Do Not Donate to Racist Red Cross,
SF Bayview
Let us begin with the notion made by Mrs. Amina Baraka that the so-called Negro or North American African is a West Indian or has Caribbean roots since most of the kidnapped Africans were brought to the Caribbean first for the "breaking in," or brain washing/behavior modification to socialize them for eternal servitude throughout the Americas, including North America. Thus when Caribbean Africans refer to North American Africans as "you people," (meaning black American in the most derogatory sense)the North American African can shoot back that we are "you people" too.
But the similarities and parallels are even more glaring than our common Caribbean behavior modification. In the case of Haiti, our condition in the United States is not far different. Just as the Haitians are landless and lack an agricultural base, so are we. It is not stretching the imagination to say the North American African doesn't grow a tomato, a carrot or string bean.
He, like the Haitians, is a basket case, no matter that in terms of GNP he is the 16th richest nation in the world. In truth, he is a consumer who produces nothing, not even his own food, clothes, soap, beauty products or alcohol, of which he is a major consumer.
As a result of his being at the whim of the petrochemical agribusiness industry, he suffers a form of anorexia, starving like the Haitian, for the food he consumes is devoid of nutrients and vitamins, loaded with salt, sugar, and corn starch, leading him directly from the petrochemical (oil based) agribusiness corporations to the pharmaceutical industry/drug stores and medical facilities. In the old Muslim mythology, the so-called Negroes food consumption causes him to fall victim to the doctor, nurse and undertaker. But unlike the Haitian middle class mulattoes, the black middle class fare no better than the poor wretched underclass, for they do not take advantage of the health care they pay for or receive through employment.
But driving through the hood and seeing the plethora of drug stores, one wonders are we really this sick? Yes, our addiction to white supremacy, especially the hostile environment all blacks work in (and live in), leads to the most severe mental and physical ailments. The health director of Alameda County theorizes that life expectancy is not determined by income but rather where one lives or space and place. If one lives in or near the hood, ones life expectancy is shortened by several years compared with those who live up in the hills as opposed to the flatland here in the Bay Area.
The hostile environment makes all blacks susceptible to stress related diseases, especially high blood pressure, depression, schizophrenia and paranoia. As per the later psychosis, someone is, in fact, after the North American African. He, and more often now, she, is not wanted in high positions challenging the glass ceiling of corporate America. He is not wanted on the streets, in the clubs, anywhere, except incarcerated where he is worth a minium of $50,000 per man per year. There are 2.4 million imprisoned with the majority black and other minority. One of three black men is connected to the criminal justice system, either in jail or prison, on parole or probation. In Washington DC, it is one of two black men.
Like the Haitian, the North American African is educationally challenged, to put it mildly. How can his educational system be any better than the Haitians when 50% to 70% of students in the hood either drop out or are pushed out--pushed out so they will not lower standards and disqualify schools of funding. And even if he received education on the level of whites, it would be mediocre compared with students in China and India who far excel whites, thus the reason for outsourcing of jobs. Why would the capitalist swines pay an American MBA, black or white, $140,000 per year when it can outsource to India and obtain MBAs for $14,000 per year who speak better English than whites or blacks?
With respect to agribusiness, the North American African, as I've noted above, fares no better than the Haitian who was hoodwinked into leaving the land and seeking wage slavery in the capital city, thus depriving his nation of food sustenance, making Haiti the worse basket case in the world. The North Amerian African who fled Up South, is similarly disposed. In California he lives in the richest agricultural valley in the world, yet is not involved in agribusiness to any meaningful degree. How many black students in California colleges and universities are majoring in agribusiness?
Even in tourism, seek out the North American African in the tourist cities of San Francisco and Seattle. You will generally only see him as street musician and/or robot at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and Pike's Market in Seattle. And how does he fare on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, pre and post Katrina?
Just as in Haiti, decades of underdevelopment has led to the criminal society in the ghettos of North America. In America, the prisons are largely de facto drug recovery and mental health facilities--without recovery programs and mental health treatment.
Just as there is no political structure in Haiti, none of substance exists in North America, despite the so called black president who doesn't mention the word black, despite the plethora of black elected politicians. Have they gotten any of trillions and billions of stimulas money for the hood?
Politics in Haiti is corrupt to the point of no return, as in the elected president exiled by US authorities who view Haiti as their turf, just as the cities are largely the turf of the Democratic party, with the resultant corruption of black officials on the west coast, dirty south and east coast. Take a trip from coast to coast and listen to the stories of corrupt black officials in politics, religion and education, from city halls, churches, mosques, secondary schools, colleges and universities. Corrupt officials under indictment. Find me an honest black man or woman who won't take a bribe! Find me one in Haiti and/or America.
Perhaps the earthquake shall bring about a new day in Haiti, though we doubt it. It will probably be exploited by capitalist swine developers. Their plans are already in motion. But just as Haiti needs a Marshall plan, so do North American Africans. With all the trillions given out to those who caused the global financial meltdown(they were rewarded for robbery), the filthy capitalist swine, those blood suckers of the poor, i.e., bankers, wall street robber barons, insurance companies, the poor in the hood did not receive an honorable mention. I have never encountered so many broke black people on the streets of Oakland. Think about it, North American Africans have been scammed out of their national wealth (homes) with the sub-prime loan schemes, including those blacks who qualified for prime loans.
The final comparison between Haiti and North American Africans is the fact that Haiti defeated the white slave masters, including the master military strategist of Europe, Napoleon. Haiti has never been forgiven for whipping the white man's ass. How ironic the white supremacist Rev. Pat Robertson said the Haitians are suffering from making a pact with the devil to defeat the slave masters and become the first free black republic in the Americas, aside from Palmares in Brazil that was independent for a century.
--Marvin X
1/20/10
http://www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com/
Haiti, Oh, Haiti
Haiti, Oh, Haiti
valiant
rich African history
mighty
in battle
in religion supreme
Haiti, Oh Haiti
defeated Spanish, French, English
your only sin
never forgiven
by the devils lingering on yur island in the sun
there are those who say evil shall prevail
but evil shall eat crow
this the devils shall know
Haiti, Oh Haiti
arise
as you did the Spanish, French, English
Come forth Toussaint, Dessalines, Bokman
Come in the name of Vudun
Check the devils at the crossroads
Haiti, Oh Haiti
Where is your president who loved the poor
flown into exile by those devils across the shore
your grave yards are not junk yards
but fields of life, hope, love
honor the dead, remember your history
you devoured the Spanish, French, English
Let the earth consume the evil ones
yes, the innocent must suffer
til the valiant children take control
in the name of ancestors
the living and yet unborn.
--Marvin X
1995, revised 2010
from Love and War, poems,
by Marvin X, Black Bird Press,
1995
Study Questions for Haiti, Oh, Haiti
1. What is meant by valiant, rich African history in general and Haiti in particular?
2. What battle is the poet speaking about?
3. Why is Haiti supreme in religion? What is the religion or religions of Haiti?
4.Why did Haiti defeat the Spanish, French, English? Haiti aided the US in what battle? She aidedSimon Bolivar in what battle? Who is Simon Bolivar?
5. Why is defeating the Spanish, French, English their only sin? What French general did Haiti defeat?
6. Who are Toussaint, Dessalines and Bokman?
7. What is Vudun or Vodoo? Why is it called a democratic society? This may have been answered in question number 3.
8. What is the crossroads? Who is the god of the crossroads? Who are the other chief gods in
the Haitian religion?
9. What president loved the poor?
10. Who flew him into exile? Where is he exiled today?
11. Why are grave yards called junk yards?
12. Why must the innocent suffer and how long?
13. What is the role of children?
14. What is ancestor worship?
Published: January 13, 2010
THOSE who know a little of Haiti’s history might have watched the news last night and thought, as I did for a moment: “An earthquake? What next? Poor Haiti is cursed.”
Related
Op-Ed Contributor: Haiti’s Angry God (January 14, 2010)
But while earthquakes are acts of nature, extreme vulnerability to earthquakes is manmade. And the history of Haiti’s vulnerability to natural disasters — to floods and famine and disease as well as to this terrible earthquake — is long and complex, but the essence of it seems clear enough.
Haiti is a country created by former slaves, kidnapped West Africans, who, in 1804, when slavery still flourished in the United States and the Caribbean, threw off their cruel French masters and created their own republic. Haitians have been punished ever since for claiming their freedom: by the French who, in the 1820s, demanded and received payment from the Haitians for the slave colony, impoverishing the country for years to come; by an often brutal American occupation from 1915 to 1934; by indigenous misrule that the American government aided and abetted. (In more recent years American administrations fell into a pattern of promoting and then undermining Haitian constitutional democracy.)
Hence the current state of affairs: at least 10,000 private organizations perform supposedly humanitarian missions in Haiti, yet it remains one of the world’s poorest countries. Some of the money that private aid organizations rely on comes from the United States government, which has insisted that a great deal of the aid return to American pockets — a larger percentage than that of any other industrialized country.
But that is only part of the problem. In the arena of international aid, a great many efforts, past and present, appear to have been doomed from the start. There are the many projects that seem designed to serve not impoverished Haitians but the interests of the people administering the projects. Most important, a lot of organizations seem to be unable — and some appear to be unwilling — to create partnerships with each other or, and this is crucial, with the public sector of the society they’re supposed to serve.
The usual excuse, that a government like Haiti’s is weak and suffers from corruption, doesn’t hold — all the more reason, indeed, to work with the government. The ultimate goal of all aid to Haiti ought to be the strengthening of Haitian institutions, infrastructure and expertise.
This week, the list of things that Haiti needs, things like jobs and food and reforestation, has suddenly grown a great deal longer. The earthquake struck mainly the capital and its environs, the most densely populated part of the country, where organizations like the Red Cross and the United Nations have their headquarters. A lot of the places that could have been used for disaster relief — including the central hospital, such as it was — are now themselves disaster areas.
But there are effective aid organizations working in Haiti. At least one has not been crippled by the earthquake. Partners in Health, or in Haitian Creole Zanmi Lasante, has been the largest health care provider in rural Haiti. (I serve on this organization’s development committee.) It operates, in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Health, some 10 hospitals and clinics, all far from the capital and all still intact. As a result of this calamity, Partners in Health probably just became the largest health care provider still standing in all Haiti.
Fortunately, it also offers a solid model for independence — a model where only a handful of Americans are involved in day-to-day operations, and Haitians run the show. Efforts like this could provide one way for Haiti, as it rebuilds, to renew the promise of its revolution.
Tracy Kidder is the author of “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” about Haiti, and “Strength in What Remains.”
James's book chronicles the story behind the San Domingo revolution and also the actions of the former slave Toussaint L'Ouverture to lead the revolution. First James examines the events leading up to the Revolution and how these events contributed to the social necessity for revolution. James establishes the reasons for the revolution before discussing the revolution itself. This allows him to provide context as well as a place to introduce the important factions and players in the revolution. After establishing the causes of the revolution James includes a section in which he looks at the revolution itself in depth. Throughout the entire book James puts a large emphasis on Toussaint L'Ouverture’s role in the revolution. He also discusses how he believes it was Toussaint’s unique background and skills that made him a successful leader for the rebel slaves. James views the event of the revolution from varying perspectives, notably exploring the Marxist point of view. The work also explores the economic relations between the Caribbean economy and the European economy during the era before the Haitian revolution.
This work is unique in many ways. James uses his idea of how historiography should be conducted as a justification for including his own ideas in his history. His reference to the presence of bias in the work, as well as ability to apply Marxist ideas to a history help James make this book unique. As a result, the text remains a valuable resource on the history of the Haitian as well as in the study of historiography.
In the 1980 foreword, James claims he was “specially prepared to write The Black Jacobins”, having grown up in Trinidad and having researched the Russian revolution in depth while studying Marxism in England.[2] Instead of focusing on the history of the Haitian revolution, in the foreword, written forty-two years after the first publication, James diverges to focus on the history of The Black Jacobins itself. In this section he includes information about his own background, his reasons for chronicling this history, and major people who influenced the work. While James stated that he hoped others would elaborate on his research, he felt that no one could dispute the accuracy of his history; he “was never worried about what they would find, confident that [his] foundation would remain imperishable”[3].
The Black Jacobins is the history of the Haitian revolution, “the only successful slave revolt in history”[4]. In the foreword, James discusses his motives for chronicling the revolution, while also stating why this work is unique when he says “I would write a book in which Africans or people of African decent instead of constantly being the object of other peoples’ exploitation and ferocity would themselves be taking action on a grand scale and shaping other people to their own needs”[5]. James motivation for this work is to give the people who were actually part of the revolution a voice. To do so, however, he does not stick to the traditional model of historical writing.
The preface provides James with a medium from which he can introduce the reader to both the area he will be writing about and his view on the nature of historiography. James believes that good historians must interpret historical situations and apply their own ideas and insights to them. Although this strays from a more traditional view of historical writing it is not unprecedented as often historiographers are presented with information together from unparallel sources and must piece it together. It is this unique view of historiography that allows James to include a bias in his work as he states, “the traditionally famous historians have been more artists than scientists”[6]. The preface again helps James as it allows him to introduce the bias present in his work due to the emotions involved in the recounting of the revolution.
[edit] Literary responses to the work
Published at the onset of WWII the work was overlooked by many at first, however over the years it has established a place in academia for its historical significance as well as its contribution to historiography. Literary critics have consistently appreciated the value of this work since the publication of the first edition in 1938. In a review for The Hispanic American Historical Review (1940) Ludwell Lee Montague asserts that James “finds his way with skill through kaleidoscopic sequences of events in both Haiti and France, achieving clarity where complexities of class, color, and section have reduced others to vague confusion”[7] . This review questions the validity of some of James’s conclusions but nevertheless compliments James on the effort. While this review does not predict the impact The Black Jacobins will have on the academic community, it does appreciate the work as an “illuminating study”[8] that will spark conversation at the very least. Another reviewer, W.G. Seabrook, gives The Black Jacobins an even warmer welcome in 1938 heralding James’s work as “a public service for which he merits the attention due a scholar who blazes the way in an all but neglected field”[9] . Seabrook even proceeds to predict the importance of the work to Caribbean history in general and the probable extensive circulation of the book. These contemporary reviews reinforce the works importance in its field as they comment on the necessity for The Black Jacobins.
More than 25 years after the first publication of the work, The Black Jacobins was being used by authors to strengthen their arguments about Caribbean culture. For example, in his 1971 article “African Religious Survivals as Factors in American Slave Revolts” William C. Suttles uses James’s discussion of the voodoo in The Black Jacobins to describe how religion served as a means of conspiracy[10]. James also builds from his own work in his 1963, Appendix: From Toussaint L’Ouverature to Fidel Castro.[1] In this appendix James looks at patterns between more recent developments in the Caribbean and the Haitian revolution. Literary critic Santiago Valles summarizes what James attempts to do in the appendix: “In an appendix to the second edition, James noted intellectual and social movements in Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad during the 1920s and 1930s. First in Cuba, Haiti (1927), then in Brazil, Surinam and Trinidad (1931), other small groups faced the challenge of coming to terms with events which disrupted their understanding and connectedness to the wider world by revealing the relations of force”[11] . Drawing from his own previous work allows James to show similarities between the Haitian revolution and recent movements in the Caribbean. This both strengthens his opinions in The Black Jacobins and allows him to make new points.
Today the book is still considered to be the one of the most authoritative texts on the Haitian revolution. Historians still continue to comment on the significance of the work and how it has paved the way for more detailed study of social and political movements in the Caribbean region. In a look at the role slaves themselves have played in Caribbean and American rebellions AdĂ©lĂ©ke Adéè̳kĂ³̳ points specifically to The Black Jacobins influence on the perception of slaves in The Slaves Rebellion.[12] In this modern work, published in 2005, Adéè̳kĂ³̳ says, “The Black Jacobins stirs this high level of inspiration for its symbolic reconfiguration of the slaves’ will to freedom”[13] . Contemporary and modern reviews appreciate both the value of James’s history and the value of James’s ideas regarding the revolution.
[edit] Bias (influence of Marxism)
In The Preface to the First Edition, James emphasizes that there may be bias in his work due to the nature of the Haitian revolution. In chronicling the story of the Africans taking action on a grand scale he attempts do to something that others before him have not. As there is no precedent to follow James establishes his own ideas in his history. As James’s historiography is somewhat unique he believes it is his duty to interpret history and insert his own ideas to it. James does not directly use the word bias however he mentions the impossibility of accurately portraying the emotions of the revolution as he says in the preface:
“The writer has sought not only to analyse, but to demonstrate in their movement, the economic forces of the age; their moulding of society and politics, of men in the mass and individual men; the powerful reaction of these on their environment at one of those rare moments when society is at boiling point and therefore fluid. The analysis is the science and the demonstration the art which is history. The violent conflicts of our age enable our practiced vision to see into the very bones of previous revolutions more easily then heretofore. Yet for that very reason it is impossible to recollect historical emotions in that tranquility which a great English writer, too narrowly, associated with poetry alone”[14] .
Here James directly compares a historian’s job to that of an artist, and also discusses the impossibility of being completely unbiased in any historical work. This introduces James unique perspective on chronicling history. James also accepts bias in his form of historiography because each historian has influences and particular areas of study. James remarks that his background his appreciation and study of Marxism and the Russian revolution apparent in the foreword. Throughout the work James’s Marxist approach can be seen behind the history and that has led some critics to question the historical validity of The Black Jacobins.
The significance of bias in The Black Jacobins has been discussed since the book has been published. Montague references it in his 1940 review of the work, “The author’s sympathies and frame of reference are evident, but he tells his story with more restraint than can generally be found in works on this subject by others less plainly labeled”[15]. Undoubtedly the bias is present, however Montague believes it is suppressed well. Others point to the bias as far more visible, “James work is radical, conceived with a Marxist framework, and favors the search for determinative factors within social dialects”[13]. Adéè̳kĂ³ says that while bias detracts a little from the historical accuracy of the work, it allows James to raise many important ideas about the revolution. He goes on to say that instead of detracting from the meaning of the work this bias increases its importance through adding a level complexity. While the bias is undeniable, both recent and contemporary reviewers agree that James ideas and opinion of historiography make the work extremely valuable in the study of Caribbean history.
[edit] Class struggles: Central to the work
Through the Marxist bias James is able to convey ideas about how social class affected the revolution. This sets The Black Jacobins apart from other contemporary works is James’s focus on social class as opposed to the role skin color played in the revolution. VĂctor Figueroa lists James’s contemporaries who particularly focus on the issue of race over class in his article “The Kingdom of Black Jacobins: C. L. R. James and Alejo Carpentier on the Haitian Revolution” to be Luis PalĂ©s Matos, Alejo Carpentier, and Edouard Glissant.[16]
James focuses on the classes of individuals and how this shaped the revolution and subsequent history. Racism and the color of one’s skin still played a very large role in people’s judgments at the time when this work was published. In an attempt to draw away from this, James places a heavy emphasis on the different social classes each played their own part in the Haitian revolution. James is very thorough in his analysis of class, including not only the major classes in the Caribbean but also outsiders in France who played a role the revolution, such as the French bourgeoisie and British bourgeois.[17] VĂctor Figueroa, in The Kingdom of Black Jacobins: C.L.R. James and Alejo Carpentier on the Haitian Revolution, says that James Marxist influence may be the cause for this as he asserts, “James’s emphasis on Haiti and Africa reflects his resolve, […], to not allow race to be subsumed in the category of class, but rather to open a space within Marxist revolutionary agenda for the particular plights of the Black peoples of both continents”[16] . Figueroa also goes on to say that although race is not a primary focus for this book, it goes hand in hand with class in terms of people’s perception at the time period. Another reason for James’s decision to write about class and it’s influence is because by focusing on this he directly supports ideas raised in some of his other works.[18] In his writings James argues for socialists to support the emerging black nationalist movements, as this could lead to more socialist countries as well as providing these countries with a model to follow. The importance of class can be directly linked to his Marxist background. James can justify this focus on class by applying his own version of historiography to the Haitian revolution. James’s form of historiography shows that while James embraces a Marxist approach in the examination of social class in the revolution he can also stray from this to analyze the individual characters of the revolution, such as Toussaint L’ouverature. James’s focus on, and treatment of, Toussaint is interesting because by focusing on the individual James is drifting away from communist ideals. This exemplifies the importance of James’s form of historiography as it does not confine him but allows him to embrace ambiguous ideas.
[edit] Importance of Toussaint L’Ouverature
Toussaint L’Ouverature is considered by many to be the most important figure in the Haitian revolution. Although he spent the majority of his life as a slave, Toussaint had more opportunities presented to him than most. James comments on this by saying “both in body and mind he was far beyond the average slave”[19] . Toussaint joined the revolution after its initiation and was immediately looked up to as a leader. He quickly established himself, organizing the Haitian people into the force that was able to break the French hold upon the colony of San Domingo. He then went on to be more than a military leader after the revolution was successful. Because of Toussaint large role in the revolution, James must include a large section about Toussaint, or his work would be an incomplete history. Throughout the text James’s attitude toward Toussaint is unclear as James asserts that while Toussaint is a great man, he may also be the product of a social necessity. While James establishes his respect for the brilliant military leader Toussaint L’Ouverature in the preface, he also makes it clear that he believes it was the slave’s passion for freedom that shaped Toussaint into the figure remembered today. James devotes two whole chapters, ‘The Rise of Toussaint’ & ‘Toussaint Seizes Power’ to Toussaint L’Ouverature, however he appears to have an ambiguous attitude towards him. James' attitude can be seen clearly as he states, “men make history, and Toussaint made the history that he made because of the man he was”[19] as well as “Toussaint did not make the revolution. It was the revolution that made Toussaint […] Great men make history, but only such history as it is possible for them to make. Their freedom of achievement is limited by the necessities of their environment”[20]. This apparent contradiction is still a point of controversy among scholars, as James was vague in his opinion of Toussaint. Victor Figueroa attempts to shed light on this attitude however simply refers to James opinion as “Paradoxical” as he both “criticizes (and also implicitly celebrates)”[16] Toussaint.
[edit] Notes
^ a b James Appendix
^ James vi
^ James vi
^ James ix
^ James v
^ James ix
^ Montague 130
^ Montague 130
^ Seabrook 127
^ William C. Suttles
^ Santiago-Valles 73
^ AdĂ©lĂ©ke Adéè̳kĂ³
^ a b AdĂ©lĂ©ke Adéè̳kĂ³̳ 89
^ James xi
^ Monatgue 126
^ a b c Victor Figueroa
^ James 56
^ Santiago-Valles
^ a b James 91
^ James x
[edit] References
James, C.L.R. The Black Jacobins. 3rd ed. London: Allison and Busby Limited, 1980
Adeeko, Adeleke. The Slave's Rebellion: Literature, History, Orature. New York: Indiana UP, 2005.
Figueroa, VĂctor. "The Kingdom of Black Jacobins: C. L. R. James and Alejo Carpentier on the Haitian Revolution. " Afro - Hispanic Review 25.2 (2006): 55-71,227. Research Library. ProQuest. UC e-links, Berkeley, CA. 13 Nov. 2008 http://www.proquest.com/.
Montague, Ludwell L. "The Black Jacobins. Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution Review." The Hispanic American Historical Review Vol. 20. (1940): pp. 129-130
Santiago-Valles, W. F. "C. L. R. James: Asking Questions of the Past." Race & Class. 45. 1 (2003): 61-78. Saga Journals Online. UC e-links, Berkeley, CA. 13 Nov. 2008 http://rac.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/45/1/6
Seabrook, S.G. "The Black Jacobins Review." The Journal of Negro History Vol. 24. (1939): pp 125–27.
William, Suttles C. "African Religious Survivals as Factors in American Slave Revolts." The Journal of Negro History Vol. 56 (1971): pp. 97-104.
[edit] External links
Extract from The Black Jacobins
The Black Jacobins
Conference in London in February 2008 to mark 'Seventy years of The Black Jacobins' organised by the London Socialist Historians Group
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Jacobins"
Categories: History books History of the Caribbean Books by C. L. R. James
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