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Revolisyon Ayiti : Benefis Pou Kilès ?

Emmanuel W. VEDRINE

Combat de Vertières

Combat de Vertières par Patrick Noze, huile sur toile, tiré de «Haitian Art in the Diaspora»,
édité par Emile Viard, 2004, Vie & Art Collections.

 

Se yon tèm tèt chaje pou moun abòde nan kad Ayiti e li nesesè pou konn fondèt istwa peyi sa a. Pou te fè suit a yon atik yon kapatriyòt ekri (Doumafis Lafontan. ‘Inyon ou lanmò'. Me 2005) ki anglobe tèm «revolisyon», youn nan tèm mwen ta chwazi pou debat sijè a se: konprann istwa Ayiti.

Evidamman, fò n ta pati depi peryòd revolisyonè yo (byenke nou nan epòk kolonyal la toujou, men nou poko rive nan ane 1803); sèdike pwen mwen vle touche la a gen pou wè ak tout batay adwat agoch ki t ap fèt yo (avan Batay Vètyè, 18 novanm 1803) e kesyon nou menm nou kapab poze se: ki valè ladan yo ki te nan enterè mas pèp la (remake tou nou potko yon «nasyon»)? Donk, la a nou ka antre klas ki te pi ba yo («meprizab» yo), enkli tout esklav pou ta vin souse omwen yon zo nan bòl vyann nan.

Enben apre tout analiz nou, nou vin remake majorite batay sa yo ta chita sou enterè pèsonèl. Desalin te konprann jwèt marèl la fen e byen e se pa t yon bagay fasil fasil pou li pou l te eseye fè gwo chèf endijèn yo (milat, nwa, nèg bosal) fè yon tètkole kont Lafrans ki te gen gwo pouvwa pou divize/reye nan plan men l nan epòk la.

Opòtinis pakapala te toujou la depi lè dyab te kaporal. Yo antre nan kan Desalin nan vre (nan zafè «inyon» fiti anpwè a t ap pale a) pase yo te gentan wè avantay bab e moustach yo pi devan (kreyasyon yon nouvo sistèm fewodal ou neyokolonyal) si yo ta rive kwapre ekip sanmanman lame fransèz la ki te panse Ayiti se yon savann kote yo t ap kontinye vin galope ladan. Men kisa ki vin pase apre revolisyon an? Kèk nan opòtinis sa yo ta remake filozofi Desalin ta yon ti jan chanje lè anpwè a ta mande pou rekonpanse ti sòlda pye atè, linèt nan dèyè pantalon ki te pote pwòp kontribisyon pa yo nan revolisyon sanglan sa a kote yo te batay ak tout nanm, tout fòs yo pou yon chanjman.

Woy! Machwè kèk gwo chabrak gonfle pi rèd pase bonm ka Lekont e sa ta youn nan koz lanmò fondatè patri a anvan krache sèk. E toutsuit apre, nou vin wè kouman peyi tounèf sa a kòmanse divize tankou yon kochon ki dekatya apre yo fin grate l.

Anpil Ayisyen ta vle parèt an menm tan tou kòm «revolisyonè». Sa pa etone nou pase n ap gade fil istwa Ayiti kouman l dewoule, men èske se reyèlman ak ide pou ede mas pèp ki nan bezwen an? Èske se ak ide pou benefisye pwòp klas pa yo oubyen enterè pèsonèl yo? Donk se la KONFIZYON an chita pase fèy Istwa Dayiti ouvè devan n toutouni tankou yon fèy nou renmen gade.

Pa bliye tou, tèm «revolisyon» nan istwa nou ta plis parèt kòm yon LIT POU MONTE SOU POUVWA sèlman (ak etikèt sa a – ak pwomès «bagay yo pral chanje» donk, espwa fè viv kòm pwovèb la di). Pa gen pwoblèm pran pouvwa a, men se KISA lidè sa yo fè annapre (dekwa pou ede majorite pèp ki nan bezwen) yo fin pran pouvwa a? Tout moun toujou rete DIVIZE: chak toujou rete nan klan yo (e.g, sa k pran pouvwa a mete tout akolit li nan pozisyon kle epi chanjman de baz yo pa janm rive fèt, entelektyèl toujou rete nan klan yo ap filozofe grate santi menm lè yo parèt pi wouj pase drapo kominis Larisi men an verite, yo pa pral nan mas pèp al fè yon seri travay de baz (kouwè al plante pyebwa ak li, al voye hou ak li, vini ak estrateji pou wouze tè, estrateji pou plante pi byen, ide pou konsève rekòt pou ka goumen kont sezon dizèt, ide pou pwoteje tè a, fè pepinyè tout kalite, vini ak ide pou pa detwi lanati men pou konsève l, elt...).

Ventyèm syèk la ki apèn chavire bonnèt li pa tèlman lontan, se yon syèk tèt chaje nèt ale ak kouran ide «IS» yo ki vin pran nesans oubyen grandi (pa egzanp: barbaris, egzistansyalis, kapitalis, kominis, neyofewodalis, neyokolonyalis, revolisyonis, sosyalis… jis pou site kèk). Kèk ti boujwa entelektyèl nan lakou lakay (po nwa oswa po kwiv) voye monte nèt ale, voye ide kominis, sosyalis monte tankou se kap y ap file vandredi sen nan Pòtoprens men frè, yo toujou rete nan klas yo ap simen fransè sofistike, menm yon silabè kreyòl yo pa eseye ekri pou ta eseye alfabetize mas pèp la ki pa konn ga-a-ga nan fèy malange, vwa pou t al touse pye kanson pou al plante pyebwa ak li, al voye hou / pikwa/ manchèt / sèpèt ak li, al sekle tè ak li (e anpil konnen youn nan gwo sekrè devlopman Ayiti rete nan devlopman lagrikilti), al montre l li gratis ti cheri pou l dechifre bekounaba nan fèy malanga, al fè gwoup pou ba yo liv gratis ti cheri pou li, mete ansanm (ak sa ki gen lamama) pou ede yo yon jan, yon lòt epi montre yo kijan pou òganize yo, kijan pou travay ansanm pou gen siksè.

Konpilasyon tout ide revolisyonè yo nan kad Ayiti, men san aksyon konkrè, vin sanble yon «lanmou makiye». Donk 2 gwo kesyon nou ka poze pou konkli se:

  1. Kilè Ayiti va gen yon revolisyon sosyal tout bon?
  2. Kisa nou ka aprann de Revolisyon Kiben an?

Sa se repons mwen kite ouvè dekwa pou elaji deba sa a. Anfennkont, tèm «REVOLISYON» nan istwa Ayiti vin pran yon lòt sans tou: youn ki ta chita plis sou IDE REVOLISYONÈ, mwens AKSYON KONKRÈ.

(E.W.Védrine, 27 me 2005)

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Revolution in Haiti : Benefit for whom ?

(by E. W. VEDRINE)

Revolution is one of the complex themes to talk about in the case of Haiti and it's necessary to know the history of Haiti quite well.

To respond to an article by a countryman (Doumafis Lafontan. “Inyon ou lanmò” (Union or death), May 2005) that touches the theme “revolution”, one of the themes I would choose to debate this subject is: UNDERSTANDING HAITI.

Certainly, we would have to go back to the revolutionary periods (though we are still in the colonial times, but we are not yet in 1803) that is, the point I want to make here has to do with all the fights back and forth that were taking place (before the Battle of Vertieres on November 18, 1803) and the question we may ask is: how many of them were in the interest of the mass of people (also, notice that we were not a “nation” yet)? So, here we can enter the lowest classes (the untouchables), including all slaves in order to be able to suck at least a bone from the bowl of meat.

So after all of our analysis, we notice that most of the battles were based upon personal interests. Dessalines understood the complex game quite well and it wasn't an easy thing for him to try to unite the great indigenous chiefs (mulatoes, blacks, the “bossal” negroes) against France that had all the divide and conquer power in its hands at the time. Opportunists who are always present today were always present also in the past. They stood by Dessalines' side (in the “union” business that he was talking about) because they already saw their great future advantage (the creation of a new feudal system or neocolonial one if they succeeded in destroying the French army that thought Haiti was a prairie upon which they would continue to gallop.

But what happened after the revolution? Some of these opportunists noticed that Dessalines would, in a way, change when the emperor would ask him to pay back the little barefoot soldiers wearing torn pants who had brought their own contribution to the bloody battle with all their soul and strength for a change. Gee! Some of these big guys got very mad and that was one of the causes of the death of the homeland founder soon thereafter. And right after (his death), we see how the new country became divided like a pig that is being cut up in pieces after killing it.

Many Haitians would like to appear at the same time to be “revolutionary”. That does not astonish me because we are looking at the development of Haiti 's history, but is it truly with the idea to help the masses who are in need? Is it with the idea to benefit their own class or their personal interests? So, that's where the CONFUSION lies because the history pages of Haiti are open naked before us like a leaf we like to look at.

Don't forget also that the theme “revolution” in our history would appear more as a STRUGGLE TO ASCEND TO POWER only (with this label - with the promise that “things will be changed”, so hope makes one live, as the saying says). No problem ascending to power, but the question is: WHAT do these leaders do after (so that the majority of the people who are in need) ascending to power? Everyone always remains DIVIDED: each one always remains in his clan (e.g., those who are in power put their friends in key positions and the basic changes never occur); the intellectuals always remain in their clan philosophizing, sitting down doing nothing even when they appear to be more red than the color of the Russian communist flag but, truly, they are not going through the masses to do a series of basic works (such as, planting trees with them, using the hoe with them, coming up with strategies to irrigate the land, strategies to plant better, ideas to preserve harvests so that they can fight against the dry season, ideas to protect the land, make nurseries of all types, coming up with the idea not to destroy the land but rather protect it, etc.).

The 20th Century has just recently passed; it was a century of headaches, filled with currents of ideas of the “ISM” that were born or grew up (for example: barbarism, existentialism, capitalism, communism, neofeudalism, neocolonialism, revolutionism, socialism… just to cite a few). Some petit intellectual bourgeois in Haiti (black or light skin) use them back and forth (their own way), they use them like kites people fly on a Holy Friday in Port-au-Prince, but they always remain within their own class speaking sophisticated French; they are not even going to write a Kreyol manual trying to teach the masses who are completely illiterate how to read and write; so forget about rolling up their pants to go and plant with them, to hold a hoe / pickax / machete with them, weed the land with them (and many know that one of the secrets of Haiti's development lies in agriculture), go and show them how to read and write free of charge so that they can be at least at the basic reading the level, go and form groups to give out books, get together (with those who have money) to help one way or another and then show them how to organize themselves, how to work together for success. The compilation of all these revolutionary ideas in the case of Haiti , but with no concrete action, appears to be a “lanmou makiye” (fake love).

So, two questions we may ask to conclude:

  1. When will Haiti have a social revolution for sure?
  2. What can we learn from the Cuban Revolution?

These answers are open-ended in order to widen this debate. Finally, the term “REVOLUTION” in Haiti 's history also adopts semantics, focusing more on REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS than CONCRETE ACTIONS.

(E. W. Vedrine - May 27, 2005 - Site
The author thanks to Marilyn Mason for her English review)

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FIDBAK

(Doumafis Lafontan)

Apade «Konprann Ayiti» nou andwa ajoute «Konnen Ayiti». Nou va retounen sou tèm sa a talè.

Avan mwen avanse pi lwen pèmèt mwen remake Védrine se atis ki plis itilize HAAM (Haitian-American Artists of Massachusetts) pou fè lakonesans sikile. Kididonk, oun gwo kout chapo pou ou.

Youn nan mo travay nèg ki te voye kolon kanpe lwen Ayiti se «Vanjans». Memwa Ayisyen make ak rasanbleman e dènye enstriksyon Boukmann pase avan Leve Kanpe Mas yo nan Sendomeng 23 Dawou 1791. Soulèvman sa a, efektivman, manke detwi pati franse koloni an. Annapre, lanmò Boukmann, pakèt lòt chèf parèt tankou: Jean Francois, George Biasou, Jeanot Bile, Toussaint L'Ouverture, elatriye. Anfèt, L'Ouverture pral fè tout koloni an konnen li nan yon lèt kote li di li vle «vanjans».

Gen yon fraz Boudis ki di: «Lè ou konnen travay ou fè, li sèl si ou pa jwenn konpay». Dapre Jacob H. Carruthers, otè Irritated Genie , mo travay vanjans lan te pwente Dessalines nan direksyon pou li te akonpli liberasyon nasyonal peyi Dayiti. Toujou dapre Carruthers, chèf Revolisyon Ayisyen te vasiye ant fantòm (osnon zonbi) libète e zanj irite. Dayè, Dessalines montre li te trè konsyan de sa lè li te di: «Lame Franse pa t bat Toussaint L'Ouverture, men se pito ajan franse ki te pandye zonbi libète douvan je li».

Pa egzanp, jounen jodiya, nou kapab di se pa mechan lidè Ayisyen yo mechan, osnon yo
manke youn kwomozòm jan kolon rasis di, men pito sa nou ap asiste diran prèke desan (200) zan esplike pa politik (lit pou pouvwa) ki gen pou karakteristik nonsans, enkowerans, vyolans, esklizyon, elatriye.

Etid pi apwofondi nou fè te pèmèt nou tire konklizyon sa a (ann akò ak Jean Fouchad otè Les Marrons de la Liberté ): «Nan Revolisyon Ayisyen gen oun gwoup chèf ki te pran lèzam non sèlman pou pran pouvwa, men tou yo te motive pa panse espekilatif osnon ideyal; oun lòt gwoup te rive degaje yon tewori ki te makònen ak reyèl sosyal koloni an osnon dyakektik materyèl». Toussaint L'Ouverture figire antèt premye gwoup sa a; dezyèm gwoup lan gen yon lis long chèf, di-mawon, depi Padrejan, Makandal rive sou Boukmann fini ak Dessalines.

Nou pale verite ki pa bezwen verifye: «Revolisyon Ayisyen se yon mòso sosyal mouvman objektif monn lan; lwa fondamantal li se: ‘Okenn blan pa kapab pran tit mèt osnon pwopriyetè an(n) Ayiti». Se Desalin ki fèt dekouvèt lwa fondamantal sosyete Ayisyen.

Nou dakò fòk nou esplike nouvo dimansyon Revolisyon Ayisyen eklere epitou fòk nou konnen reyèl, sosyal peyi a. Nou pa gen dout Repiblik Dayiti se yon chodyè enjistis; yon melimelo fewodal, kolonyal, e kapital; yon petodyè moun lavil, moun andewò, oligak nwa, milat; kontradiksyon entèn endijèn, nwaris, negritid e maksis. Fas a reyalite sa a, ki yon tikras diferan lakoloni, nou pa kwè vanjans se mo ki pou mete moun an(n) aksyon pito mo travay la se «jistis». Nou kwè se sou tèm jistis tou Cornell West, otè Democracy Matters , abouti nan analiz li sou 11 Septanm. Parafraz nou: «Prezidan Bush, frè m, se
pa vanjans se jistis. Ou dwe aprann de lit dwa sivil Afriken Ameriken»

Konklizyon, nenpòt fas lit Ayisyen ap mennen, dwa sivil tankou pou fòme pati politik, pou vote osnon griyèf sosyal tankou aksè egal pou ale lekòl, sante, elatriye, abouti nan «jistis». Dèke nou wè li konsa eleksyon parèt kòm yon fè segondè e menm twazyèm. E tout moun ki prezante eleksyon kòm premye fè angaje nan yon manèv pou retade jistis e kenbe peyi Dayiti nan sitiyasyon pouri. Anplis mo travay jistis pote kad pou yon langaj dekoule. Se doktrin inite, (inite nan divèsite) yon tewori sosyal ki se resipwosite e balans.

Pa egzanp, nou se sa linivè ye pou nou. Dapre David Bohm, otè Unfolding Meaning, se sèlman relasyon siyifikatif ki ap posib.

Poukisa boujwazi nasyonal la pa pran tèt chanjman ki ap bon pou li an premye? Nou p ap mize sou kesyon sa a paske Jacques Stephen Alexis, otè Compère Général Soleil, reponn li plizyè deseni de sa. Men nou ap di yo pa fè sa paske yo pa pratike aksyon kreyatif «inite konnen e aji». Pou soutni tèz sa a nou ap raple se nan lit pou endepandans inite ant nwa e milat te rive akonpli. Kididonk, se pa nan pale dyòl dous libète, egalite, fratènite, ekri lwa krizokal nan palman Ayiti ap libere de joug enperyalis.

Konsènan Kiba osnon leson nou kapab tire de Revolisyon Kiben pou aplike an(n) Ayiti. Nou ap sèlman siyale priyote Revolisyon Kiben bay agrikilti ki pèmèt Kiba jodiya apwoche otosifizans manje, sante, elatriye… fè konpetisyon nan domèn byoteknoloji, espò, elatriye. Nou dwe note Kiba rive akonpli gran siksè sa yo kwak repiblik etwale a enpoze sou li youn anbago ilegal depi plis pase karantan. Pi enpòtan, pèp Kiben, gras a revolisyon an, rive adopte yon pozisyon defansif anvè Etazini. Tandiske an(n) Ayiti, tout jefò entèn-ekstèn fèt pou sipòte sektè enpo-ekspo nan yon pwomès Ayiti t ap vini yon Taiwan Karayibeyen ki pa janm reyalize.

Rezilta konparezon ant Kiba e Ayiti: Kiba rive founi lòt peyi nan rejyon an doktè tandiske genyen plis doktè Ayisyen nan Montreal ke Ayiti e Kiba genyen nivo pi ba moun ki enfekte ak SIDA tandiske Ayiti genyen to ki pi elve nan rejyon an. Nou pa kwè nou bezen di piplis.

Pou nou fini, nou ap di pinga moun wè yon demach jistisyalis nan apwòch nou adopte pou nou kontribye a chanjman an(n) Ayiti. Nou rete konvenki jouk yo bay prèv kontrè, an(n) akò ak Alexis, maksis se metòd pi apwopriye pou adousi chanjman an(n) Ayit.

(Doumafis Lafontan, 27 Me 2005)

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Emmanuel W. Védrine
E. W. VEDRINE CREOLE PROJECT, Inc.
P.O.B. 255962
Dorchester, MA 02125-5110 (U.S)
e_vedrine@hotmail.com, e_vedrine@yahoo.com

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