Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Fritz St. Jean. Dessalines, 1998. More about Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haiti’s founding father here.

Fritz St. Jean. Dessalines, 1998

‘…it is hard to overestimate the influence of the Haitian Revolution on other struggles for liberty and equality, especially in the 19th century. U.S. abolitionist Frederick Douglass said Haiti awoke the world both to the horrors of slavery and to the intelligence of formerly enslaved Blacks, who could not only win a war for independence but also govern themselves.

Those who fight today’s injustices would do well to study revolutionary periods in history, both victories and defeats of oppressed peoples. Malcolm X said: “Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research.” History comes alive when it is not simply names and dates to be memorized, but when it is read for lessons in political strategy.’

More here.

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