Haitian Vodou

Rastafari and Vodou are two major world religions that are both intertwined with a long history of oppression, persecution, and connection to the African people. While not as well known as the other more “traditional” religions like Christianity or Islam, Rastafari and Vodou are both religions with followers numbering in the millions. They have had extraordinary impact on the cultural and political scenes in their respective countries of origin. While not everyone agrees with the beliefs of…

figures in Haitian history, but much like storied Haitian history, and the history of the Caribbean as a whole, most of the world knows nothing about him. He was a man of African descent that was born and enslaved in Jamaica. He was a self educated man by the Quran which many believe was the origin of his name, since men of the quran were called “men of the book” and Boukman is the french translation for “book man”. Despite his name, Boukman was historically known as perhaps the most famous…

Haiti and Latin America share many similarities including their revolutions. The Haitian and Mexican revolutions are moderately similar in that they fought for independence with multiple leaders, slavery was abolished in both; however, Haiti experienced debt and Mexico resulted in little social change. One of the main causes of both The Haitian and Mexican revolutions was independence. In both places there was slavery and an unequal social system. Many groups of people were treated unfairly.…

In the readings, there is a strong connection between religious transnationalism. Both Haitians and Indians share a strong connection with their country of origin. Haitians in New York City remain in touch with their love ones, and some Haitians are involved in politics back in Haiti. In the film, Becky mentions that the children of the Christian religion are the future America needs. The reason for incorporating…

lack of education and healthcare, and poverty that shows how Haitian woman struggles are similar to global struggles. Marie Jeanne in the film explains the dual struggle being a woman and a worker. How woman have to work so many hours and lack from the opportunity of gaining education due to the high cost of school’s tuition fees. How education was denied due to gender discrimination which also occurs globally. How does it impact Haitian lives? Haiti is one of the poorest countries in Western…

The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the Island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, jointly occupying a space of less than 30,000 square miles. Despite their close proximity, the differences between the two are abundant: whereas Haitians take strong pride in their African roots and speak Creole, Dominicans pay homage to Spain as their motherland, and speak Spanish. The list of differences between the peoples of the two peoples is large, yet the roots of these cultural dissimilarities lie in…

In both of the films, I Walked with a Zombie from 1943 and George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead from 1968, race and Vodou play a large factor in creating the elements that compose the zombies of the stories. I Walked with a Zombie addressed the complications of white power by representing slaves working in the sugar industry as nothing more than mindless zombies, being manipulated by the white race to conform to their will. Night of the Living Dead also incorporated a wide range of racially…

This current event, the deportation of the Haitians, comes down to a matter of citizenship. Their law is anyone who is born on the island is a citizen with the exception of the people placed in the category called “those in transit.” The Dominican authorities has taken and used this exception to their advantage in refusing papers and passports of the Haitians even if their parents were born in Dominican Republic. As the article states in September 2013, the Dominican court laid the law stating…

rational reasons behind the antagonism between the Haitians and Dominicans include long going conflict between the governments due to cultural differences. In 1937, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molinas lead an attack against the Haitians that lead to the murder of more than 25,000 Haitians. Another reason would be the intervention of whites, which sought to keep the two cultures divided, in fact, they encouraged the Dominicans to feel superior to the Haitians due to larger skins and their acceptance…

Account for the success of the Haitian Revolution “Few wars have been so completely destructive as was the Haitian Revolution”. Once known as the richest colony in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti was given the nickname Pearl of the Antilles by the French, referring to both the beauty of its landscape as well as the wealth it brings to the Kingdom of France. How many people knew that Haiti was once richer than the United States of America? Haiti, or previously named Saint Domingue was the…