Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
The Caribbean nation of Haiti is in utter turmoil as the country’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has announced his resignation this week in the midst of international pressure. This, as most of the capital city of Port-au-Prince is controlled by armed street gangs — actually paramilitary groups — who freed thousands of people from prison and united to consolidate power. Plans were afoot but now halted to deploy 1,000 Kenyan police backed by the United Nations to Haiti to control the violence.
Following the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse — and the removal of all democratically elected institutions with the failure to hold elections as the terms of all remaining members of the Senate expired last year — Haiti has become a de facto dictatorship. These circumstances have fueled the gangs — who are now independent after being financed and armed by government officials and Haitian oligarchs — and their killing, kidnapping and extortion.
How did this happen? Making sense of the crisis taking place in Haiti means understanding the most recent events unfolding with the role of the gangs. More importantly, however, is an unpacking of the historical context behind Haiti, a country that has been denied true independence and self-determination for 220 years.
Considering what is unfolding in this African diasporic nation, it is easy for observers to conclude that Black people simply are unable to govern themselves, not realizing that Haiti was never able to catch a break under the weight of colonial oppression and imperialist occupation.
The first independent Black republic has been punished for liberating itself, while the U.S. and other Western powers have propped up dictators in Haiti and economically exploited the people.
First free Black republic
With its independence in 1804…
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