ALLIANCE for HAITIAN DEMOCRACY

     As a revolutionary Dessalines established a landmark for universal struggle and social identity. Along with honoring the native people, he sought to purchase Black American slaves from the USA, his brethren, to make them free citizens in Haiti. Dessalines was also one of the first individuals recorded in history to use the color Black as an official racial identity. In his 1805 constitution he proclaimed all people in Haiti as black; including the African masses, mulattoes, the spared French abolitionist & priest, and Polish mercenaries who switched allegiance from the French to the Haitian side during the war. Regardless of complexion or racial origin Dessalines applied the term Black for all the citizens who fought and died for the struggle for liberation.

     

     As a political leader and statesman, Dessalines was a great visionary. Fearing an inevitable return from the French or a neighboring colonial power he made the military strength a top priority. All over the country he built numerous forts in Haiti with a plan to develop Haiti within its geographically safe interiors as opposed to their vulnerable, over-populated coastal cities. He understood the importance of self-reliance and promoted centralized agriculture and land ownership in Haiti as a method of both sustaining the economy and uplifting the landless dis-enfranchised masses of former slaves. In many ways when speaking of social political ideology and practice Dessalines came ahead of Karl Marx and after Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

 

     These revolutionary ideas regarding land-ownership and economy are why the founding father of Haitian independence was assassinated in 1806. The group that killed Dessalines was made up of wealthy former slave owners, including many black and mulatto generals who had fought alongside of Dessalines against the French during the Haitian revolution. The assassination of Dessalines has been a historical curse on the land of Haiti. The circumstances and context in which it took place parallels every epoch of the Haitian struggle for liberation, most notably the present day one.

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     The conspirators against Dessalines were at one-time slave-owning aristocrats who prospered under the colonial structure of the French rule. The French Revolution of 1789 inspired many of the educated, French speaking, slave owning, black and mulatto aristocrats to seek for recognition and the same status as their French counterparts. After the French Revolution the French government issued a set of monumental social and governmental reforms, among them was the abolition of slavery. Slavery in all French colonies was temporarily abolished. In St. Domingue black and mulattoes (Toussaint, Dessalines, Christophe, Petion, etc.) became trained as military leaders and administrators of the island, and even fought neighboring colonial powers Spain and England in defense of France's colonial empire. 

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     For a limited time, black and mulattos held military, political, and economic power over the island. Napoleon Bonaparte, however came to power in France and began a quick reversal of the social progression policies that had occurred as a result of the French Revolution. When he attempted to invade St. Domingue and reinstate the former French dominance, the Black and mulatto colonial elite joined the revolutionaries, maroons, and slave masses due to their mutual interest of liberty from French rule. The only contention with this alliance was that many of the aristocrats who fought to liberate Haiti, had formerly prospered underneath the colonial structure of slavery and only fought alongside the slave masses in order to establish self-determination for their own aristocratic social class.

      

     When Dessalines began instituting his collective land policy as a leader of independent Haiti, the aristocratic elite felt threatened and assassinated him   After Dessalines' assassination the economic and land policy that was instituted in Haiti was a privatized land ownership system drawn along aristocratic and ruling family lines. This aristocratic land ownership system has perpetuated a feudal class system in Haiti into this very day. In place of a collectivized agrarian policy, former slaves worked as tenant farmers or share croppers on estates owned by large land barons. Wealth, political and military influence became centralized within a small, exclusive social class in Haiti. The first US occupation from 1915-1934 served to strengthen the centralization of land, wealth, and political power in Haiti, within the control of few predominately mulatto, wealthy families.  For countless generations the masses of former slaves have remained disenfranchised while the country has remained chaotic and vulnerable to foreign oppression. 

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      The ideology of the Alliance for Haitian Democracy, Dessalinism, is not to be confused with common generalized political labels whether they be the Right vs. the Left, Capitalism vs. Communism, or Lavalas vs. Duvalierist. In the tradition of Jean-Jacques Dessalines our party supports any progressive action that advances the state of living for the suffering people of Haiti. We do not oppose free markets, we only advocate for regulation, oversight and centralization over the economy and natural resources to the limited extent that each citizen can be guaranteed food, education, healthcare, shelter, and a right to self-determination. Our party derives its ideology from the ideals of Dessalines and the goal of liberating the historically oppressed masses of Haiti. This ideology, is symbolized by the colors black and red: noir et rouge.

 

     It is historical knowledge that the first Haitian flag consisted of a blue and red band representing the French tri-chrome with the white band removed. The removal of the white band symbolized the removal of white rule in Haiti. Dessalines amended this flag by changing the blue into black and placing the bands vertically rather than horizontal.

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      *Black is the color of racial, social and political identity used by Dessalines and Africans worldwide. Black represents the people, our pride, our triumph over centuries of euro-centrism and dominance. Black also represents the fertile soil; the Earth we till to provide our food and livelihood.

 

      *Red is our blood, united in solidarity; the strength, passion, and power of our people. 

        

      *The vertical bands as opposed to horizontal bands represent us as a people standing up rather than laying down.

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      *Black and red, along with green, are among the most commonly used colors for flags of African nations. 

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     The blue and red flag used by Alexandre Petion and those after him represent an aspiration for likeness with the former French colonizers. The blue and red resemblance to the French flag represents the unwillingness of the Haitian aristocrats to fight a revolution against the entire feudal colonial structure Haiti has been inflicted with. Throughout history Haiti has alternated between the blue and black bands on its flag. 

     

     During the period after Dessalines’ assassination Haiti was split into two states. Petition ruled over a Haitian Republic in the south using the blue and red flag. He perpetuated Haiti's feudal land policy but also aided Simon Bolivar's revolution to liberate many regions that became nations of South America. In the north Henri Christophe (one of Dessalines’ conspirators), ruled over a Haitian Kingdom, while utilizing certain ideas of Dessalines which included the black and red flag, militarization, and the building of many historical forts which include the Citadel Laferriere.  

     

     After Peition and Christophe, Petion’s successor, Boyer ruled a unified Haiti underneath the blue and flag. During his rule, Haiti continued to function under an aristocratic feudal land policy which resulted in constant instability and underdevelopment.  Under a false sense of republicanism, the elite prospered while Haiti’s military defense grew weak. During the unstable times of Boyer's administration, the French Government ransomed Haiti at gunpoint to pay for its right to recognition. This ransom has forever hampered the Haitian economy.

     

    The black and red flag was re-instituted by Soulouque, a unique character in Haitian history. Soulouque was placed as a figurehead for a majority mulatto elite establishment that was controlling much of Haitian politics during the mid 1800’s. The un-assuming and senior Soulouque, however, took the opportunity granted upon him to declare himself a true president and consolidate his power over those who wished to use him as figure head. He reinstated Dessalines’ Empire of Haiti and with it the black and red flag. Although his rule did not last he is remembered as a symbol of black leadership in Haiti where colonial legacies persist.

 

            The blue and red flag was re-instated after the fall of Soulouque. The country remained under control of the traditional elite until the US Marines invaded Haiti in 1915. The blue and red flag symbolism as a feudal aristocratic nation 'laying down' was best exemplified by the US occupation from 1915-1934. During this period The United States instituted a racist policy that dramatically  increased the centralization of land, political and economic power within the control of a few mulatto families. The national army that had existed since Dessalines' time was disbanded and an American controlled military force, the gendarme, later formed as the Forces Armes D'Haiti, was created.

      

     In the Mid-Twentieth century Francois Duvalier, as a follower of Dumarsais Estime, and member of the Noirism movement, utilized many of the symbols of Dessalines as part of his political framework; in effort to conjure up Black pride in a post US Occupied Haiti. The most well-known symbol he used was the black and red flag of Dessalines.

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     To be explicit, the black and red flag was created by and symbolizes Jean-Jacques Dessalines. The black and red colors have deeper roots in Haitian history much like the red handkerchief worn by the fascist political police, the Volontaires de la Securite Nationale (VSN) aka the tonton macoutes. The red handkerchiefs and denim clothing are worn by traditional Haitians in the countryside regions. The red handkerchief is used in Haitian spiritual practice of Vodou and was most famously used as a uniform by the indigenous revolutionary army, the Cacos, who fought against and resisted the US occupation during 1915-1934. Although they were misused and misrepresented by the dictatorship; both the red handkerchief of the Cacos and the black and red flag remain as centuries old symbols of Haitian nationalism and pride.

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     After the fall of the dictatorship the blue and red flag was reinstated as a symbol of Haiti's transition to democracy. During this period Haiti has not known any true democracy; instead Haiti has had over thirty years of foreign military occupation, economic devastation, loss of sovereignty, and rampant abuses of its citizens. These abuses have occurred due to the common interest held between Haiti's financial bourgeois and foreign neo-colonial corporate powers to subdue the political and economic rights of the Haitian masses that they are exploiting for their labor, resources, land and lives. This common interest between neo-colonial powers and the bourgeois in Haiti bears a stark parallel to the political dynamics in Haiti after the revolution, when Papa Dessalines was assassinated because of his centralized collective agriculture policies, and a feudal class society based upon a slave-owning aristocracy was then instituted upon the backs of the Haitian masses for ages to come.

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     It is in light of these historical facts, and cultural legacy that our party erects the colors of Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the colors of our party and of our nation; Colors which truly symbolize the essence of Haiti’s struggle for liberation: Noir et Rouge.

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- Jamil Jean-Jacques

Executive Director: Alliance for Haitian Democracy (ADH)

Editor: ADH political blog