The World of Herve Fanini Lemoine

What If African Slaves?

What if, Africans slaves were workers equal to the white planters of Saint Domingue instead of its slaves? They would have had an equal opportunity to attend school, so today's Haitians might have had a different view in building a country, wouldn't they?

What if, Africans slaves were allowed to keep and raise a family instead of having them scattered around plantations? Today's Haitians would have had a better concept of family and community and so Haitian man would have probably been more concerned about educating a family instead of spreading his sperm all over town just as colonists did, wouldn't they?

What if, Africans slaves were allowed to practice their faith instead of the brainwashing of Christianity that was inflicted upon their souls? Their Voodoo faith would have been recognized and respected as a legitimized faith and Haitians would not have to consult their priest in the middle of the night instead of in the broad day light as they do when they attend Christian masses, wouldn't they?

What if, all of the above were granted and all Africans slaves were allowed to learn to speak freely? The Creole language would have been the most spoken and written language of all Haitians and so there would not have been any social discrimination that labels French speakers as “elite” and Creole speakers as “masses, bön, restavek or geran, ect”; creating in today’s society a group of people that speak Creole with a French accent because of wanting to be identified as “not from the masses”.

Because of the absence of the sense of belonging to a Nation and the understanding of the responsibilities that are involved, today's Haitians will keep on arguing over matters that will not change anything.

So Dessalines and his counterparts would have all been very well informed that the natives of Ayiti and African migrants might have had more than a few things in common, such as a common God that is all spirit and they both believe in nature. Consequently, if the “educated” Dessalines were to choose a flag from scratch, I believe it would have chosen a color that reflects nature: Green, the compromise of blue (sky) and yellow (sun) is the essence of reproduction; therefore, that would have been the first choice. I don't believe either Dessalines or Cange were preoccupied by the thought of existentialism or naturalism. In fact they had one thing in common: that was how to get rid of the oppressor and what it represents.

The impulsive reaction of removing the white from the French tri-color does not substantiate the notion of representation in a Nation-Flag. Given the situation and the social formation, it is appropriate to believe that might have been the right choice. Though this is an action that is reflected today in Haitians, they still prefer to reproduce a model instead of creating one from scratch. That was easy then and still is today. The energy to create requires a tremendous effort that leads people to believe it must be a gift from god.

In fact I do not believe that Dessalines had Africa in mind at all in the reunion at Arcahaie. Given his position and anticipation to a free and independent nation, his goal must have been to get rid of the French and every one that would stand between his dreams. Since Republican ideas were to be buried by Napoleon's ambition to reign as an emperor, so did Dessalines when he became the First emperor of the second new Independent Nation of the Americas.

To conclude, organization, integration, pride, and a great sense of participation are fundamental for an individual to its evolution and the future of his nation. In the case of Haiti, I believe the presence of "all" colonialism artifacts must be reconsidered and revised. Africanism is the fundamental for Haitian evolution, without its understanding and teachings in all forms we will have a lifetime struggle to understand Haitianism.

Hervé Fanini-Lemoine

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