"We must respect ourselves for who and what we KNOW we are.
We are God's children and we are Black, we are Beautiful, and
we are HAITIAN".
Island Princess
Much To Be Proud Of
Excerpts form an article of the June 1993 issue of "Les Acajous", a newsletter published by ODL.
The article of "Les Acajous" is based on an other article by Earl Caldwell on the New-York's Daily News a few years earlier:
The phrase "Boat People" is a term used to degrade and dehumanize Haitians living in this country. Not so long ago, before modern travel, the Americans (who consider themselves true Americans) came to this country by boat. Like most Haitians, they were leaving poverty behind for the "land of opportunity". And like Haitians, they underwent the same perils encountered on the high seas for a better life, for the "promised land".
Haitians should never lower their heads to this insult. Furthermore, we should teach our kids to be proud of their origin. Anyone using the term "Boat People" as an insult should be considered close-minded and ignorant of certain historical facts.
Fact one:
We Haitians are the second independent nation in the "New World" (the Americas and the Caribbean).
Fact two:
We are also the first independent black nation in the world (outside and probably inside Africa).
Fact three:
We are the first and only black colony to have fought, while enslaved, one of the world's most powerful nation at the time, and won; and thus, proclaimed ourselves an independent nation.
Fact four:
We are the first to introduce the concept of "Pan Americanism",
a) By helping Francisco Miranda and Simon Bolivar in their fights to liberate Venezuela,
Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador.
b) By helping the USA in its revolutionary war. (Around 800 Haitians participated in the battle of Savannah, Georgia.)
In an article written by Earl Caldwell in the November 27th 1991 issue of the Daily News he stated:
"There is another piece in the Haitian history that hasn't been told. This goes back more than 200 years, back to a time when a strong and independent America was more a dream than a reality.
In 1779, America was fighting a revolutionary war. This particular battle was known as "The Siege of Savannah". Little gets said about the battle in Georgia, because instead of victory, it turned out to be a defeat for the French and American forces, so one-sided, it bordered on disaster. And History says the troops were nearly annihilated, had it not been for the black troops from Saint-Domingue, which was then Haiti's name as a French colony.
When the battle was over, instead of "The Siege of Savannah" it became known as "The Day Haiti Saved the Retracting Patriot Army."
This, my fellow Haitians, is how the first Haitians "Boat People" came to this great country known by the name of America. They were not here to escape slavery, because they got their independence not long after. Instead, they were here to help this great nation's dream become reality.
After them, a lot of other Haitians have left their beloved land in search of a better life, just like the Europeans, Asians, etc... A lot of them also came by boat, then again, so were the Pilgrims and others alike who called themselves "Real Americans".
Maybe Haitians are poor and mostly illiterate, but we also have an heritage, a history to make even the most powerful nation envious. Although listening to others, you'd never know it. And maybe that is what they want: to make us feel ashamed to be who we are, Proud Haitians.
Are We Truly Free?
It is hard to call ourselves free when we are still bound by predjustices, sterotypes and negative feelings.
It is hard to call ourselves free when we continue in our own
minds to believe these to be as truth.
I think we are still prisoners, prisoners of society as well as
within ourselves.
We have basically locked "us" away and given "them" the key.
Society simply wishes to ignore us and we let this happen.
We must not, we cannot allow this to happen any longer.
We MUST take away this cover of darkness and walk
AGAIN in the sunlight.
We must hold ourselves responsibe for who and what we are.
It is time for us as a people to "rise" up.
Rise up together as in 1804.
Our youth today are being wasted.
Caught up in the "Life in the streets and chillin on the corner"
mentality.
We must respect ourselves for who and what we KNOW we are.
We are God's children and we are Black, we are Beautiful, and
we are HAITIAN.
Island Princess
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