While Haiti established the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere and was the first black country to gain independence from European colonizers, its history is not well known in the Anglophone world. The Haiti Reader introduces readers to Haiti's dynamic history and culture from the viewpoint of Haitians from all walks of life. Its dozens of selections—most of which appear here in English for the first time—are representative of Haiti's scholarly, literary, religious, visual, musical, and political cultures, and range from poems, novels, and political tracts to essays, legislation, songs, and folk tales. Spanning the centuries between precontact indigenous Haiti and the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, the Reader covers widely known episodes in Haiti's history, such as the U.S. military occupation and the Duvalier dictatorship, as well as overlooked periods such as the decades immediately following Haiti's “second independence” in 1934. Whether examining issues of political upheaval, the environment, or modernization, The Haiti Reader provides an unparalleled look at Haiti's history, culture, and politics.

The U.S. invasion of Haiti in July 1915 marked the start of a military occupation that lasted for nineteen years--and fed an American fascination with Haiti that flourished even longer. Exploring the cultural dimensions of U.S. contact with Haiti during the occupation and its aftermath, Mary Renda shows that what Americans thought and wrote about Haiti during those years contributed in crucial and unexpected ways to an emerging culture of U.S. imperialism. At the heart of this emerging culture, Renda argues, was American paternalism, which saw Haitians as wards of the United States. She explores the ways in which diverse Americans--including activists, intellectuals, artists, missionaries, marines, and politicians--responded to paternalist constructs, shaping new versions of American culture along the way. Her analysis draws on a rich record of U.S. discourses on Haiti, including the writings of policymakers; the diaries, letters, songs, and memoirs of marines stationed in Haiti; and literary works by such writers as Eugene O'Neill, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston. Pathbreaking and provocative, Taking Haiti illuminates the complex interplay between culture and acts of violence in the making of the American empire.

My name is Nicole Jean-Louis. My maiden name is Nicole Faublas. I was born in Port-au –Prince, Haiti. When I was nine years old, my grandfather, Luc Beauboeuf, inspired me to discover my artistic talent. Every sketch I’ve made was greeted with abundant praises by my grandfather. “Draw me some more”, he would say to me. Every day after school, I would rush to draw more and more for him. Then, he would help me with my math problems. In my early schooling at Sacred Heart, my favorite subjects were Math and Drawing. As an artist, I love to incorporate Geometry and Physics in my drawings as much as I can. For example, when I paint my landscape, I want to align the horizon with the sea level as straight as possible. In Haiti, we were five siblings growing up: Gladys, Nicole (myself), Micheline, Edith, and Serge Faublas, our only brother. One day, my father, Jean Faublas, gathered us all to go hiking in a mountain surrounding Port-au-Prince. The mountain’s name is “Morne de l’Hopital”. My father told us that we would go to the top where there is a hotel at “Boutilier”. This was a memorable experience. We met farmers working on the fields. Some farmers build terraces. We met women descending the mountain with baskets on their heads, loaded of farm products. The women wore blue denim dresses, with a colorful piece of cloth wrapped around their waist. There were naked children playing by their thatch houses. At the age of ten, it was fascinating for me to see the children’s skin and hair of similar color, red-brown like the soil. The air smelled like Haitian soda. In the late 1955’s era, the mountain sides located near Port-au-Prince were not constructed. They were invaded by outsiders as in this modern day era. In 1964, my whole family migrated to Zaire, Africa, to flee from the Duvalier Regime. I spent a year in Zaire, completing my terminal secondary class. Then, my father sent me to Hampton, Virginia. I attended Hampton Institute; presently known as Hampton University, majoring in Biochemistry. I spoke little English. The following year, I stayed in New York with my older sister, Gladys. I did not pursue Art in college. Instead, I choose Science. After many intermissions, (e.g.)( wedding, travel, birth), I finally received a Bachelors in Science degree at Hunter College in 1978. From 1978 to 2007, I worked in Chemistry at different hospitals in the Bronx: North Central Bronx Hospital, Einstein, Jacobi, and Montefiore Hospital. I painted occasionally for dear friends, my sisters and brother, my granddaughter, Guenett (“Three 2 Generations”) painting. I also painted for my niece’s and nephew’s wedding presents, and for decors in my new house. When I retired in 2007, my husband and I went to live in Jacmel, Haiti, his hometown. Jacmel is a picturesque town by the beaches. Its environment inspired me to take my brushes again. Painting became my favorite past time. From 2007 to 2010, I painted over thirty paintings. I embrace all styles: landscape, personalized portrait, every day occurrence, folkloric dance, history. Haiti that I know before the earthquake of January 2010 will be beautiful again. I have to display Haiti’s panoramic scenery, everyday life, and its historic events such as: “Ceremony of Bois Caiman, 1791”, “Mad Dogs chasing fugitive slaves”. I have to exhibit some of Haiti’s heroic figures; for example, Toussaint Louverture and Jean Jacques Dessalines. My book is mostly about visual art. Visual art depicts everything that the eyes can see without embellishment. Reality is represented faithfully, truthfully, and accurately. Visual art is objectively real. My book illustrates Haiti’s history and culture through visual art. Haiti has a unique and glorious history. History is powerful and should be protected. Haiti is a country full of resilience. Documenting Haitian history and culture through art is my passion. It is important to instruct the young so they can make educated judgment by learning from the past. I

A passionate and insightful account by a leading historian of Haiti that traces the sources of the country's devastating present back to its turbulent and traumatic history Even before the 2010 earthquake destroyed much of the country, Haiti was known as a benighted place of poverty and corruption. Maligned and misunderstood, the nation has long been blamed by many for its own wretchedness. But as acclaimed historian Laurent Dubois makes clear, Haiti's troubled present can only be understood by examining its complex past. The country's difficulties are inextricably rooted in its founding revolution—the only successful slave revolt in the history of the world; the hostility that this rebellion generated among the colonial powers surrounding the island nation; and the intense struggle within Haiti itself to define its newfound freedom and realize its promise. Dubois vividly depicts the isolation and impoverishment that followed the 1804 uprising. He details how the crushing indemnity imposed by the former French rulers initiated a devastating cycle of debt, while frequent interventions by the United States—including a twenty-year military occupation—further undermined Haiti's independence. At the same time, Dubois shows, the internal debates about what Haiti should do with its hard-won liberty alienated the nation's leaders from the broader population, setting the stage for enduring political conflict. Yet as Dubois demonstrates, the Haitian people have never given up on their struggle for true democracy, creating a powerful culture insistent on autonomy and equality for all. Revealing what lies behind the familiar moniker of "the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere," this indispensable book illuminates the foundations on which a new Haiti might yet emerge.

Reprint. Originally published: Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

The earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 thrust the nation into the public consciousness as never before. That terrible event piqued interest in a remarkable country with a rich history as both the first black republic in the world and the first country to break free of European imperialism in Latin America.

DIVA study of the ways that knowledge of the slave revolt in Haiti was denied/repressed/disavowed within the network of slave-owning states and plantation societies of the New World, and the effects and meaning of this disavowal./div