Search

An essay is presented which discusses the early biography of the Haitian Revolution leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines, with a particular focus on whether he was African or Creole. An overview of the sources and historical interpretations of the social conditions in Haiti around the time of the Haitian Revolution is provided. The African character of the Haitian Revolution is discussed.

Medical journals and other sources do not show evidence that cholera occurred in Haiti before 2010, despite the devastating effect of this disease in the Caribbean region in the 19th century. Cholera occurred in Cuba in 1833-1834; in Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Nevis, Trinidad, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, Granada, Anguilla, St. John, Tortola, the Turks and Caicos, the Grenadines (Carriacou and Petite Martinique), and possibly Antigua in 1850-1856; and in Guadeloupe, Cuba, St. Thomas, the Dominican Republic, Dominica, Martinique, and Marie Galante in 1865-1872. Conditions associated with slavery and colonial military control were absent in independent Haiti. Clustered populations, regular influx of new persons, and close quarters of barracks living contributed to spread of cholera in other Caribbean locations. We provide historical accounts of the presence and spread of cholera epidemics in Caribbean islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the anticolonial and postcolonial thought of Haitian revolutionary leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Dessalines, like Malcolm X, whom Cornel West calls a prophet of Black rage, is part of a black Atlantic radical tradition. Dessaline's secretary Louis-Flix Boisrond Tonnerre has often been viewed as the author of some of Dessalines' documents, including the Haitian Declaration of Independence, but I argue that Dessalines' voice remains distinctive and that he and his secretaries should be viewed as authorial teams. Dessalines' vision is syncretic, incorporating African diasporan views of the spiritual world and nature into his decisively anticolonial political ideology. These texts challenge the anglophone identity of the black Atlantic, and invite reconsideration of the diverse beginnings of the postcolonial. La pense anticoloniale et postcoloniale de Jean-Jacques Dessalines, chef de la Rvolution hatienne et premier empereur d'Hati, est considre ici vis--vis de la tradition de l'Atlantique noir formule par Gilroy, et surtout par rapport Malcolm X en tant que prophte colrique de l'Atlantique noir. Malgr le statut d'auteur de la dclaration de l'indpendance hatienne souvent confr au secrtaire Boisrond Tonnerre, la pluralit des documents produits par Dessalines en conjonction avec plusieurs secrtaires laissent entendre une voix distincte. L'idologie anticoloniale de Dessalines incorpore de faon syncrtique des traces d'interprtations africaines du monde spirituel et de la nature. Ces proclamations et manifestes mettent en question l'identit anglophone de l'Atlantique noir et nous invitent interroger les diverses commencements du postcolonial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific contributions of Western mental health professionals have been lauded and leveraged for global mental health responses to varying degrees of success. In recent years, the necessity of recognizing the inefficiencies of solely etic and Western-based psychological intervention has been reflected in certain decolonial scholars like Frantz Fanon gaining more recognition. Despite this urgent focus on decolonial psychology, there are still others whose work has historically and contemporarily not received a great deal of attention. There is no better example of such a scholar than Dr. Louis Mars, Haiti's first psychiatrist. Mars made a lasting impact on the communities of Haiti by shifting the conversation around Haitian culture and the practice of how people living with a mental illness were treated. Further, he influenced the global practice of psychiatry by coining "ethnopsychiatry" and asserting that non-Western culture should be intimately considered, rather than stigmatized, in treating people around the world. Unfortunately, the significance of his contributions to ethnopsychiatry, ethnodrama, and the subsequent field of psychology has effectively been erased from the disciplinary canon. Indeed, the weight of Mars' psychiatric and political work deserves focus. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).