28 Days of Black Liberation 2025 series
Last year, on the first day of our 28 Days of Black Liberation program, GDC highlighted the Haitian Revolution as a pivotal part of Black revolutionary history in America. This year, we will dedicate an entire week to Haiti, exploring its legacy of resistance and the impact of colonial retaliation against the country by the “U.S.” and other “Western” entities for the Haitian people daring to fight for — and ultimately win — their independence.
This organized display of faith and force not only drove French forces from the island, but also went on to inspire other revolts in the states, namely the Nat Turner rebellion in Virginia and the attempted uprising planned by Denmark Vessey in South Carolina.
As mentioned prior, this feat did not go unpunished by the enemies of self-determination. Tricontinental’s 2019 overview of Haiti’s political history plainly lays it out: “Imposition of toxic debt by France (1825), an invasion by the United States (1915-1934), the establishment of the imperialist-backed Duvalier family dictatorship (1957-1986), and an international occupation by the United Nations (from 2004 to the present) has disrupted the ability of Haiti to drive its own historical agenda.”
We will explore some of these events in more depth in the coming days. We will also end the week by looking at how the impact of this prolonged campaign of manufactured instability has forced many to flee north to the states, directly subjecting them to the violence of anti-immigrant sentiments and those who uphold them.
The example set by Haiti over 200 years ago, and the continued resistance both in the country and throughout the diaspora, still resonates today as a powerful point of study and invocation for those dedicated to breaking the shackles of imperialism. This has been particularly true for the many Black revolutionaries, intellectuals, and artists in the centuries since who have looked to Haiti’s past and present to contextualize their contemporary struggles and infuse their movements with the same resilient fighting spirit.