For our country, For our forefathers, United let us march.
This is the first sentence of La Dessalinienne, the Haitian National Anthem, which serves as a symbol and constant reminder of the pride within Haitian heritage and the country’s grueling fight to freedom.
“I am proud to be Haitian regardless of what other people might say. To me being Haitian means you’re strong. There are so many things that have gone wrong for Haiti and yet the people still are resilient.” says Kayla Jean, who is Haitian and a North Miami Resident.
When Christopher Columbus “discovered” the island of Hispaniola in 1492, the land had already been settled in by the Taino people, natives who are Ancestors of the island’s current inhabitants: the Haitians and the Dominicans.
But Spanish colonizers immediately took over the land and subjected everyone who was in their way to imprisonment and labor. All of those who opposed were killed and those who remained were forced to convert to Christianity and stripped away from their previous lifestyles.
With time and as they continued moving through the land, the Spaniards then began to settle in the eastern parts of the island because of its plentiful natural resources. When they first discovered these resources, they realized the land was profitable. They soon began to exploit it, like how they did with the sugar production in 1516. Slavery was then introduced into the “New World.”
Colonizers grew cotton, tobacco, indigo, and various other varieties of crops. But the real moneymaker was the sugar and sugarcane that came from the island’s nutrient rich soil, and to get that sugar, they needed a large amount of labor before any money could be earned.
Because of this, between 1700 and 1704, 100 plantations were established to get that money.
Soon, large-scale crop production would dominate the landscape and the people working those farms were the Taino slaves.
Everyone was working the land from five a.m. until well after dark, with working hours even longer during harvest times.
Eventually, enough was enough.
Under Toussaint Louverture, Jean Jaques Dessaline, and many other Haitian freedom fighters; a ragtag group of former slaves formed a rebellion so large that the slave owners had to listen.
“Those people had no form of prior training and the weapons they had paled against that a strong government backed army, all odds were against them—yet they still won. What’s not to be proud of?,” Jean explained.
Eventually, Louverture was imprisoned and died in France, but the rebellion never died. The desire and fight for freedom never stopped, and eventually, the former slaves defeated the world-conquering army of Napoleon and France.
Haiti is the only instance of a successful slave rebellion in world history, which would lead to the establishment of the first black republic. The Hatian Revolution even served as influence for many other countries and continues to be a landmark in the history of abolition. A ragtag force of slaves managed to unify Haiti, defeat Europe’s most powerful army, and become the first country in Latin America to gain independence, second only to the United States in the Americas as a whole.
Since acquiring their freedom from enslavement however, Haiti has survived many devastating blows. From yearly natural disasters, outbreaks of disease, political corruption, and suffering economy, Haiti had been backed into any extremely cramped corner.
“Everyday, it seems like something new is happening. One day it’s a storm, the next political corruption, the day after that it’s poverty, and some days it’s even all three!.” says Daffmarile Pierre, a Haitian student at Miami Lakes Educational Center (MLEC).
Whenever there is news coverage on Haiti you hear stories about the level of poverty, child labor, and hunger struggles of Haiti, but there is a side to Haiti that doesn’t get as much coverage.
“I do miss Haiti alot though. All my family is over there and I really miss the food. It’s a completely different vibe from my home in America. In Haiti all the houses are really close together so there’s a real sense of family with all your neighbors.” says Pierre.
“Everything about Haiti is a symbol for how much strength runs through our blood. Our Red and Blue flag represents the hardships we were able to face to gain our independence with our own hands. Our food is amazing, our music is a blend of all types of influences and our culture runs deep,” Pierre continues.
“That all comes with being Haitian.”
