1 January 1804

1 January is a call to all African descendants in the Americas and the Caribbean to Self-Sufficiency for honor, respect and dignity. The purpose of this article is to use the success of the African Revolution in Haiti based on Self-Reliance to start a discussion on African Solutions. This discussion is relevant to those who understand that Africans globally have an image problem, due to a perceived culture of Africa’s dependency and a history of slavery that continually hunt Africans progress globally. The Haitian Nation started from scratch self-sufficiently and instead of continuing the path of self-reliance that their African forefathers left patiently, their leaders got distracted by bright shiny foreign gifts in ideas and objects (trojan horse).

1 January 1804 the African slaves in Haiti proclaimed their independence in the port city of Gona?ves by Jean-Jacques Dessalines and his officers, marking the end of a 13-year long war of the Nwa Revolution in Haiti. Nwa pronounced (nu-wah) means black in Haitian Kreyol. The Nwas successfully fought and defeated the oppressive armies of Spain, England and France during their long war against slavery. That was the first and only successful slave revolution ever recorded in the history of the world. Haiti became the first independent African (Nwa) Diaspora Nation in the Western Hemisphere. Thus, transformed Africans into Haitians. 

The African Revolution in Haiti up to the proclamation of Independence to become Haitians demonstrated an African spirit of Self-Sufficiency. How did African slaves who did not possess their own souls muster the courage to assess their environment and organize their meager assets to feed their destiny as a new nation, in a hostile environment such as the New World; the Americas and the Caribbean? 

The Spirit of Self-Sufficiency guided the multi-ethnic Africans in slavery to become one people under God: The African slaves in Haiti were from many tribes that spoke many different languages and a variety of religious beliefs. Yet, they rejected the masters’ language and formed their own common language, “Kreyol”. The African Slaves did not embrace the master’s religion. They developed their own indigenous religion from the many African tribes represented in Haiti; Vodou which means Spirit. 

The Judeo-Christian Supremacist Enslavers abandoned the Principles of “loving God above all and to love your neighbor as you love yourself” to amass gold and silver. Unlike the Judeo-Christian Supremacists, the African Vodouizan self-reliantly demonstrated “the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”.  That was evident by their leadership in service on the plantations and their discipline on the battlefields. God heard them and rewarded them with victories over the evil of slavery professed by Christianity!

Once the Africans in Haiti transformed into Haitians, they lost their Self-Sufficiency edge and begun to decline. Immediately, after independence the Haitian Bourgeoisie, who were the de facto leaders, became a caricature of their former masters.  They upheld the language and religion of their former masters over Kreyol and Vodou, which the Nwas developed while in captivity. That created a massive schism between the Bourgeoisie and the Nwa masses; which sprouted the root of their decline as a nation.  

When the Haitian Leaders adopted French as the official language of Haiti. Less than ten percent of the population spoke French and one hundred percent spoke Kreyol. As it is today. Furthermore, why would you adopt the language of your defeated foe and a language laced with code words that are detrimental to your existence? The Haitian Bourgeoisie maintained the French Language over Kreyol to develop and sustain their superiority over the Kreyol masses.

Secondly, they adopted Catholicism as their official State Religion. Again, why would you adopt a religion that for nearly three hundred years professed slavery and showed no mercy and decency toward your race? The Haitian Bourgeoisie upheld Catholicism over Vodouism to differentiate their social status from the masses. By these two actions the Haitian leadership abandoned their African Spirit of Self-Sufficiency and opened the backdoors to dependency and domination.  

Religion is a powerful instrument! You can use it to liberate yourself or it can be as it has been to enslave you physically and sustain mental enslavement with the invisible shackle of fear! It is time for a Nwa self-sufficient theological clean-up.

There is an unflattering global view of African dependency that hinges on the status of Africa and the history of slavery. That global view has stripped Africans everywhere of their honor, respect and dignity.  That piece of history of the Nwa that culminated into 1 January 1804 independence of Haiti, if studied, understood and practiced could provide Africans the courage to make hard choices. They would assess their own environment, organize their assets no matter how meager and feed their own indigenous solutions to their environment; which is production. Productivity is the road to self-sufficiency. That will reorient Nwa’s present global trajectory to honor, respect and dignity. 

The Call is a 1 January Global Celebration Tradition with the Haitian People, that serves as a reminder to future generations that “SELF-SUFFICIENCY” is the true Liberator. Honor, respect and dignity are the evidence.

Berthony Napoleon