This path was created by Marcella LeGrand. The last update was by Anne Paxton.

This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

Haiti to Harlem: Toussaint L'Ouverture & Jacob Lawrence Main Menu Jacob Lawrence: The Storyteller Paintings to Prints The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture in Print Contextualizing The Prints Curating the Exhibition Imprints and Impact Highlights the impact of the Jacob Lawrence prints in relation to both Lawrence's life and the history of global POC liberation. About the Curators Meet the Fall 2024 Curatorial Class! Select Bibliography

Haiti Embodied

46117

By my overthrow the trunk of the tree of Negro liberty at Saint-Domingue [Haiti] is laid low – but only the trunk; it will shoot out again from the roots for they are many and deep.”
Toussaint L'Ouverture in C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 1938

The fertile land of Haiti was valued by the French only for its potential for profit. For enslaved Haitians, however, Haiti was both home and the site of their exploitation. Jacob Lawrence uses organic forms to capture this duality—Haiti as a place of colonial trauma and also of empowerment during the revolution. To combat this exploitation, a diverse community of Haitian revolutionaries planned, endured, and fought for their own freedom. Jacob Lawrence’s radical prints reflect on the collective fight against white supremacy, Western imperialism, and economic slavery that transcend historical periods into the modern era.

This page has paths:

The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture in Print Sibel Zandi-Sayek
Contents of this path:

Contents of this path:

Haiti From 1915-1934, shortly before Jacob Lawrence began his painting series, the US military invaded and occupied Haiti under the guise of protecting foreign interests as well as humanitarian and paternalistic justifications. Nearly a century later, US involvement in Haiti remains deeply rooted with an ongoing occupation that continues to exploit the country’s wealth for the benefit of transnational corporations and foreign states. Jacob Lawrence’s print series presents a different perspective on Black power in Haiti – one grounded in the dream of a sovereign nation rather than racialized fear. Most significantly, The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture stresses the complexities and vibrancies of the Haitian people in their enduring struggle against widespread exploitation.

By my overthrow the trunk of the tree of Negro liberty at Saint-Domingue [Haiti] is laid low – but only the trunk; it will shoot out again from the roots for they are many and deep.”

Toussaint L'Ouverture in C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 1938

This page has paths:

Contents of this path:

This page references: