part of the problem was the lack of credit or payment plans. This challenge, he says, made it difficult for companies to ship to Haiti. 

Goodoo Courier delivers goods through a network of independent contractors. Compared to other courier firms, goodoo offers fast delivery of parcels at a cheaper rate, Celiscar says.

Although Celiscar has not disclosed his sales record, he tells the Haitiantimes that “it is neither profitable nor a deficit. We work with what we have.”

His pre-occupation remains to create job opportunities for young people in Haiti. Celiscar would like, in the long run, maybe 10 years down the line, for Goodoo to be one of the companies in Haiti that employs at least 5,000 people.

Celiscar is the first college graduate from his family to earn a bachelor’s degree. He graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in international political economy.

Celiscar survived a major earthquake in 2010, which led to the destruction of many homes and school facilities in Haiti. The disaster killed over 220,000 people and 1.5 million people.

“My school basically collapsed, that building that we had before is no longer there,” Celiscar explained, according to NBC. But Celiscar was determined to pursue higher education

“I know some people could have been discouraged and say ‘I’m not doing this anymore. I’ll just stay here and work,’” Celiscar said, according to the University of Texas, Dallas. “It was hard, but I always see myself as a fighter. These things can’t stop me from focusing on my dream, on my goal.”

Forbes named him as one of 10 young Haitian entrepreneurs working to reinvent their nation.

Hip Hop education is not new and more teachers in the U.S. are embracing it as a fun way to sustain the interest of their students in learning. Sammy Rigaud is one such HipHopEd whose Freestyle Friday session went viral on social media last November because many were fascinated by his concept of motivating his students with rap sessions.

In the Atlanta teacher’s class, all that the second graders in The Kindezi School at Old Fourth Ward needed to do was to score 80% or higher on their weekly assessment. They would then be given the chance to spit bars, a tool Rigaud said motivated everyone to do better in their assignments, affecting their overall performance in his class.

The clip of their Freestyle Friday sessions now has over 3.5 million views on Twitter and to date, other teachers and schools have also adopted such techniques to motivate their students.

Initially, authorities in the school were hesitant about his techniques but they came around when they noticed how the performance of the second graders had improved and the good publicity the viral video brought to their school.

30-year-old Rigaud is a Haitian-American native of North Miami, Florida who works and lives in Atlanta. He did not set out to be a teacher, however, he found his purpose in life when a judge ordered him to do community service at the local YMCA. He babysat for 40 children while their parents were being attended to. That was the moment he knew he wanted to teach.

His goal is to make everyone excel. His Christian faith also influences his way of life. According to Rigaud, he teaches his children to develop them wholly and not in a part.

Rigaud has been teaching for seven years and has published a book to motivate children not to give up on themselves. He believes Hip Hop Education is the channel these children need especially in a diverse landscape with people from varied backgrounds. The minority should have a voice and to Rigaud, Hip Hop is that platform that can bring the much-needed change.