Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
This is one of the best bits of travel writing about Haiti that I have come across. I have met Ian Thomson and I was very impressed that, despite the fact he hadn’t been to Haiti before writing this book, he still managed to capture and observe so many facets of Haitian life. He is an excellent observer and, like so many of us so-called Haiti experts, he went to the country and fell in love with the people above anything else.
Tell me about Ian Thomson’s Bonjour Blanc.
This is one of the best bits of travel writing about Haiti that I have come across. I have met Ian Thomson and I was very impressed that, despite the fact he hadn’t been to Haiti before writing this book, he still managed to capture and observe so many facets of Haitian life. He is an excellent observer and, like so many of us so-called Haiti experts, he went to the country and fell in love with the people above anything else. He is a great people-watcher. He picks up on all the social strata in Haitian society and also gets very interested in all the religious aspects of life. He describes well how voodoo has been treated by the outside world and by the zillions of missionaries in all their variety, from Catholic to Mormon.
I think he really opens up this extremely complex society in a very vivid and entertaining way. It’s true, he focuses disproportionably on Haiti’s eccentricities, but there are a surprising number of eccentrics to be found there!
So what is the allure of the Haitian people for all you experts?
In my view it stems from the fact that Haiti has had the only ever successful slave revolution in history and, therefore, it is quite different from the other Caribbean countries that were eventually granted their independence in the 20th century. The former slaves were not even allowed to trade internationally for more than 25 years until they agreed to pay huge indemnities to the French in 1827. So they actually had to pay their former ‘masters’ for the loss of the latter’s ‘property’! Surviving against such odds created a great sense of pride and independence which led to a different culture, which is easily recognisable, eg in the distinct art and music scene. And when you go to Haiti you cannot fail to be impressed by the dignity and perseverance of its people despite their poverty. That was my first impression, which was overwhelming and made me fall in love with the place immediately.
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Christian Wisskirchen has worked on Haiti since 1991. In 1992 he was among the founders of Haiti Support Group, which has become the leading pressure and solidarity group on Haiti in the UK. He is now chairman. He wrote a dissertation on the Haitian boat people (refugees) in 1994 and worked as a UN Human Rights Officer in Haiti in 1995. He is also head of International Relations of the Bar Council of England and Wales. During the US occupation from 1915-1945 Haitian uprisings were brutally suppressed, he says. For example, a Haitian worker in a forced labour gang set up by the US forces was murdered in cold blood when he was considered lazy by one of the guards. During that period the US restructured the Haitian army to become an oppressive tool for its foreign policy objectives in Haiti for decades to follow, and that was only ended by the dismissal of the army by President Aristide in 1995 (who was overthrown also by officers trained by the US army, at the notorious Fort Benson ‘School of the Americas’).
