L’Union fait la force
My parents are Haitian immigrants. My mother was 11 when her family ended up in Jersey City and my dad was 12 when his family moved to Queens. We grew up hearing stories of their difficulties attending American schools not knowing the language and the bullying that my parents and their siblings endured, but they never anticipated that would turn into hatred and political fuel. In 1969, both of my parents’ families made the decision to move from Haiti to the United States to escape the political climate of the time and seek opportunity. If you are not up on your Haitian politics, Haiti was ruled by one family from 1957 to 1986. This isn’t the Kennedy or Bush political dynasty, the Duvalier years are marked by human rights abuse, poverty, and a mass exodus.
Let’s start at the top, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. Ruling from 1957 to 1971, Papa Doc ruled Haiti through scare tactics, imprisonment, and murders of an estimated 300,000 Haitians. Papa Doc declared himself “President for life” in 1964 and stayed in power until his death in 1971, when his only son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier assumed power at the age of 19. Not only did Baby Doc continue the human rights violations of his father, but the island nation was also soon overcome with poverty. Nearly 600,000 people left Haiti for the United States during the combined Duvalier years and historically settled in Miami, New York City (Brooklyn and Queens), Boston, and Northern New Jersey. The Duvalier years plus the earthquake and resource scarcity is how we ended up with nearly 1.2 million people of full or partial Haitian decent living in the United States today.
While typically Haiti is mentioned as the “poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere,” the country is more than that. The internet will tell you that Haiti’s greatest export is textiles, but in reality, it is people. Not only were the Haitian people the first free Black slave nation, but they contribute is almost every industry and way of life in the United States. Flip through the gallery below to see some Americans that we can thank Haiti for. All of the celebrities below were either born in Haiti or have a parent with Haitian ancestry….allegedly…looking at you Blake Griffin.
Notice how I didn’t mention a pet-eater, criminal, or thief among them? Very mindful. The motto of the Haitian people is “L’union fait la force,” unity makes strength. The Haitian people are resilient. We will get through this latest attack on us and our culture together, because it’s nothing new. We are resilient, because we have always had to be. The xenophobia in this country is trending dangerously upward and even after being fact checked, prominent politicians and business moguls are spreading hateful lies about Haitian people that are having real life consequences - bomb and school shooting threats, protests from both sides, and evacuations of municipal buildings.
The United States is a collection of people fleeing from something or someone. Christopher Columbus and his friends did it to find spices, early settlers were trying to avoid taxation, some of our ancestors did it to escape death. My parents have lived out their American dream in this country and are now enjoying a successful retirement, but I am worried for them, as I am for all Haitian people right now. Haiti has been marred by political turmoil, natural disasters, and gang rule; getting worse every day. As my sister Dominique (that’s Haitian-American Chief Historian of the Brooklyn Public Library) puts it...
So today, as I likely will be over the next few days and weeks, I am thinking of the Haitian people in Springfield, Ohio and the diaspora all around the country. May you wear your Haitian ancestry as a badge of pride and not hide in fear.
Big shoutout to my mom for helping with the research on and context for the Duvalier years!!!
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