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Teaching About Haiti
All too often in the midst of the reporting on the tragedy in Haiti, we hear that the country is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere without the infrastructure to deal with the disaster. But little explanation is provided as to why, leaving students to assume it must be the fault of the people there.
While students should be encouraged to contribute to relief efforts, it is also important to gain a deeper understanding of the history and the roots of the poverty in Haiti. The US has been involved with Haiti for centuries, yet it has received little attention in textbooks or the curriculum. Part of our commitment to the people of Haiti at this time can be to not only increase our support but also our awareness. As informed citizens, we can advocate for respectful and constructive relations with Haiti in the months and years ahead.
To assist in bringing this history to the classroom, we have 
posted our publication Teaching About Haiti online. This 43-page booklet (PDF), last reprinted in 1994, can be downloaded and reproduced at no cost. While some of the statistics are dated, the history, songs, oral histories, and literature are very useful for students in elementary, middle and high schools. The download is available in four parts.
Download Part I. Cover, Credits, Introduction, Haiti's History-Part 1.
Download Part II. Haiti's History-Part 2, Studying the Media, Roots of Poverty.
Download Part III. Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Roots of Democracy and Haitian Voices.
Download Part IV. Literature, Vodou, Songs of Resistance.
We have also included organizations, articles, news sources, films and posters, and book lists to help learn and teach about Haiti.
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The Haiti Support Group (HSG), based in London (UK), is a solidarity organisation working with progressive organizations in Haiti that are trying to carry out the fundamental structural changes necessary to improve the standard of living of the majority, to build participatory democracy, and to ensure respect for all human rights. |
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Lambi Fund
supports community-based projects that promote grassroots economic
development, primarily in rural, agricultural areas. The fund also
emphasizes environmental sustainability, including reforestation in all
projects, and promotes the overall democratic movement. See the online
film Weaving Our Strength about the work of the Lambi Fund in Haiti.
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Mouvman Peyizan Papay: Education and Development Fund is Haiti’s largest grassroots organization, and also its most successful in addressing the problems of food production, land protection and viable peasant cooperatives. Founded in 1973. |
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Partners in Health has been working on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years. PIH works to bring modern medical care to poor communities in nine countries around the world. The work of PIH has three goals: to care for patients, to alleviate the root causes of disease in their communities, and to share lessons learned around the world. |
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Quixote Center/Haiti Reborn works in the United States to build grassroots activism to support just U.S. policies toward Haiti. It also works to support grassroots organizations in Haiti, including the reforestation program in Gros Morne, and the Commission of Women Victims for Victims (KOFAVIV) in Port-au-Prince. |
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Transafrica Forum serves as an educational and organizing center that encourages progressive viewpoints in the US foreign policy arena and advocates justice for the people of Africa and the African Diaspora. |
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Economic Justice in Haiti Requires Debt Restitution by Anthony Phillips and Brian Concannon Jr. An accessible, short history of the economics of Haiti with a focus on the debt to France for independence. |
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Globalization: A View from Below by Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A powerful essay on the devastating impact of globalization with the example of Haiti. Aristide describes the "crisis of imagination so profound that the only measure of value is profit, the only measure of human progress is economic growth." Reprinted from Rethinking Globalization (Rethinking Schools). |
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Haiti Numbers: 27 Days After Quake by Bill Quigley at commondreams.org. Recommended by Rethinking Schools for math lessons to surface issues of equity in the quake's aftermath. Let us know if you and how you use this data. |
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The White Curse by Eduardo Galeano. A short essay on Haiti's history by noted Uruguayan author. From The Progressive magazine, 2004. |
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Democracy Now! Headline stories are also available in Spanish. |
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Interpress Service News Agency: Focus on Haiti |
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The Agronomist (2003) is a profile of Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist, Jean
Dominique. Dominique ran Haiti's first independent radio station, Radio
Haiti-Inter. The documentary includes historical footage and interviews
with Dominique and his wife Michele Montas. Best suited as
background viewing for teachers. Directed by Jonathan Demme. 90 min.
Bitter Cane. Award winning documentary of Haitian history from 1804 through early 1980s. |
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Black Dawn is an award-winning animated film tells the story of Haiti’s revolutionary
past through paintings of Haitian artists. In French, Creole or English.
20 min. |
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Haiti: Killing the Dream (1992) is a powerful documentary on the history and coup that ousted President Aristide. Interviews with President Aristide, clergy, cross section of Haitian people, military junta, U.S. State Department and more. A Growing Rooster Production, presented by Jonathan Demme, Edward Saxon and Harry Belafonte. Democracy Now! shared an online excerpt from the film outlining Haiti's history, introduced by Danny Glover. 60 min. |
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Haitian Pilgrimage traces journey of a Haitian-American family from Boston back to its roots in Haiti. Includes glimpses of a Vodou ritual, interviews with President Aristide, and more. Critiques myths about Vodou. 27 min. |
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Makonen Fos Nou/Weaving Our Strength is an 18-minute online (You Tube) video, produced by the Lambi Fund of Haiti, about grassroots economic development projects. A running narrative by Josette Perard, Haiti Director of the Lambi Fund, sets the projects in a larger context. (The film is posted on You Tube in 2 parts.) |
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Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy (2009) is told through the lives of five Haitian women, Poto Mitan gives an inside perspective on globalization, Haiti's current crisis, and the resilient women challenging this system. Narration by Edwidge Danticat. Tèt Ansanm Productions with Renegade Pictures, Inc. and UC Santa Barbara’s Center for Black Studies Research. 50 minutes. |
Books
Below is a recommended list of books for learning and teaching about Haiti.
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High School/Adult -- Fiction
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Black History Month provides a key opportunity to launch this study. Haiti was the only nation in the western hemisphere to end slavery when it declared independence -- therefore the only nation to ensure true independence for all people.
Just as the study of Black History should be year round, so can our study of Haiti. For example, Professor Madison Smartt Bell suggests that "The Haitian Revolution, though seldom studied in proper detail outside Haiti, ought to be found near the center of any basic curriculum of American History."
