Thread: The Bwa Kay Iman uprising against slavery

A Giant Step for Mankind – Made in Haïti
The Bwa Kay Iman uprising against slavery


by Jeant Saint-Vil
Global Research, August 11, 2009





There was a time, not so long ago, when popes, kings and queens enriched themselves and built vast empires on the profits made with the sweat and blood of kidnapped men, women and children loaded on ships, stacked like sardines and reduced to slavery on plantations of coffee, sugar, cotton, cocoa, all over the Americas[1]. From the 1444 Portuguese attacks against the coast of Africa, followed by the 1452 papal bull of pope Nicholas V[2] which invited Christians to attack and enslave non-Christians, to the faithful year of 1791, millions of human beings had already been kidnapped, terrorized, thrown to sharks in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean . Immediately upon arrival on the islands or the mainland, they were worked to death, tortured, eaten alive by dogs that were especially trained to feed on African flesh or they were blown to pieces with ignited gun powder shoved into their sexual parts by British, Spanish, French and Portuguese colonizers. It has been estimated that the population of Africa in the mid 19th century would have been 50 million instead of 25 million had this catastrophe known as the MAAFA not taken place[3].

It is within such an atmosphere of unparalleled terrorism and human decadence that a remarkable gathering of men and women took place on the small Caribbean island of Haiti , the evening of August 14-15, 1791. Known as the Bwa Kay Iman Ceremony[4], it is said that this revolutionary meeting brought together representatives of twenty-one displaced African nations who vowed to revolt against the powers that had unleashed against their people such a relentless campaign of terror; a genocide that was expertly conceived and implemented, state-sponsored and financed, justified with numerous literary works and blessed by the most powerful and influential religious institutions of the day[5] .

The Bwa Kay Iman uprising of 1791 was not the first major revolt against racial slavery in the Americas . Rather, it was the culmination of years of organized struggle. Singular only in its successful conclusion, Bwa Kay Iman counts among its main leaders a woman named Cecile Fatiman[6] and a man called Boukman[7]. The lady, herself a former slave and a Vodou Priest, was said to be born of an African mother and a European father (a Corsican Prince). Boukman, also a Vodou Priest, was said to have been formerly enslaved on the island of Jamaica, before being sold to a plantation in Haiti. The following prayer has been attributed to Boukman officiating at the Bwa Kay Iman ceremony: "The god who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light. The god who holds up the ocean; who makes the thunder roar. Our God who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds; who watch us from where you are. You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man's god asks him to commit crimes. But the god within us wants to do good. Our god, who is so good, so just, He orders us to revenge our wrongs. It's He who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It's He who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men's god who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that speaks in all our hearts."[8]

Honoring their Bwa Kay Iman pledge, the Africans of Haiti launched an all out war against the armies of France , Britain and Spain which they would eventually defeat, thanks to the military savvy of the maroons and the apt leadership of: Generals Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Alexandre Pétion and HenryChristophe. The revolted Africans also counted among them fierce women warriors like Sanite Bélair, Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière and the aged Toya Mantou, aunt of General Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

Twelve years after the Bwa Kay Iman uprising, General Dessalines would outwit French Generals Leclerc (Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother-in-law ) and his particularly unscrupulous successor Donatien Rochambeau[9]. Dessalines would successfully chase the last European slave makers out of the island, on November 18, 1803. The resounding victory of these revolted Africans would force Napoleon to abandon his dream of building a French empire (fueled by racial slavery) in the Americas . It is no coincidencel that in the very year Haiti defeated Napoleon’s army, the United States of America was able to acquire Louisiana from the French, thus doubling its territory, for merely 81 million Francs. Three years later, fearing slave uprisings on its American colonies, the British would pass an act declaring it illegal to transport more kidnapped Africans into the Americas[10].

During a 2003 interview offered to the author of this article, esteemed American physician and author Paul Farmer commented that, more certainly so than for the 1969 moon landing, he considers the Haitian Revolution to be “a giant step for mankindâ€

Today, "modern slavery" is still alive and well.

What is the point of this long, tedious article? I don't know why somepeople on this board feel that posting very long articles on diverse topics helps the purpose of immigration enforcement. They are too long to read during a busy day.

Today, "modern slavery" is still alive and well.

Yes, our government is enslaving us with impossible debt and taxes due to their corruption and mis-management.


PS
About the long articles people post from time to time, I print them out and read them in-between coffee breaks throughout the day.