Haiti and Haitians unwillingly being the center of news is, unfortunately, a reality we have faced for more than two centuries through systemic racism, negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media, and historical and ongoing discrimination in the United States and the world over. 

Recent headlines have been erupting out of Springfield, Ohio, where conservatives are waging attacks against Haitian émigrés is the most recent example of America’s long history of dehumanizing and vilifying anything remotely related to Haiti.  Haiti and Haitians unwillingly being the center of news is, unfortunately, a reality we have faced for more than two centuries through systemic racism, negative stereotypes perpetuated by the media, and historical and ongoing discrimination in the United States and the world over. 

Immediately following the success of the Haitian revolution in 1804, anti-Haitianism exploded in the United States, especially among Southern plantation owners and slave traffickers. And for good reason. Six years after Haiti declared itself free, the largest U.S. slave revolt, inspired by what happened in Saint Domingue, took place in Louisiana. 

The complete liberation of formerly trafficked Africans and their descendants in the region turned the world on its head. Following 13 years of battle, a corner of the world that had been drenched in the oppression of African and Indigenous peoples by European powers and the Church, all in the name of exploitation and greed, became a beacon of freedom for all oppressed peoples and directly influenced liberation movements in present-day Venezuela, Mexico, and Greece just to name a few. 

In response, the United States, France, and their allies used the entire nineteenth and twentieth centuries to wage an unholy public relations and political campaign othering Haiti and its people. The infamous debt from France was only part of the machinations put in place to weaken the new state. 

Thomas Jefferson’s Administration failed to recognize its new neighbor, and the U.S. would not do so until 1862 during the American Civil War. In 1915, U.S. marines invaded Haiti, beginning a 19-year occupation that would see the theft of the country’s financial reserves, the importation of the U.S. prison industrial complex, the torture and execution of freedom fighters like Charlemagne Péralte and other Cacos, and a reframing of Haiti’s constitution to grant “foreigners land-owning rights.” Meanwhile, famed and cherished Black American writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston described it as “the end of the revolution and the beginning of peace.” 

The occupation also put the condemnation and blatant misrepresentation of Vodou and other related African Traditional Religions into overdrive. Since Bwa Kayiman, where my foremothers and fathers called on lwas such as Ezili Danto, Ogou Feray, and Dambala to form lame endijèn (the indigenous army), Vodou has been seen as a “pact to the devil.” White minds then and now could not imagine gods stronger and more just than their angry Canaanite deity. Thanks to sensational reporting from white marines and journalists, Vodou found itself mocked and weaponized in American pop culture. As Professor Patrick Bellegarde-Smith put it, “Hollywood, as loyal Americans, comes to the rescue of the U.S. state, and justified further the brutish occupation by creating the ‘voodoo,’ we now know, and the zombie films that became a basic staple.” 

Then came the HIV/AIDS crisis. 

In 1982, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publicly alleged that Haitians “were at increased risk for acquiring HIV.” This led to the reckless three Hs of cause for the illness: “Homosexuals, Hemophiliacs, Heroin Addicts, and Haitians.” The unprecedented international isolation of Haitians, resulting from this fabrication, only further cemented us as subhumans within the U.S. and the rest of the world.  

Therefore, these antics by Trump, Vance, and their base are nothing new. And make no mistake, their political opponents haven’t done any better. In fact, the Biden-Harris Administration, as recently as May 2024, is considering using Guantanamo Bay to “process Haitian migrants” as Western-induced and backed crises rock the country, practically disabling the capitol. The current administration hypocritically ignores calls for free and open elections in Haiti, all while defending electoral integrity at home. 

Now, to be fair, anti-Haitian sentiment hasn’t solely been practiced by white powers – Black and Brown countries have and continue to enjoy participating in the hazing rituals. In 19th century Brazil, white enslavers rattled by the Revolution coined the word “haitismo to talk about any slave rebellion.” Today, Brazil, which has the largest population of Black people outside the African continent, is a member of the Core Group, a committee of ambassadors from the U.S., Spain, France, Germany, Canada, the European Union, the United Nations, and the Organization of American States, who, wield undue influence over Haiti’s domestic affairs. Additionally, in a recent op-ed for Common Dreams Yves Engler writes, “During an explosion of xenophobia against Haitian migrants in Guyana in 2019, reports focused on HIV/AIDS and Voodoo.” And of course, Jamaica and Kenya are currently carrying their former colonizers’ water with recent troop deployments to the nation, all under the guise of peacekeeping and safety. 

This is why it is comical at best and concerning at worst that some view this moment as an opportunity to whip up Haitian and Haitian-American votes for the Harris-Walz campaign. Anti-Haitianism is a foundational cornerstone of anti-Blackness and American political ideology as we know it. No one who heads an empire built on the economic, environmental, and physical degradation of First Nation peoples and Africans will ever have Haiti’s best interest at heart. At most, Haiti must continue to serve as an example of the torture awaiting Black people who attempt to protect themselves and their communities and revere their ancestors – both those who survived chattel slavery and those whose final resting place is the Atlantic Ocean.  

A strong Haiti, like a re-established Palestinian state, threatens the status quo as we know it and reveals the depths of depravity of white supremacy, its architects, heirs, and its footmen. 

A strong Haiti clears any and all obstructions to global Black reparations. A strong Haiti weakens capitalism and forces us to contend with how much of the Western world’s wealth remains a direct product of the transatlantic slave trade. A strong Haiti demands that we ask ourselves hard questions about pan-Africanism and how nations like Jamaica, Guyana, the Bahamas, Kenya, and others who have directly benefited from our constant humiliation can properly be held accountable for their actions. 

A strong Haiti, like a re-established Palestinian state, threatens the status quo as we know it and reveals the depths of depravity of white supremacy, its architects, heirs, and its footmen. 

If there’s anything to be gained from this moment, it is that more people will understand how a small country practically the size of the state of Maryland has given much to the world with little thanks in return. If there’s anything to be learned from this time, it is that Haiti’s current reality is the rock upon which Western idealism and comfort rests. 

Anything else is a bonus and a miracle.

"The question remains: what will be Dr. Claudine Gay’s legacy when it comes to Palestine?"

The last few months have made Claudine Gay a household name. Before she rose to prominence as the first Black president of Harvard, she was a well-respected scholar, a professor at the Ivy League institution, and, according to her colleagues, a woman of integrity, sharp intellect, and undeniable drive. However, for the Haitian community, perhaps the most important thing about Dr. Gay is that she is the daughter of Haitian immigrants. 

At first glance, Dr. Gay’s story may look like the ultimate immigrant success story, but it is far from that. To understand how anti-Blackness left Dr. Gay susceptible to the unfortunate events that took place recently, one must understand the white supremacist propaganda that many Black immigrants, including Haitians, are fed. The unfortunate naïveté of the Black immigrant experience is buying into the white supremacist lie that there is an untapped chance at the American dream that Black Americans have simply “overlooked.” The violence of it is thinking that our Black siblings on this land are not “good enough” or “hardworking enough” to access it. An institution like Harvard does not exist for nearly 400 years (since 1636) without a Black president because no suitable Black candidate exists on this land. It is by design.

"An institution like Harvard does not exist for nearly 400 years (since 1636) without a Black president because no suitable Black candidate exists on this land. It is by design."

The truth is, Dr. Gay’s biggest faux pas was not anything she said or did not say during the congressional hearing. It was having the audacity to think a Haitian American Black woman would ever be found good enough to lead the next herd of colonizers. She thought that the respectable negro could win. But alas, the respectable negro is good but never good enough. 

When a Black person is handpicked by white supremacy, they must continuously proclaim their unwavering allegiance to it. It is indisputable that Claudine Gay is no Palestinian ally - she is far from that. Much to the chagrin and disappointment of Arab and Muslim students at Harvard, she first chose silence in the face of unspeakable tragedy. She then issued a statement condemning antisemitism without addressing the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the equally alarming and ever-growing anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiments on college campuses. 

In fact, at the congressional hearing, Dr. Gay provided intellectually cautious, diplomatic, middle-of-the-road answers that could only frustrate someone like me, who often just wants people to pick a side. 

What classed Black people like Claudine Gay failed to understand is white supremacy knows no loyalty; the choice to lean into white supremacy must be renewed daily, and your chance to remain in its good graces must be proven continuously. A chosen negro is never done proving their worth. Regardless of the truth, regardless of morals, regardless of the apparent heartbreak to the thousands of Arab and Muslim students and allies, if she had made a statement in support of white supremacy, it would have carried no adverse consequences. 

The question remains: what will be Dr. Claudine Gay’s legacy when it comes to Palestine?

Palestine’s liberation is arguably one of the most significant assignments for this generation. One cannot help but wonder if, when Palestine is inevitably free, will Harvard have the audacity to purport to have been on the right side of history all along? Will they rewrite the public humiliation of Dr. Gay as their hero story and claim that at the height of the Palestinian genocide, their institution was scrutinized and demonized for “doing the right thing”? 

After all, nothing pleases a white audience like a good story of martyrdom, and revisionist history is the never-ending gift of white supremacy. 

Ultimately, Dr. Gay found herself in a conundrum that Black women face too often - she could please no one. On the one hand, in her desperation to hold on to her status as Harvard’s elite, she never took the morally righteous stance to support Palestine, her Arab students, her Muslim students, and her Black, Brown, and Anti-Zionist Jewish students who are facing constant harassment. On the other hand, Dr. Gay never outright endorsed white supremacy. In the end, with her playing both sides, she lost the support from all groups.   

"...Dr. Gay’s revenge may, after all, rest in the liberation of the very people she was not courageous enough to boldly defend–Palestinians."

While so much remains to be seen, when Harvard decides to rewrite history and claim not to have been against Palestine, it will also have to do the work to rewrite Dr. Gay’s now tarnished legacy. Thus, Dr. Gay’s revenge may, after all, rest in the liberation of the very people she was not courageous enough to boldly defend–Palestinians. 

Dr. Gay’s downfall was heartbreaking for many who are affirmed through representation, but it was also predictable. Just as predictable as the fact that, to save face, in the next century, when generations to come start scrutinizing and interrogating Harvard’s actions, its version of the events of the last few weeks will be radically different. All of it is so predictable. The white supremacist playbook is recycled. It is recycled because it has always worked and will continue to work well so long as we refuse to accept that our struggles are intertwined and our liberation is a collective effort.

This post was originally written in Kreyòl

Content warning: this post contains descriptions of sexual assault

As these groups seize the material assets of the people living in these areas, they also consider women's bodies as objects at their disposal.

There was a time when post-war analyses never took the violence perpetrated against women in the context of war into account. These instances (victims) were considered collateral damage, and there were no efforts made to bring these women justice. While sexual violence used during the Second World War was cause for major outcry, two years prior, in 1937, the Nankin Massacre - a town in China - the Japanese used sexual assault as a means to bring the Chinese to their knees. Based solely on the cruelty demonstrated during that massacre, this event should be remembered as one of the darkest events in the world’s history, a day we should never forget. And although this is the first documented episode of mass-rapes perpetrated against women, this harrowing event was hardly the first or last time this would occur.

Technically, Haiti is not a country affected by military war, but Haitian women’s bodies are used as conquerable territories in armed gang conflicts. Haitian women are often the first unfortunate victims of territory conflicts between armed groups. According to the last report on Haiti published by the UN’s security council, all gang groups active on land perpetrate sexual violence. Armed groups of men use sexual violence as a means to terrorize, subdue, and punish the population, particularly women. As these groups seize the material assets of the people living in these areas, they also consider women's bodies as objects at their disposal.

This complicated situation worsens when an opposing gang takes over that area. Invading a territory is not simply a game of grabbing. Invading and taking over a territory means taking everything that comes with it, privileges such as land, people, and material gains.

In a report published by RNDDH (Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains) in December 2018, 11 women were counted among the victims of a collective sexual assault that happened during the Lasalin Massacre on November 13, 2018. We say “amongst” the victims, because those numbers do not take into consideration the women who were only in passing in the area as food vendors and, therefore, were not residents of the area.

In another RNDDH report published on August 16, 2022, relaying testimonies of mass-rape, it was declared that at least 52 women and girls were victims. There was a recurring statement throughout all these testimonies. While G9 gang members were assaulting them, they recalled being told that it was because they were all TiGabriel’s (another gang leader) wives that they were being assaulted. Women are never considered as whole human beings by gang members; they are seen as the adverse gang’s property deserving of being soiled.

Monique*, a survivor whose name has been changed to protect her identity, accepted to speak to Woy Magazine. Teary-eyed, she said: “I had just made a sale. I was with another woman, and we walked by a group of men. One of them told us to come to them while accusing us of being followers of Gabriel. In the end, I was assaulted by seven men. An 8th one asked me to pleasure him, and as I refused, he proceeded to strike me so hard on my back with a gun that I fainted. There was a tree close by where they would hang the underwear of women they had assaulted.”

Every day, the number of sexual assault victims rises in these gang-dominated areas. In a report published by the feminist organization, Nègès Mawon, covering the months of April to July 2023, in their sexual violence section, there are 181 gang members mentioned as assaulters. Victims have little to no access to proper medical treatment after having been subjected to these violent and foul acts, and are unable to seek justice as many of them have been threatened, along with their families, into silence.

Although the number of cases of sexual assault is as high as it is, there is no mass outcry demanding justice and reparations for these victims. The government, which is closely affiliated with the gangs, continues to watch the population’s abuse in silence. Haitian women will continue to be subjected to all forms of violence, not knowing when all of this will end.

Translated to English by L. Lherisson

When most people see Haiti, many think of the metropolitan city of Port-au-Prince while Haiti is so much more than that. Most of the country is made up of more rural villages like Furcy; which feel almost untouched, hidden within the mountains.

Angello Jean, Founder of Vwayajè

“The country’s precarious insecurity discourages us from discovering our country. [It] is beautiful and rich. It is time for us to learn and truly know about our country”, explained Angello, the founder of Vwayajè_._ For over a year, the US State Department’s travel advisory has listed Haiti as a level 4 country  — a “do not travel country” — warning travelers to consider the risks of traveling to, and remaining in Haiti, due to the current security situation and infrastructural challenges. According to OCID’s 2021 National Survey, security stands at the forefront of worrisome issues, with over 62% of the population noting this.  “In a nation of over 10 million people, these very real struggles persist threatening to suppress our socio-economic growth and stifling us from experiencing the wonder that is our Ayiti Cheri. Despite it all. We must go on.” Angello continued.

Vwayajè is a local ecotourism initiative led by Angello Jean and a group of local guides, responsibly traveling to rural areas across the country, working to conserve the environment and to improve the well-being of local people. Vwayajè, which translates to traveler in Haitian Creole, launched in 2021, with the goal of encouraging us to discover the nature, wealth and value of Haiti through its heritage and patrimony, while respecting the environment and protecting the local culture. The project operates with the expressed purpose of directly benefiting the socio-economic well-being of the local communities it works in, and fostering further respect for Haiti's local culture, people, and biodiversity. 

After a 6 month hiatus, Angello knew that if he wanted to keep his vision alive, he needed to take a leap of faith and organize a hike. In the summer of 2022, the Vwayajè team returned to the town of Furcy where this initiative was initially launched. Furcy is a cool mountain village, located about an hour from Petion-Ville and 30 miles southeast of Port-au-Prince. Resting about 5,000 feet above the nation’s capital, this village’s welcoming community, breathtaking views and ecological preserves made it the perfect place for Vwayajè to begin. Angello quickly grew an affinity for the people of Furcy — working in partnership with the community to designate campgrounds like 'Kay Jean Paul' where locals and travelers alike could explore Haiti’s natural wonders. 

“ When most people see Haiti, many think of the metropolitan city of Port-au-Prince while Haiti is so much more than that. Most of the country is made up of more rural villages like Furcy; which feel almost untouched, hidden within the mountains. And yet, the beauty often belies a struggle”, Angello continued.

Upon entering the town, the paved roads that wind up Kenscoff end and the earthy red terracotta gravel forms a path through the outskirts of the town. Extremely limited infrastructure, food insecurity, and water access issues are exacerbated in more remote areas like Furcy. 

Most residents toil the land to survive.  They are subsistence farmers with small patches of land,  growing limited crops alongside the tiny wooden houses sprinkled across the hills. 

Climate change profoundly impacts communities like Furcy. Growing periods of extreme drought and flash flooding take a heavy toll on rural farming communities. This is compounded by widespread neglect on the part of government entities, and poor public policies which continue to undermine the country’s capacity to sustain itself — pushing most residents to migrate from their farms to the cities. Haiti’s cities do not have the capacity to absorb large amounts of people due to the deepening socio-economic crisis most live in today.  

“When we launched Vwayajè, we always kept the bigger picture in mind. We yearn for natives and travelers alike to care for and nurture this land. To be able to thrive, pass down this wealth and plan for future generations. We know this work can’t be done alone. We need the government to support communities like Furcy with infrastructure and leadership. We need our community, our leaders and government to stand hand in hand with each other, preserving that which is here, as we plan for the future”. 

Haiti‘s rugged terrain creates an ideal ecotourism destination for the adventurous, laid-back, socially-conscious traveler. 

Ironically, this untouched gem offers it all. From rich culture and traditions, delicious organically grown food, warm sandy beaches, cool lush mountain tops, hundreds of pristine falls, and cozy valleys nested in between. 

In 2022, Forbe’s magazine ranked Haiti one of the 50 most beautiful countries in the World. Although, of late, exploring the island nation rarely pops to the top of our search engines. The deteriorating socio-economic situation and mass migration of Haitians fleeing for refuge flood our headlines and this needs to change. 

The protracted political instability and gang violence menaces citizens locally, and greatly exacerbates the fragile situation of those in more remote areas like Furcy, where communities have systematically been neglected entirely.  The population looks to the government for leadership. The government is mandated to provide security and infrastructure to their citizens. It’s the state’s job.

Those we have chosen as leaders need to act and stand with the communities they represent.  While writing this article, the number of people in need of emergency food assistance grew from 3 to 4 million  people (or about 30-40% of the population). Haiti has one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the world with 4.5 million Haitians — nearly half the population — without enough to eat.

 Though endeavors like Vwayajè encourage us to celebrate, preserve and care for the land our ancestors fought for, it can't end there.  The country requires structural guidance and development.  We can’t continue to exist in silos as we have been — as our forefathers warned us. Together we are stronger.

This story was produced with the support of the Round Earth Media program of the International Women’s Media Foundation in partnership with Woy Magazine.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Andre Samedi was briefly held at gunpoint last year after picking up his car from customs. The assailants stopped the 43-year-old in Canaan, a small town on the outskirts of Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, and drove away with him. They eventually decided to let him go, but got away with the 2003 Nissan Pathfinder.

“Since then, I’ve been very scared,” says Samedi, who owns a shipping and electronic sales business. “I can’t go out often and only do so if it’s an emergency. When I do go out my heart races and I’m very stressed. The experience has left me traumatized.”

Samedi is one of tens of thousands of Haitians who applied for a new U.S. immigration program that President Joe Biden announced in early January 2023. The program, known as humanitarian parole, allows Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans to apply to move to the U.S. for a two-year stay.

But the popular program has proved difficult to access for many Haitians, some of whom complain about language barriers, technology challenges and financial obstacles. Many say the process of acquiring mandatory documents for the program has become frustrating and at times frightening, with violence breaking out at passport centers.

It matters very little if one is pro-capitalist or not, for as capitalism has transcended such dualities of pros and cons, the mere act of existing is capitalist...

ALAIN MARTIN

Not too long before writing this piece, trending on Haitian Twitter was the surprising revelation that Haiti had been featured, prominently so, in the latest Disney tentpole, Wakanda Forever. One scene pivotal to advancing the film’s plot took place in Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s former capital. Another featured a character that was not only central to the film but seems poised to hold critical sway in phase 5 of Marvel’s cinematic extravaganza based on their own comics; that character is named Toussaint, an homage to Toussaint L’Ouverture, a seminal figure of the Haitian Revolution. That surprising revelation set off a storm of excitement in the social media world as Haitians heralded the improbable reality of seeing their distressed country in one of the decade's most anticipated and biggest blockbuster films. It is this excitement and this celebration that reminded me of the late author Mark Fisher and his growing influential concept of Capitalist Realism. If we consider Haiti’s appearance in Wakanda Forever within the context of Fisher’s Capitalist Realism, we duly realize that there is not much to celebrate in the first black country in the Western Hemisphere making an appearance in a Hollywood superhero film. 

Mark Fisher’s 'Capitalist Realism' isn’t a criticism of capitalism as it is a sulky reminder that capitalism should no longer be considered simply a mere economic system; it is now a psychological state of being, a way of life that is now entrenched in our very being. It matters very little if one is pro-capitalist or not, for as capitalism has transcended such dualities of pros and cons, the mere act of existing is capitalist, for capitalism has cunningly evolved to integrate even the views of its most formidable opponents within its operating framework. In other words, capitalism is completely capable of offering you, at a profit, that which it has continuously deprived you of. Companionship for the loneliness one feels in the ongoing digitization of human life; a sense of meaning and purpose in an ever-secular society. Mass protests happen on Facebook, as was the case for Occupy Wall Street and it is Twitter that facilitated the international movement that was Black Lives Matter.  It is a system that is equipped with an arsenal of solutions ready to respond to every need, even the need to be pessimistic of the system. 

The legacy of Che Guevara stands as a quintessential example of this. Guevarra, a stalwart opponent of capitalism now finds himself immortalized as an emblem in popular t-shirts sold all over the world. These t-shirts are of course mass produced in factories and the profits derived are for the benefit of a very few.  Another example, provided by Fisher himself, is another Disney Blockbuster film, Wall-E. The film prides itself as a takedown of the corporatization of life and yet was made by a corporation that itself made millions of dollars off the film. 

We are reminded by Fisher that in the current system, that a thing, whether it be a book, or a film, or a secondary education, is only valuable if it can be monetized. Even one’s sense of virtues, of values, of morality overall can be packaged to him to consume for comfort. As such, a criticism of the capitalist system is nothing but an extension of the very system it is criticizing. 

Wakanda Forever, and its predecessor, Black Panther, delighted many critics who saw in the films a searing criticism of colonialism and its ensuing brutalities and wanton destruction.  It only makes sense that the legacy of Haiti would be celebrated in the latest Panther film. Haiti holds the distinction of being the place where the slave class struck the first successful and deafening blow against colonialism. Although the Haitians of then did not have a King T-Challa nor their armies equipped with the futuristic technology of the Wakandians, they were able to overcome the mighty armies of the French to establish the First Nation founded by women and men who were slaves, black slaves at that. The ongoing commentary around the Haitian revolution in a multitude of circles usually limit it to race and the victory of the slaves resonate only through this racial prism, as people take pride in the fact that a black people were able to defeat, resoundingly so, subsequent armies of white men fighting viciously for the preservation of slavery. 

The Haitian Revolution, like all other things in Western Society, exists to be commodified...

ALAIN MARTIN

But the Haitian Revolution was more than that. It was a stand against the profits at all cost approach that dominate our very lives today. It was a bloody battle against the commoditization of one’s life and time, an uncompromising stance against this shallow idea that life itself is only meaningful if it can be reduced to a numerical value having to do with money. The Haitian Revolution embodied the ideas of the Bolshevik Revolution and those of the Cuban Revolution, an entire century before either of those revolutions took place. Haiti making an appearance in a Disney film that is on its way to making a billion dollars at the box office is a depressing reminder that the Revolution has failed to make the necessary dent against colonialism. 

The Haitian Revolution, like all other things in Western Society, exists to be commodified, and we must admit that it is a rather tragic outcome that the legacy of that revolution is an integral part of the larger anti-colonialist message of Wakanda Forever, because Wakanda Forever is a property of the Walt Disney company. Disney’s founder, Walt Disney_,_ is someone whose work betrays him as a troubling individual. In an article by writer Amanda Dobbins in Vulture magazine, a set of disturbing facts are posited against him as not only a racist, but as someone who promoted racism through his films. Mr. Disney played a part in the dissemination of black stereotypes during the latter years of Jim Crow. In the 90’s, Haitian workers were subjected to horrid conditions working in factories producing Pocahontas and Mickey Mouse pajamas, earning meager wages. 

Now, in 2023, the Disney corporation has co-opted the legacy of the ancestors of those working in those factories, packaged it in a blockbuster film and sold it back to Haitians and black persons all over the world, who relish in the accomplishment of the Haitian Revolution. Disney considers our feelings on colonialism, our criticism of their exploitation of human beings, our admiration for the Haitians who overthrew slavery and instead of branding us as enemies of its system, it enlists us as collaborators by corroborating the anti-colonialist ideas we hold against it. In this way, Fisher warns us, we are placated by way of appeasement. Our craving to make a stand against the system is satisfied by consuming that stand in an IMAX screen. 

This is not to say Wakanda Forever should not have featured Haiti in the film. This is simply to remind us that we are all willing or unwilling participants of a system we claim we do not like; it matters very little what we feel about it; we are trapped in it. To make my own film on the United States Occupation of Haiti, I relied on Facebook and Twitter and Google to get the word out and raise the funds necessary. The executives of Facebook and Twitter are not exactly exemplary models of social equity, for they too are in the business of selling virtue, of selling political ideas deemed noble. One of the most enduring criticisms against capitalism is found in Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, and that film itself was partially funded by the Ford Foundation and there exists troubling criticisms of the Ford Foundation for its support of our current prison system. Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War is likewise a potent criticism of the follies of our incessant foreign interventions. It is also a production of the Public Broadcasting Service and the long list of individuals and organizations that it receives funds from continues to invite skepticism. So it is perhaps impossible to celebrate the legacy of the Haitian revolution without making appeasement to that very system once attacked by the slaves of that revolution.