Financial Enslavement of West Africans By France

By Antoine Roger Lokongo, Pambazuka News. Francophone Africans from 14 countries deposit 65 percent of their hard currencies yearly into the French Treasury, without French nationality or access to the public goods and services available to French taxpayers. Close to 1,500 billion CFA (Communauté Financière d’Afrique common currency) francs generated from the surplus of West African states’ foreign reserves are placed on the foreign stock markets and out of the reach of the Africans who own the money. In addition the French force money payments, like an Ivory Coast compensation for the recent war.

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Former President Aristide’s New Book: Philosophical Reflections for Mental Decolonization | Nouveau livre par l’ancien President Aristide: Poésies philosophiques pour la décolonisation mentale

By Staff, AHP | Translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Just out in Haitian bookstores: a new book by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide titled “Pwezi filosofik pou dekolonizasyon mantal” (Publisher: Henri Deschamps, 2012). It is the Creole version of “Philosophical Reflections for Mental Decolonization” (Publisher: Paradigm Press, 2011). (English | French)

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Former Slave Jourdon Anderson Speaks from Beyond the Grave

By Jourdon Anderson, with commentary by Jonathan Brown, The Independent | Letters of Note. Humorous response from an emancipated slave to his former owner’s request to return to work on a Tennessee plantation after the U.S. Civil War.

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Beware the Peddlers of Despair | Mefiez-vous des marchands de desespoir

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. All around us empires are tearing a trail of destruction. This is not a sign of strength but one of weakness, because the aim of empire is not to destroy but to conquer.

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Toussaint L’Ouverture, the Genius Who Embodied the Enlightenment

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. As the spirit of the Enlightenment inflamed everyone, the rebellious Haitian slaves led by Toussaint L’Ouverture would prove to be those most faithful to the Enlightenment ideals.

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Guinea Fowl or Pintade: a Photo Essay

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. In his book, “L’Oiseau Nègre: L’Aventure des Pintades Dionysiaques”, Jean-Marie Lamblard follows pintades from Pharaonic Egypt to Alexandria, Greece, Abyssinia, Venice, Africa, and America in reverse order and includes the role of “oiseaux negres” in Haitian Vodou, where they are a symbol of the runaway slave because these birds reclaimed their freedom immediately after being introduced on the island in the early 16th century.

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Haitian Freedom = Haitian Pumpkin Soup

Renewal 4 Haiti recipe | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Throughout their reign of terror, the French forbade Haitians from drinking pumpkin soup (soup joumou), then considered to be a delicacy too sophisticated for a slave’s palate. As a symbol of freedom, Haitians everywhere have cooked a bottomless pot of pumpkin soup and celebrated our Independence Day by sharing this soup every January 1st since 1804. Happy Independence Day!

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