No Hate for Haitians! A brief history of Haiti
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This week's Bitchstory (aka:Re-Feminist History)(aka: feminists who swear and google things while recording) is about the Haitian Revolution. Timely. Relevant. Educational...that's what we are! Anyway, we've been on a roll with talk about various revolutions so here we are with Haiti.
Guess who "discovered" Haiti? Yes, our favorite pillager for the crown and dude who "discovered" places where humans were already very well established...Christopher Columbus. Sigh.
"Ayiti" (as its native dwellers called her) was Spanish, then French, then the British put their elbows in it for a bit. And the US "occupied" Haiti for a minute as well. Haiti was rich in natural resources like gold, copper, and marble. They grow sugarcane, coffee, rice, and corn. And it has a pretty nice natural gas pocket. So of course, various colonizers raped that land, all but wiped out its native people, the Tainos, and turned the island country into a slave depot. Hundreds of thousands of African slaves were brought to Haiti, with the blessing of the Catholic Church, of course.
The Haitian Revolution took place shortly after the US Revolution, and in the midst of the French Revolution. And for those who are asking "what were Pluto and Uranus doing at that time?!" (just me? Ok)...well...Pluto moved out of Capricorn, sign of the Patriarchy, government structures, and authority, and into Aquarius, sign of the collective, the people, humanity as a whole, right after the US Revolution. Pluto was in Aquarius when the slaves of Haiti began to revolt against their oppressors. When their fight began in August of 1791, the Sun was in Leo, sign of pride, royalty, self sovereignty, and Uranus was there too. Uranus is the planet of revolution, change, upheaval, and unexpected events. Their fight went on until January of 1804, when they were able to declare themselves a free country.
But Haiti has suffered instability ever since. Political upheaval, violence, and coups have been a regular occurrence. The land has been stripped in many places. So there they are in the Caribbean where hurricanes are common. And every time there is a big storm, it is followed by mudslides because the land is naked, essentially. Furthermore, they are on a fault line, so earthquakes are common. So she's never quite been able to get her feet under her.
Since 1804, 23 presidents have been overthrown. There are 4 official assassinations, 1 "suicide" (very sus!), 7 "died in office" (suspicious squinting at that),
It seems really strange to me, because Ohio is way up North and Haiti is South of Cuba and Florida. So of course, Florida has the most Haitians by far. But after Florida, the largest Haitian population is in... Massachusets?!! Yes. More than in New York! (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/haitian-population-by-state). Um...Mass is also way up north, AND has the 2nd highest cost of living in the US, (https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/cost-of-living/california-usa/massachusetts-usa) I am baffled by this but that's not the point.
The point is that in Springfield, Ohio, the locals have embraced and supported their Haitian friends and neighbors. In fact, after Trump's ridiculous statement about "they're eating the pets", the locals rallied around a small Haitian restaurant to the point that the restaurant was almost overwhelmed. That's being a good neighbor! That's being a good American! That's being a good HUMAN!
So, check out the podcast where we highlight some of the women instrumental in the Haitian fight for Independence, and go eat at your local Haitian restaurant!
SOURCES:
https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/why-haitian-immigrants-are-moving-to-springfield-ohio/
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/haitian-population-springfield-ohio/story?id=113731377
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-legend-springfield-ohio-trump-migrants-pets/