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00:00:06.172 --> 00:00:08.641
Announcer: TWO COUNTRIES
SHARING THE SAME SMALL ISLAND

00:00:08.708 --> 00:00:09.943
BUT LITTLE ELSE.

00:00:10.009 --> 00:00:12.512
THEY SPEAK SPANISH
ON THIS SIDE OF THE RIVER.

00:00:12.579 --> 00:00:15.148
THEY SPEAK CREOLE OVER THERE.

00:00:15.215 --> 00:00:17.917
Announcer: ONE COUNTRY EMBRACED
ITS EUROPEAN HERITAGE...

00:00:17.984 --> 00:00:21.254
Man: TODAY HERE EVERYBODY
SAY THE MOTHERLAND
HERE IS SPAIN.

00:00:21.321 --> 00:00:23.823
THE OTHER
ITS AFRICAN ROOTS.

00:00:23.890 --> 00:00:28.495
Translator: AFRICAN
ORIGINS ARE PART OF
THE NATIONAL CULTURE.

00:00:28.561 --> 00:00:32.098
Announcer: HAITI
AND DOMINICAN PROBLEM,
AN ISLAND DIVIDED.

00:00:32.165 --> 00:00:35.869
"BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA."

00:00:35.935 --> 00:00:38.872
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
FRIENDS OF NCI

00:00:54.387 --> 00:00:56.656
Henry Louis Gates:
IT'S MARKET DAY IN DAJABÓN,

00:00:56.723 --> 00:01:02.862
HERE ON THE MASSACRE RIVER,
WHICH SEPARATES HAITI
AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

00:01:02.929 --> 00:01:05.098
THE BORDER HASN'T OPENED YET,
BUT HUNDREDS OF HAITIANS

00:01:05.165 --> 00:01:08.735
TRY TO BEAT THE CLOCK
TO SET UP THEIR STALLS FIRST

00:01:08.802 --> 00:01:11.204
OVER HERE ON THE DOMINICAN SIDE.

00:01:14.641 --> 00:01:18.912
FINALLY IT'S 8 A.M.,
OFFICIAL OPENING TIME.

00:01:18.978 --> 00:01:21.581
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

00:01:23.917 --> 00:01:26.119
THE ANCESTORS OF THE HAITIANS
AND THE DOMINICANS

00:01:26.186 --> 00:01:31.958
HAVE SHARED THE ISLAND
OF HISPANIOLA FOR 5 CENTURIES.

00:01:32.025 --> 00:01:36.796
THIS WAS THE FIRST PLACE
IN THE NEW WORLD TO IMPORT
AFRICANS AS SLAVES.

00:01:36.863 --> 00:01:42.635
THE ISLAND IS THE BIRTHPLACE
OF THE BLACK EXPERIENCE
IN THE AMERICAS,

00:01:42.702 --> 00:01:45.672
BUT STANDING HERE
ON THE DOMINICAN SIDE
OF THE BORDER,

00:01:45.738 --> 00:01:47.974
THE DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES

00:01:48.041 --> 00:01:49.576
COULDN'T BE CLEARER.

00:01:51.644 --> 00:01:55.515
IT'S 8:00 ON MARKET DAY
ON THIS SIDE OF THE RIVER,

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7:00 OVER THERE.

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THEY SPEAK SPANISH
ON THIS SIDE OF THE RIVER.

00:02:00.653 --> 00:02:03.223
THEY SPEAK CREOLE OVER THERE.

00:02:03.289 --> 00:02:06.459
THE PEOPLE ON THIS SIDE
OF THE RIVER ARE PROUD TO BE

00:02:06.526 --> 00:02:09.229
PART OF A MIXED RACE SOCIETY.

00:02:09.295 --> 00:02:11.965
THERE, THEY'RE PROUD
TO BE BLACK.

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HAITIANS AND DOMINICANS HAVE HAD
MANY CONFLICTS OVER THE YEARS.

00:02:15.702 --> 00:02:18.438
THIS RIVER WAS THE SIGHT
OF ONE OF THE WORST MASSACRES

00:02:18.505 --> 00:02:20.874
IN THIS HISTORY
OF THE CARIBBEAN,

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AND I'M HERE TO DISCOVER
HOW ALL THIS CAME ABOUT.

00:02:30.984 --> 00:02:33.019
[BAND PLAYING MERENGUE]

00:02:33.086 --> 00:02:36.789
[SPEAKING SPANISH]

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Gates: I'VE COME
TO SANTO DOMINGO,

00:02:38.992 --> 00:02:41.160
THE CAPITAL
OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC,

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THE OLDEST EUROPEAN CITY
IN THE NEW WORLD,

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THE FIRST IN THE AMERICAS
TO IMPORT AFRICAN SLAVES.

00:02:48.801 --> 00:02:52.605
[MAN SINGING IN SPANISH]

00:02:52.672 --> 00:02:56.142
EVERY SUNDAY EVENING,
PEOPLE COME TO THE HEART
OF THE OLD CITY

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TO DANCE MERENGUE.

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THE ROOTS OF MERENGUE ARE
AS MIXED AS THE PEOPLE.

00:03:07.487 --> 00:03:10.990
IT IS THE SYMBOL
OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

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FRANK CRUZ HAS BEEN SINGING
MERENGUE FOR 67 YEARS.

00:03:22.468 --> 00:03:24.270
[CRUZ SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:03:24.337 --> 00:03:25.271
MERENGUE HAS CHANGED
A LITTLE.

00:03:25.338 --> 00:03:28.408
IT IS PLAYED FASTER NOW.

00:03:28.474 --> 00:03:32.979
BEFORE, YOU COULD PUT
YOUR ARM AROUND A GIRL
IF YOU WERE IN LOVE.

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YOU WOULD EMBRACE HER
AND DANCE CLOSELY
TOGETHER.

00:03:39.419 --> 00:03:43.323
NOW ONE IS OVER HERE,
THE OTHER OVER THERE.

00:03:52.065 --> 00:03:54.667
Gates: THE DOMINICAN PEOPLE
ARE A RAINBOW

00:03:54.734 --> 00:03:57.604
OF BLACKS AND TANS AND BROWNS.

00:04:04.010 --> 00:04:06.312
WHAT IS IT ABOUT
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

00:04:06.379 --> 00:04:11.951
THAT CREATED THE CONDITIONS
FOR MERENGUE TO BE
BORN HERE.

00:04:12.018 --> 00:04:15.989
MERENGUE IS A MIXTURE
OF A THE MUSIC
OF THE AFRICAN SLAVES...

00:04:18.157 --> 00:04:21.794
THE SPANISH
WITH THEIR GUITAR,

00:04:21.861 --> 00:04:26.032
AND THE GÜIRA,
WHICH IS DOMINICAN.

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THEY MIXED UP
THEIR INSTRUMENTS

00:04:28.267 --> 00:04:30.737
TO MAKE A TYPICAL
DOMINICAN MERENGUE.

00:04:50.356 --> 00:04:51.958
[SPEAKS SPANISH]

00:04:52.025 --> 00:04:54.394
IT'S OUR MUSIC.

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WE FEEL IT OURS.

00:04:58.331 --> 00:04:59.365
THIS IS OUR LIFE.

00:04:59.432 --> 00:05:01.300
WITHOUT MERENGUE,
WE CAN'T LIVE.

00:05:01.367 --> 00:05:04.303
MERENGUE IS THE LIFE,
THE SOUL OF THE PEOPLE.

00:05:04.370 --> 00:05:06.305
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

00:05:14.814 --> 00:05:18.584
Gates: SANTO DOMINGO FEELS
UNMISTAKABLY SPANISH.

00:05:22.588 --> 00:05:28.428
FOUNDED IN 1496 BY
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS'
OLDER BROTHER BARTHOLOMEW,

00:05:28.494 --> 00:05:31.698
THE CITY WAS THE FIRST SEAT
OF SPANISH COLONIAL RULE

00:05:31.764 --> 00:05:33.933
IN ALL OF THE AMERICAS.

00:05:37.070 --> 00:05:40.606
DOMINICANS ARE ESPECIALLY PROUD
OF THAT SPANISH HERITAGE.

00:05:46.145 --> 00:05:50.249
IN COLUMBUS SQUARE
OPPOSITE THE FIRST
CATHEDRAL IN THE AMERICAS

00:05:50.316 --> 00:05:55.855
SITS A MONUMENT TO THE MAN WHO
FIRST COLONIZED THIS ISLAND.

00:05:55.922 --> 00:05:58.858
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS CERTAINLY
HAS PRIDE OF PLACE

00:05:58.925 --> 00:06:01.761
HERE IN THE HEART
OF SANTO DOMINGO,

00:06:01.828 --> 00:06:05.064
AND IT SAYS SOMETHING
ABOUT THE COUNTRY'S
SENSE OF ITSELF--

00:06:05.131 --> 00:06:10.870
SPANISH, CATHOLIC,
AND IF NOT EXACTLY WHITE,

00:06:10.937 --> 00:06:16.375
THEN MOST CERTAINLY
T BLACK EITHER.

00:06:16.442 --> 00:06:20.213
I'M CURIOUS WHY THERE
ARE NO STATUES OF FAMOUS
BLACK HEROES HERE,

00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:27.053
EVEN THOUGH 90%
OF THE DOMINICANS
ARE AFRO DESCENDENTS.

00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:32.658
HOW DO DOMINICANS SEE
THEIR AFRICAN HERITAGE,
THEIR BLACKNESS?

00:06:32.725 --> 00:06:35.695
JUAN RODRIGUEZ,
AN ANTHROPOLOGIST,

00:06:35.762 --> 00:06:37.497
WORKS FOR THE MINISTRY
OF CULTURE

00:06:37.563 --> 00:06:40.767
AS ITS DIRECTOR
OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY.

00:06:40.833 --> 00:06:42.635
HOW WOULD PEOPLE
DESCRIBE YOU,

00:06:42.702 --> 00:06:46.906
GIVEN YOUR BEAUTIFUL
MAHOGANY COLOR?

00:06:46.973 --> 00:06:50.810
WELL, HERE I AM
AS INDIO.
INDIO?

00:06:50.877 --> 00:06:52.979
I'M SUPPOSED TO BE
INDIO HERE.

00:06:53.045 --> 00:06:55.014
HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND.
AS AN AMERICAN,

00:06:55.081 --> 00:06:57.150
I'D NEVER HEARD
OF THIS PHRASE INDIO.

00:06:57.216 --> 00:06:59.118
WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

00:06:59.185 --> 00:07:02.221
WELL, BY THE 19th CENTURY,
WE DIDN'T HAVE

00:07:02.288 --> 00:07:05.858
ANY NATIVE
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE...
NO.

00:07:05.925 --> 00:07:09.228
LIKE IN SOUTH AMERICA,
SO IT DIDN'T APPLY TO US,

00:07:09.295 --> 00:07:15.034
BUT IT WAS A WAY
TO USE THE WORD INDO
TO ACTUALLY NEGATE

00:07:15.101 --> 00:07:20.239
OUR AFRICAN ANCESTRY
AND THEN BECAME
SOMETHING ELSE

00:07:20.306 --> 00:07:23.109
BECAUSE, WHEN YOU LOOK
AT DOMINICANS,

00:07:23.176 --> 00:07:27.847
WE CANNOT SAY HONESTLY
THAT WE ARE ANGLO-SAXON.

00:07:27.914 --> 00:07:30.116
IF YOU LOOK AROUND--
I MEAN, LOOK AT ME.

00:07:30.183 --> 00:07:31.918
I AM BLACK.
YOU'RE BLACK.

00:07:31.984 --> 00:07:35.988
DID YOU FEEL THIS WAY,
JUAN, WHEN YOU WERE
GROWING UP,

00:07:36.055 --> 00:07:38.958
OR DID YOU HAVE TO
LEARN THAT YOU
WERE BLACK?

00:07:39.025 --> 00:07:41.460
ACTUALLY--AND I AM
SAD TO SAY--

00:07:41.527 --> 00:07:43.095
I HAD TO LEARN
TO BE BLACK.

00:07:43.162 --> 00:07:44.430
HOW DID YOU LEARN?

00:07:44.497 --> 00:07:46.299
WELL, I WENT
TO NEW YORK...

00:07:46.365 --> 00:07:47.800
THAT WOULD DO IT.
AS MOST DOMINICANS.

00:07:47.867 --> 00:07:52.572
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN,
I FELT THAT MY ROOTS
WERE IN AFRICA,

00:07:52.638 --> 00:07:55.308
NOT IN SPAIN LIKE HERE.

00:07:55.374 --> 00:07:59.679
EVEN TODAY HERE EVERYBODY
SAY THE MOTHERLAND
HERE IS SPAIN.

00:07:59.745 --> 00:08:01.681
SO WHO'S BLACK
IN DOMINICAN SOCIETY?

00:08:01.747 --> 00:08:04.984
IN AMERICA, ALL THESE
PEOPLE WOULD BE BLACK,

00:08:05.051 --> 00:08:07.787
BUT HERE WHO'S BLACK?

00:08:07.854 --> 00:08:09.922
NEGRO. WHO'S NEGRO?

00:08:09.989 --> 00:08:11.824
I THINK NOBODY'S
NEGRO HERE.

00:08:11.891 --> 00:08:13.426
IF WE ARE TOLD,
"YOU ARE BLACK,"

00:08:13.492 --> 00:08:16.929
"OH, NO. I'M NOT BLACK.
I AM SOMETHING ELSE."

00:08:16.996 --> 00:08:20.399
DOMINICANS ARE
IN COMPLETE DENIAL
OF WHO THEY ARE.

00:08:20.466 --> 00:08:22.869
LOOK AT THIS.
FOR DOMINICANS,

00:08:22.935 --> 00:08:26.505
THIS REPRESENT
AFRICAN HERITAGE--
SAMBOS.

00:08:26.572 --> 00:08:29.542
THIS IS NOTHING
BUT SAMBOS.

00:08:29.609 --> 00:08:32.378
SO THAT EXPLAINS
WHY PEOPLE--

00:08:32.445 --> 00:08:35.181
THE WAY THEY
PORTRAY AFRICANS,

00:08:35.248 --> 00:08:38.384
WHY A KID WOULD NOT SAY,
"I AM AFRICAN."

00:08:38.451 --> 00:08:39.619
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT
THEY GIVE YOU,

00:08:39.685 --> 00:08:41.087
THAT'S WHAT THEY
SHOW YOU.

00:08:46.492 --> 00:08:48.261
HOWEVER, THEY
IN NEW YORK EXPLAIN

00:08:48.327 --> 00:08:50.096
WHAT KIND OF MOTHER...

00:08:52.565 --> 00:08:55.101
Gates: IN THE UNTIED STATES,
MOST DOMINICANS

00:08:55.167 --> 00:08:56.969
WOULD BE CONSIDERED BLACK,

00:08:57.036 --> 00:08:59.605
BUT HERE MANY CALL
THEMSELVES INDIO,

00:08:59.672 --> 00:09:01.774
A TERM UNIQUE IN THE CARIBBEAN

00:09:01.841 --> 00:09:04.944
COVERING MANY GRADATIONS
OF BROWN,

00:09:05.011 --> 00:09:07.313
AND WHEN THEY THINK
OF THE MOTHERLAND,

00:09:07.380 --> 00:09:11.017
IT'S SPAIN THAT COMES
TO MIND, NOT AFRICA,

00:09:11.083 --> 00:09:12.818
AND THESE ATTITUDES HAVE
THEIR ROOTS

00:09:12.885 --> 00:09:15.621
IN THE EARLIEST DAYS
OF THE COLONY.

00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:19.859
ONE OF THE FIRST SUGAR
PLANTATIONS IN THE AMERICAS

00:09:19.926 --> 00:09:22.228
WAS LOCATED IN HERE IN NAGUA.

00:09:22.295 --> 00:09:26.399
HUNDREDS OF AFRICAN SLAVES
WORKED THIS PLANTATION,

00:09:26.465 --> 00:09:29.769
BUT THE SANTO DOMINGO
SUGAR INDUSTRY DIDN'T LAST LONG.

00:09:29.835 --> 00:09:33.205
WITHIN JUST A CENTURY,
THE CENTER OF SUGAR PRODUCTION

00:09:33.272 --> 00:09:36.642
SHIFTED TO BRAZIL.

00:09:36.709 --> 00:09:38.778
TO SURVIVE,
THE COLONISTS ABANDONED

00:09:38.844 --> 00:09:43.416
THE SUGAR PLANTATIONS
AND TURNED TO CATTLE RANCHING.

00:09:43.482 --> 00:09:46.185
THAT'S WHEN THE UNIQUE
RACIAL IDENTITY OF DOMINICANS

00:09:46.252 --> 00:09:50.957
BEGAN TO EVOLVE.

00:09:51.023 --> 00:09:54.026
FRANK MOYA PONS IS ONE
OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC'S

00:09:54.093 --> 00:09:57.496
MOST EMINENT HISTORIANS.

00:09:57.563 --> 00:10:00.800
Moya Pons: AS
CATTLE RANCHING BECAME
THE DOMINANT OCCUPATION,

00:10:00.866 --> 00:10:04.837
SLAVES HAD TO BE USED
AS RANCHERS, TOO,

00:10:04.904 --> 00:10:06.706
AND THERE WAS
VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE

00:10:06.772 --> 00:10:09.842
BETWEEN THE MASTER
AND THE SLAVE.

00:10:09.909 --> 00:10:12.411
THEY BOTH WERE
RIDING HORSES,

00:10:12.478 --> 00:10:14.714
THEY BOTH WERE
WEARING MACHETES.

00:10:14.780 --> 00:10:17.984
SO MASTER-SLAVE
RELATIONS BECAME

00:10:18.050 --> 00:10:22.054
QUITE DIFFERENT
FROM THE REST
OF THE CARIBBEAN.

00:10:22.121 --> 00:10:24.523
YOU KNOW, SLAVERY
IN PLANTATION SOCIETY

00:10:24.590 --> 00:10:29.028
WORKS DIFFERENTLY THAN
SLAVERY ON CATTLE
RANCHING SOCIETIES.

00:10:29.095 --> 00:10:30.796
LESS ANTAGONISM
BETWEEN MASTER AND SLAVE?

00:10:30.863 --> 00:10:35.267
LESS ANTAGONISM,
AND THE BEHAVIOR
TOWARDS THE SLAVE

00:10:35.334 --> 00:10:40.006
WAS DIFFERENT ON
THE PART OF THE MASTERS.

00:10:40.072 --> 00:10:42.308
Gates, voice-over:
AFTER THE COLLAPSE
OF THE SUGAR INDUSTRY,

00:10:42.375 --> 00:10:45.878
MANY WHITE PEOPLE LEFT
SANTO DOMINGO.

00:10:45.945 --> 00:10:49.982
THE COLONY INCREASINGLY
DEPENDED ON BLACK PEOPLE
AND MULATTOS

00:10:50.049 --> 00:10:52.918
TO FILL THE RANKS OF THE ARMY,
THE CHURCH, AND THE BUREAUCRACY.

00:10:52.985 --> 00:10:58.057
THEY CAME TO BE KNOWN
AS WHITES OF THE LAND,

00:10:58.124 --> 00:11:01.927
AND THEIR LOYALTY WAS
TO THE SPANISH CROWN.

00:11:01.994 --> 00:11:04.397
AS BEING
THE OLDEST COLONY,

00:11:04.463 --> 00:11:07.400
THERE WAS THIS MYTH
THAT THIS WAS

00:11:07.466 --> 00:11:10.302
THE MOST SPANISH
OF ALL COLONIES
IN THE NEW WORLD,

00:11:10.369 --> 00:11:14.607
DESPITE THE FACT
THAT THE POPULATION
DID NOT LOOK SPANISH,

00:11:14.673 --> 00:11:17.143
BUT IF YOU LOOK INTO
THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS,

00:11:17.209 --> 00:11:21.514
ALL OF THEM,
MOST OF THEM
NORMALLY CLAIM

00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:24.417
"FROM THE MOST SPANISH
AND LOYAL CITY
OF SANTO DOMINGO"

00:11:24.483 --> 00:11:26.419
OR "COLONY
OF SANTO DOMINGO."

00:11:26.485 --> 00:11:28.654
THAT CREATED,
I WOULD SAY,

00:11:28.721 --> 00:11:32.291
AN IDEOLOGICAL
SUPERSTRUCTURE
OF SPANICITY

00:11:32.358 --> 00:11:33.993
OR HISPANICITY,

00:11:34.060 --> 00:11:36.896
NO HOW MATTER HOW DARK
YOUR SKIN WAS.

00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:52.611
Gates: BUT NOT EVERYONE EMBRACED
THIS PUTATIVE SPANISH IDENTITY.

00:11:52.678 --> 00:11:54.580
THERE ARE PLACES
IN SANTO DOMINGO

00:11:54.647 --> 00:11:58.417
WHERE THE AFRICAN CULTURAL
LEGACY PROUDLY SURVIVES.

00:12:02.888 --> 00:12:04.423
THE FOLLOWERS
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

00:12:04.490 --> 00:12:07.093
OF THE CONGO DRUMS
OF VILLA MELLA

00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:10.663
ARE A UNIQUE
CATHOLIC BROTHERHOOD.

00:12:10.729 --> 00:12:13.432
THEY BELIEVE THAT
THE HOLY SPIRIT MIRACULOUSLY

00:12:13.499 --> 00:12:20.739
GAVE THEIR ANCESTORS CERTAIN
AFRICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

00:12:20.806 --> 00:12:25.945
ROMAN MINIER IS THE HEAD
OF THE BROTHERHOOD.

00:12:26.011 --> 00:12:27.580
[MINIER SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:12:27.646 --> 00:12:29.682
THE BROTHERHOOD HAS
BEEN HANDED DOWN

00:12:29.748 --> 00:12:32.384
FROM GENERATION
TO GENERATION.

00:12:32.451 --> 00:12:34.653
MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER,
WHO WAS CALLED

00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.757
MAXIMILIANA MINIER WAS
12 WHEN SHE WAS NAMED

00:12:38.824 --> 00:12:41.160
THE QUEEN OF THE BROTHERHOOD
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

00:12:41.227 --> 00:12:45.397
OF THE CONGOS OF VILLA MELLA.

00:12:45.464 --> 00:12:53.038
WE'VE HAD THIS TRADITION
FOR OVER 500 YEARS.

00:12:53.105 --> 00:12:55.508
Gates: THIS FAMILY HAS ASKED
THE BROTHERHOOD TO COMMEMORATE

00:12:55.574 --> 00:12:58.878
THE SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY
OF A FAMILY MEMBER'S DEATH.

00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:03.182
UNESCO HAS DECLARED
THE BROTHERHOOD PART

00:13:03.249 --> 00:13:05.885
OF THE ORAL PATRIMONY
OF HUMANITY,

00:13:05.951 --> 00:13:11.423
A PROTECTED STATUS GIVEN TO
ENDANGERED CULTURAL PRACTICES.

00:13:11.490 --> 00:13:14.393
SOME DOMINICANS REJECT
THEIR AFRICAN HERITAGE

00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:17.329
AND ARE SHY ABOUT CLAIMING
A BLACK IDENTITY.

00:13:24.036 --> 00:13:27.973
THE REASONS FOR THIS ARE
ROOTED IN THEIR STRUGGLE
FOR INDEPENDENCE.

00:13:42.521 --> 00:13:44.523
ATENCÍON!

00:13:46.125 --> 00:13:51.230
ON FEBRUARY 27, 1844,
AT PUERTA DEL CONDE,

00:13:51.297 --> 00:13:53.933
THE GATE OF THE COUNT,
PATRIOTS RAISED THE FLAG

00:13:53.999 --> 00:13:56.669
OF AN INDEPENDENT
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

00:13:56.735 --> 00:13:59.104
FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

00:13:59.171 --> 00:14:03.175
PROFESSOR SILVIO TORRES SAILLANT
OF SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

00:14:03.242 --> 00:14:06.278
SHOWED ME
AROUND INDEPENDENCE PARK.

00:14:06.345 --> 00:14:08.647
Gates: SILVIO, PAINT
A PICTURE FOR ME.

00:14:08.714 --> 00:14:13.185
WHAT DID IT LOOK
LIKE HERE ON THAT DAY
IN 1844?

00:14:13.252 --> 00:14:15.955
IT WAS AN OLD BUILDING
WHICH HAD POLITICAL
SIGNIFICANCE.

00:14:16.021 --> 00:14:18.357
IT WAS HERE THAT PEOPLE
CONGREGATED

00:14:18.424 --> 00:14:22.861
TO ACTUALLY DECLARE
THE OFFICIAL BIRTH
OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

00:14:22.928 --> 00:14:24.196
HMM.

00:14:24.263 --> 00:14:25.764
Gates, voice-over:
THE DOMINICANS, HOWEVER,

00:14:25.831 --> 00:14:28.467
WEREN'T DECLARING THEIR
INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN

00:14:28.534 --> 00:14:30.836
BUT FROM THEIR
ISLAND NEIGHBOR TO THE WEST,

00:14:30.903 --> 00:14:34.473
THE NEW BLACK COUNTRY OF HAITI.

00:14:34.540 --> 00:14:38.510
HAITI, FOUNDED IN 1804
BY FORMER FRENCH SLAVES,

00:14:38.577 --> 00:14:44.016
OCCUPIED SANTO DOMINGO IN 1822.

00:14:44.083 --> 00:14:47.987
HAITI'S 20-YEAR OCCUPATION HAD
A PROFOUND IMPACT

00:14:48.053 --> 00:14:51.557
ON DOMINICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY.

00:14:51.624 --> 00:14:55.995
DURING THOSE 22 YEARS
OF HAITIAN UNIFICATION
OR OCCUPATION,

00:14:56.061 --> 00:14:57.196
DEPENDING ON YOUR
POINT OF VIEW,

00:14:57.263 --> 00:14:58.764
DID THE NATIONAL CHARACTER

00:14:58.831 --> 00:15:01.634
OF THE EASTERN PART
OF THE ISLAND CHANGE?

00:15:01.700 --> 00:15:06.205
NATIONAL IN TERMS
OF SOLIDIFICATION
OF THE IDEA

00:15:06.272 --> 00:15:09.275
OF BEING
A SEPARATE PEOPLE.

00:15:09.341 --> 00:15:11.076
YES, IT EVOLVED.

00:15:11.143 --> 00:15:13.912
YOU KNOW, THE HAITIAN
GOVERNMENT IMPOSED FRENCH

00:15:13.979 --> 00:15:16.115
AS THE LANGUAGE
OF INSTRUCTION.

00:15:16.181 --> 00:15:19.618
THE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT
TOOK PARTICULAR ACTIONS
AGAINST THE CHURCH,

00:15:19.685 --> 00:15:22.588
ECONOMIC ACTIONS
AGAINST THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

00:15:22.655 --> 00:15:26.258
THE PEOPLE HERE WERE
A CATHOLIC PEOPLE.

00:15:26.325 --> 00:15:28.027
SO THE HAITIAN
GOVERNMENT WAS
TAXING THE PEOPLE

00:15:28.093 --> 00:15:29.361
AND THE INSTITUTIONS
IN THE EAST.

00:15:29.428 --> 00:15:30.763
THAT IS CORRECT.

00:15:30.829 --> 00:15:31.764
AND THIS ANGERED
EVERYONE?

00:15:31.830 --> 00:15:32.765
IT ANGERED EVERYONE,

00:15:32.831 --> 00:15:35.267
SO IN TERMS OF PEOPLE--
DOMINICANS

00:15:35.334 --> 00:15:37.336
RECOGNIZING THEMSELVES
AS A PEOPLE,

00:15:37.403 --> 00:15:39.538
YOU COULD SAY, YES,
THIS IS A PERIOD

00:15:39.605 --> 00:15:43.876
WHEN THAT COULD BE SEEN
AS EMERGING DISTINCTLY.

00:15:43.942 --> 00:15:45.277
THEY SAID, "WE'RE NOT
LIKE THEM.

00:15:45.344 --> 00:15:46.912
WE'RE A DIFFERENT
PEOPLE."
THAT'S RIGHT.

00:15:46.979 --> 00:15:49.148
Gates, voice-over: ONCE
THEY FREED THEMSELVES
FROM THE HAITIANS,

00:15:49.214 --> 00:15:53.485
MANY DOMINICANS DID THEIR
BEST TO REJECT JUST ABOUT
EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM--

00:15:53.552 --> 00:15:55.487
THEIR LANGUAGE,
THEIR CULTURE,

00:15:55.554 --> 00:15:58.023
AND TO SOME EXTENT THEIR COLOR.

00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:00.059
Gates: SO THIS IS
GEORGE WASHINGTON,

00:16:00.125 --> 00:16:02.594
JOHN ADAMS,
AND ALEXANDER HAMILTON?

00:16:02.661 --> 00:16:04.763
THAT'S CORRECT.
IN THE CENTER
YOU HAVE

00:16:04.830 --> 00:16:08.600
JUAN PABLO DUARTE,
WHO IS THE INTELLECTUAL
ARCHITECT, IF YOU WILL,

00:16:08.667 --> 00:16:10.169
OF DOMINICAN NATIONHOOD.

00:16:10.235 --> 00:16:11.337
SO HE'S THE THEORIST.

00:16:11.403 --> 00:16:12.638
HE'S THE THEORIST.
OK.

00:16:12.705 --> 00:16:14.540
SO WERE THEY ALL
WHITE GUYS?

00:16:14.606 --> 00:16:17.409
UH, HE IS A MULATTO.

00:16:17.476 --> 00:16:19.578
AH. HE DOESN'T LOOK
VERY MULATTO
IN THAT STATUE.

00:16:19.645 --> 00:16:22.147
NO, HE DOESN'T,
AND THAT REFLECTS

00:16:22.214 --> 00:16:25.184
A TENDENCY
IN THE IMAGINARY

00:16:25.250 --> 00:16:28.454
OF THE DOMINICAN
RULING ELITES,

00:16:28.520 --> 00:16:32.791
WHO HAVE THIS TENDENCY
TO WANT TO WHITEIFY
THEIR HEROES

00:16:32.858 --> 00:16:34.526
IF THEIR HEROES
ARE TOO BLACK.

00:16:34.593 --> 00:16:35.694
SO THEY WHITENED
THE BROTHER.

00:16:35.761 --> 00:16:37.162
YES.

00:16:37.229 --> 00:16:38.297
NOT ONLY DID THEY
PUT HIM IN MARBLE,

00:16:38.364 --> 00:16:39.698
BUT THEY CHANGED
HIS FEATURES.

00:16:39.765 --> 00:16:40.966
THAT IS CORRECT,
AND THAT ACTUALLY

00:16:41.033 --> 00:16:43.836
IS A WAY OF POINTING
TO THE COMPLEXITY

00:16:43.902 --> 00:16:50.309
OF RACE RELATIONS
AND THE RACIAL EXPERIENCE
OF DOMINICANS.

00:17:01.153 --> 00:17:02.888
Gates: IN THE EARLY
20th CENTURY,

00:17:02.955 --> 00:17:07.159
THE HAITIANS CAME BACK,
NOT AS SOLDIERS THIS TIME

00:17:07.226 --> 00:17:09.895
BUT AS DESPERATE
MIGRANT WORKERS.

00:17:13.165 --> 00:17:15.901
MOST OF THEM CAME DURING
THE UNITED STATES' OCCUPATION,

00:17:15.968 --> 00:17:18.871
WHICH BEGAN IN 1916,

00:17:18.937 --> 00:17:22.708
PART OF WOODROW WILSON'S POLICY
OF EXTENDING AMERICA'S INFLUENCE

00:17:22.775 --> 00:17:25.377
IN ITS SO-CALLED BACKYARD.

00:17:31.316 --> 00:17:34.219
THE AMERICANS APPROPRIATED
LARGE TRACTS OF LAND

00:17:34.286 --> 00:17:37.389
TO EXPAND THE PROFITABLE
SUGAR INDUSTRY.

00:17:45.697 --> 00:17:49.902
BUT THE WAGES WERE SO LOW
THAT FEW DOMINICANS WOULD
DO THE WORK,

00:17:49.968 --> 00:17:53.705
SO THEY IMPORTED
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HAITIANS.

00:17:57.309 --> 00:18:01.313
Saillant: PLANTATIONS
DEHUMANIZED HAITIAN WORKERS.

00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:07.453
THEY WERE REDUCED
TO A CONDITION
OF TOTAL DESTITUTION.

00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:12.925
IT IS THERE THAT
DOMINICANS LEARNED
TO SEE THEMSELVES

00:18:12.991 --> 00:18:16.595
AS SUPERIOR TO HAITIANS.

00:18:16.662 --> 00:18:21.066
IN OTHER WORDS,
THE HAITIANS BECAME
THE MIGRANT WORKERS,

00:18:21.133 --> 00:18:25.304
DOING JOBS THAT
NO SELF-RESPECTING
DOMINICAN WOULD DO.

00:18:25.370 --> 00:18:26.338
THAT IS CORRECT.

00:18:26.405 --> 00:18:29.141
THEY BECAME A NEW CLASS.

00:18:29.208 --> 00:18:30.375
THEY BECAME
A NEW CLASS.

00:18:30.442 --> 00:18:32.311
BECAUSE THEY WERE
SO HOMOGENEOUS--

00:18:32.377 --> 00:18:36.782
BECAUSE THEY WERE
SO HOMOGENEOUS
IN TERMS OF THEIR HUE,

00:18:36.849 --> 00:18:39.017
IN TERMS
OF THEIR PHENOTYPE,

00:18:39.084 --> 00:18:43.856
THEIR BLACKNESS BECAME
A TYPE OF BLACKNESS

00:18:43.922 --> 00:18:46.291
WHICH WAS DIFFERENT
FROM THAT OF DOMINICANS.

00:18:46.358 --> 00:18:48.260
SO ALL OF A SUDDEN,
THE PRIMARY OPPOSITION

00:18:48.327 --> 00:18:50.295
BECAME BETWEEN US
AND THE HAITIANS.

00:18:50.362 --> 00:18:51.730
THAT IS TRUE.
THAT IS TRUE.

00:18:51.797 --> 00:18:56.668
SO THE HAITIANS THEN
BECOME A FACTOR
OF DOMINICAN IDENTITY.

00:18:56.735 --> 00:18:59.137
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

00:18:59.204 --> 00:19:01.440
Gates: BLACKNESS BECAME
A HAITIAN TRAIT

00:19:01.507 --> 00:19:04.443
AND A NEGATIVE TERM
TO MANY DOMINICANS.

00:19:14.253 --> 00:19:17.389
SOME DOMINICANS STEREOTYPE
HAITIANS IN THE SAME WAY

00:19:17.456 --> 00:19:20.926
THAT WHITE PEOPLE ONCE
STEREOTYPED AFRICAN-AMERICANS.

00:19:25.531 --> 00:19:29.368
RACISM AND ANTI-HAITIAN FEELINGS
REINFORCE EACH OTHER

00:19:29.434 --> 00:19:34.306
AS IF HAITIANS ARE
A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
AND INFERIOR RACE.

00:19:40.612 --> 00:19:45.617
THESE BELIEFS WERE TAUGHT
IN SCHOOLS AND REPEATED
THROUGH STATE PROPAGANDA

00:19:45.684 --> 00:19:49.922
UNTIL THE LATE SIXTIES.

00:19:49.988 --> 00:19:54.426
ONE MAN DID MORE THAN
ANYONE ELSE TO ENCOURAGE
THESE ATTITUDES,

00:19:54.493 --> 00:19:59.364
THE COUNTRY'S PRESIDENT
BETWEEN 1930 AND 1961

00:19:59.431 --> 00:20:03.302
GENERAL RAFAEL
LEONIDAS TRUJILLO.

00:20:06.171 --> 00:20:09.942
A CRUEL AND CORRUPT DICTATOR,
TRUJILLO'S POWER OVER HIS PEOPLE

00:20:10.008 --> 00:20:11.977
WAS ABSOLUTE.

00:20:12.044 --> 00:20:16.114
SANTO DOMINGO'S NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

00:20:16.181 --> 00:20:19.284
HOLDS HIS PERSONAL EFFECTS.

00:20:19.351 --> 00:20:22.187
WOW! LOOK AT THAT.
THIS WAS HIS UNIFORM?

00:20:22.254 --> 00:20:23.722
[SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:20:23.789 --> 00:20:27.960
YES. THIS WAS HIS
FORMAL UNIFORM.

00:20:28.026 --> 00:20:29.795
SOME OF THE THINGS
WORTH POINTING OUT ARE

00:20:29.861 --> 00:20:32.331
THE GOLD BRAIDS
AND THE EPAULETS,

00:20:32.397 --> 00:20:34.700
ALSO THE BELT WHERE
THE SWORD WOULD HANG,

00:20:34.766 --> 00:20:39.404
WHICH WAS A SPECIAL
AND LUXURIOUS SWORD.

00:20:39.471 --> 00:20:41.206
HMM.

00:20:41.273 --> 00:20:42.507
THESE SUITS WERE
MADE IN FRANCE

00:20:42.574 --> 00:20:44.876
THEY HAVE A VERY
FRENCH STYLE.

00:20:49.014 --> 00:20:51.216
Gates: TRUJILLO USED
ANTI-HAITIAN RACISM

00:20:51.283 --> 00:20:53.485
TO HELP TO FORGE
A STRONG STATE

00:20:53.552 --> 00:20:56.655
AFTER YEARS OF POLITICAL CHAOS.

00:20:56.722 --> 00:20:59.992
HE DID EVERYTHING
HE POSSIBLY COULD

00:21:00.058 --> 00:21:01.660
TO CLAIM THAT
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

00:21:01.727 --> 00:21:04.496
WAS ACTUALLY A WHITE NATION,
DESPITE THE FACT

00:21:04.563 --> 00:21:07.733
THAT EVEN HE HAD
HAITIAN ANCESTRY.

00:21:24.116 --> 00:21:26.985
ALL WHITE.
NOT EVEN MULATTO.

00:21:27.052 --> 00:21:28.754
NO.
NO. BLANCO.

00:21:28.820 --> 00:21:30.088
AH.
YEAH.

00:21:30.155 --> 00:21:32.524
JESUS. LOOK AT THAT.

00:21:32.591 --> 00:21:35.160
YOU WOULD THINK
IT WAS EUROPE.
YEAH.

00:21:40.632 --> 00:21:41.700
ON HIS I.D.?
HE'S WHITE.

00:21:41.767 --> 00:21:42.834
BUT HE WAS A MULATTO.

00:21:42.901 --> 00:21:45.003
YEAH. LIKE ME.

00:21:45.070 --> 00:21:46.538
LIKE YOU.
UH-HUH.

00:21:55.013 --> 00:21:56.715
HE HAS MAKE-UP?

00:21:58.750 --> 00:22:03.355
HE WOULD POWDER
HIS FACE, LIGHTEN? AH.

00:22:03.422 --> 00:22:04.923
YES. WHITE POWDER.

00:22:04.990 --> 00:22:08.060
AH.
LIKE DO YOU USE?

00:22:08.126 --> 00:22:12.264
MY GOODNESS.
I'LL BE DAMNED!
LOOK AT THAT.

00:22:12.330 --> 00:22:13.298
YEAH.

00:22:13.365 --> 00:22:15.333
THE RECEPTIONS...

00:22:22.007 --> 00:22:25.744
Gates: TRUJILLO'S
ANTI-HAITIANISM REACHED ITS APEX

00:22:25.811 --> 00:22:30.315
HERE ON THE MASSACRE RIVER,
WHICH DIVIDES THE TWO COUNTRIES.

00:22:33.418 --> 00:22:35.821
TRUJILLO TURNED
ON THE HAITIAN MIGRANTS,

00:22:35.887 --> 00:22:38.290
CLAIMING THEY WERE ENCROACHING
ON THE SO-CALLED PURITY

00:22:38.356 --> 00:22:40.926
OF THE DOMINICAN MOTHERLAND.

00:22:40.992 --> 00:22:43.528
HIS VICTIMS INCLUDED
HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS,

00:22:43.595 --> 00:22:51.403
DOMINICANS OF HAITIAN DESCENT,
AND DOMINICAN-HAITIAN FAMILIES.

00:22:51.470 --> 00:22:55.040
IN OCTOBER 1937,
TRUJILLO ISSUED AN ORDER

00:22:55.107 --> 00:22:57.375
FOR HIS TROOPS TO KILL
ALL THE HAITIANS

00:22:57.442 --> 00:22:59.978
IN THE NORTHWEST PART
OF THE COUNTRY.

00:23:00.045 --> 00:23:03.148
WHEN HIS TROOPS ARRIVED,
THEY CLOSED THE BORDER.

00:23:03.215 --> 00:23:07.719
EVEN AS THE HAITIANS FLED
ACROSS THE APTLY NAMED
MASSACRE RIVER,

00:23:07.786 --> 00:23:10.689
THE TROOPS BRUTALLY
SLAUGHTERED THEM.

00:23:10.756 --> 00:23:18.997
IN THE END, APPROXIMATELY
15,000 HAITIANS LAY DEAD.

00:23:19.064 --> 00:23:23.969
TRUJILLO NEVER SUCCEEDED
IN ENTIRELY ELIMINATING
THE HAITIANS.

00:23:24.035 --> 00:23:27.172
TODAY THERE ARE MORE THAN
A MILLION HAITIANS LIVING
AND WORKING HERE,

00:23:27.239 --> 00:23:30.876
A SOURCE OF CONTINUING TENSION.

00:23:30.942 --> 00:23:34.312
AND LIKE MIGRANTS EVERYWHERE,
THE HAITIANS HAVE COME HERE

00:23:34.379 --> 00:23:37.048
PURSUING THE DREAM
OF A BETTER LIFE.

00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:45.524
TO A LARGE EXTENT, DOMINICANS'
IDEAS ABOUT RACE

00:23:45.590 --> 00:23:48.794
HAVE BEEN FORMED FROM THEIR
NEGATIVE VIEWS ABOUT HAITIANS.

00:23:51.730 --> 00:23:54.699
I WANT TO SEE WHAT HAITI
IS LIKE FOR MYSELF,

00:23:54.766 --> 00:23:57.736
SO I'M HEADING FOR
THE WESTERN TIP OF HISPANIOLA,

00:23:57.803 --> 00:24:01.740
TO HAITI'S CAPITAL
PORT-AU-PRINCE.

00:24:17.355 --> 00:24:20.192
NOTHING, BUT NOTHING,
PREPARES YOU

00:24:20.258 --> 00:24:22.761
FOR THE DEVASTATION
IN PORT-AU-PRINCE.

00:24:30.335 --> 00:24:33.772
THE EARTHQUAKE THAT KILLED
OVER 220,000 PEOPLE

00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:37.943
HAS LEFT 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE
HOMELESS.

00:24:40.045 --> 00:24:42.881
ENTIRE FAMILIES
ARE LIVING IN TENTS

00:24:42.948 --> 00:24:46.251
WITH NO ELECTRICITY,
NO RUNNING WATER,

00:24:46.318 --> 00:24:48.019
AND NO SANITATION.

00:24:56.094 --> 00:24:57.929
LONG BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE,

00:24:57.996 --> 00:25:00.899
HAITI WAS THE POOREST COUNTRY
IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE...

00:25:05.537 --> 00:25:07.772
BUT EVEN WITHIN
THIS DEVASTATION,

00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:09.808
I CAN ALSO SEE THE COURAGE
AND RESILIENCE

00:25:09.875 --> 00:25:11.576
OF THE HAITIAN PEOPLE

00:25:11.643 --> 00:25:16.214
DESPERATELY ATTEMPTING
TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES.

00:25:16.281 --> 00:25:19.084
IT'S RESILIENCE BORN
FROM AN EXTRAORDINARILY RICH

00:25:19.150 --> 00:25:20.986
AND NOBLE HISTORY.

00:25:23.722 --> 00:25:26.291
HAITI WAS ONCE A COLONY
OF FRANCE.

00:25:26.358 --> 00:25:28.560
RISING FROM
THE EARTHQUAKE'S RUBBLE,

00:25:28.627 --> 00:25:30.495
ONE CAN STILL SEE
THE MONUMENTS CELEBRATING

00:25:30.562 --> 00:25:35.000
HAITI'S FOUNDING FATHERS
AND NATIONAL HEROES,

00:25:35.066 --> 00:25:36.835
BUT THESE AREN'T
THE EUROPEAN COLONIZERS

00:25:36.902 --> 00:25:39.237
I SAW IN
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

00:25:39.304 --> 00:25:43.642
RATHER, THEY'RE BLACK MEN--

00:25:43.708 --> 00:25:46.344
THE MEN WHO MADE HAITI THE FIRST
INDEPENDENT BLACK NATION

00:25:46.411 --> 00:25:48.179
IN THE NEW WORLD,

00:25:48.246 --> 00:25:50.282
THE FIRST BLACK MEN
IN HISTORY TO DEFEAT

00:25:50.348 --> 00:25:53.151
THEIR COLONIAL MASTERS IN WAR.

00:25:57.188 --> 00:25:59.291
WE'RE ALL VERY FAMILIAR
WITH THE POPULAR IMAGES

00:25:59.357 --> 00:26:01.760
OF HAITI THAT WE SEE
ON TELEVISION--

00:26:01.826 --> 00:26:04.663
POVERTY, FOOD RIOTS,

00:26:04.729 --> 00:26:08.600
MILITARY COUPS,
TREMENDOUS INSTABILITY,

00:26:08.667 --> 00:26:11.136
AND, OF COURSE,
THE DEVASTATING IMPACT

00:26:11.202 --> 00:26:12.704
OF THE EARTHQUAKE--

00:26:12.771 --> 00:26:14.739
BUT HOW MANY OF US KNOW
ANYTHING AT ALL

00:26:14.806 --> 00:26:17.075
ABOUT HAITI'S NOBLE HERITAGE,

00:26:17.142 --> 00:26:21.046
THE FACT THAT IT WAS A CENTER
FOR THE FIGHTING OF FREEDOM

00:26:21.112 --> 00:26:23.548
IN THE 18th CENTURY
AND THE FACT THAT HAITI

00:26:23.615 --> 00:26:26.584
POSSESSES ONE
OF THE GREATEST CULTURES

00:26:26.651 --> 00:26:28.753
IN THE ENTIRE NEW WORLD?

00:26:28.820 --> 00:26:31.690
THAT'S WHAT I'M HERE
TO FIND OUT ABOUT.

00:26:35.327 --> 00:26:38.063
AND DESPITE THE DEVASTATION,

00:26:38.129 --> 00:26:42.233
THAT CULTURE IS BEING MAINTAINED
ALL OVER PORT-AU-PRINCE.

00:26:46.871 --> 00:26:50.141
AT THE PARTLY DESTROYED
NATIONAL SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS,

00:26:50.208 --> 00:26:53.244
I COME ACROSS
AN EXTRAORDINARY SIGHT--

00:26:55.947 --> 00:26:58.583
YOUNG PEOPLE STILL HUNGRY
TO LEARN THE ARTS

00:26:58.650 --> 00:27:01.653
PRACTICED BY
THEIR AFRICAN ANCESTORS.

00:27:03.121 --> 00:27:05.457
[MAN SPEAKING HAITIAN CREOLE]

00:27:10.862 --> 00:27:12.998
Gates, voice-over:
LOUIS LESLEY MARCELIN,

00:27:13.064 --> 00:27:16.835
KNOWN AS ZAO, IS THE SCHOOL'S
HEAD OF PERCUSSION.

00:27:16.901 --> 00:27:18.703
[MARCELIN SPEAKING
HAITIAN CREOLE]

00:27:23.008 --> 00:27:25.643
HAITI IS A COUNTRY
OF IMITATION.

00:27:25.710 --> 00:27:29.180
SO MANY DIFFERENT ETHNICITIES
HAVE COME FROM AFRICA,

00:27:29.247 --> 00:27:32.117
AND WE HAITIANS
HAVE IMITATED THEM ALL,

00:27:32.183 --> 00:27:34.953
AND THAT IS WHY WE HAVE
SO MANY MUSICAL STYLES.

00:27:35.020 --> 00:27:38.123
FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN YOU TAKE
A SECT LIKE DAHOMEY,

00:27:38.189 --> 00:27:41.526
A NORTHERN HERITAGE,
THAT IS DAHOMEY VODOU,

00:27:41.593 --> 00:27:43.461
WHICH COMES FROM BENIN.

00:27:43.528 --> 00:27:45.663
WHEN YOU TAKE NAGO--
WHICH WE INHERITED

00:27:45.730 --> 00:27:50.235
FROM THE NORTH,
FROM GHANA EWE THAT
COMES FROM NIGERIA.

00:27:50.301 --> 00:27:53.338
BECAUSE WE ARE DESCENDED
FROM SO MANY PLACES IN AFRICA,

00:27:53.405 --> 00:27:57.208
EVERYTHING AFRICA HAD TO OFFER,
WE INHERITED.

00:27:59.177 --> 00:28:02.380
Gates: CREOLE, THE LANGUAGE
MOST HAITIAN PEOPLE SPEAK,

00:28:02.447 --> 00:28:05.383
IS PARTLY BASED
ON 18th-CENTURY FRENCH,

00:28:05.450 --> 00:28:09.187
BUT IT HAS STRONG ELEMENTS FROM
VARIOUS WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES.

00:28:09.254 --> 00:28:10.955
[SINGING IN HAITIAN CREOLE]

00:28:39.684 --> 00:28:42.253
Gates: TO BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND
THE HISTORY OF HAITI,

00:28:42.320 --> 00:28:45.156
I'M LEAVING THE DEVASTATION
OF PORT-AU-PRINCE

00:28:45.223 --> 00:28:48.226
AND TRAVELING TO THE NORTHERN
SIDE OF THE ISLAND...

00:28:51.629 --> 00:28:55.633
TO CAP-HAITIEN,
HAITI'S HISTORIC SECOND CITY.

00:28:59.637 --> 00:29:03.041
CAP-FRANCAIS,
AS IT WAS THEN KNOWN,

00:29:03.108 --> 00:29:06.478
WAS THE FIRST PERMANENT
FRENCH SETTLEMENT ON HISPANIOLA.

00:29:09.714 --> 00:29:12.083
THE FRENCH TOOK ADVANTAGE
OF THE WEAKNESS OF THE SPANISH

00:29:12.150 --> 00:29:16.087
IN SANTO DOMINGO TO FOUND
THEIR OWN COLONY IN THE WEST.

00:29:20.658 --> 00:29:24.295
WHEN THE ISLAND WAS
FORMALLY DIVIDED IN 1697,

00:29:24.362 --> 00:29:27.732
CAP-HAITIEN BECAME
THE COMMERCIAL HUB
FOR THE FRENCH SIDE.

00:29:30.568 --> 00:29:32.804
IT BECAME THE MAIN
PORT OF ENTRY

00:29:32.871 --> 00:29:36.341
FOR THE GROWING TRADE
IN AFRICAN SLAVES.

00:29:40.378 --> 00:29:41.980
THE NUMBER OF AFRICANS
SHIPPED TO HAITI

00:29:42.046 --> 00:29:45.150
DURING THE SLAVE TRADE
IS STAGGERING--

00:29:45.216 --> 00:29:47.986
774,000,

00:29:48.052 --> 00:29:51.890
300,000 MORE THAN CAME
TO THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES

00:29:51.956 --> 00:29:53.992
DURING THE SLAVE TRADE.

00:29:54.058 --> 00:29:58.730
HAITI WAS THE RICHEST COLONY
IN THE ENTIRE NEW WORLD.

00:29:58.796 --> 00:30:02.767
IT WAS THE JEWEL
IN FRANCE'S CROWN...

00:30:06.671 --> 00:30:10.675
THE REASON FOR THIS
FABULOUS WEALTH--SUGAR.

00:30:12.911 --> 00:30:15.547
WALKING AROUND CAP-HAITIEN'S
HISTORIC MARKET,

00:30:15.613 --> 00:30:18.082
IT'S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE
JUST HOW IMPORTANT

00:30:18.149 --> 00:30:19.951
HAITI WAS TO FRANCE.

00:30:20.018 --> 00:30:24.322
HAITI WAS KNOWN AS THE PEARL
OF THE ANTILLES.

00:30:25.957 --> 00:30:28.393
BY THE MID 1700s,

00:30:28.459 --> 00:30:31.196
THIS COLONY, LITTLE BIGGER
THAN MARYLAND,

00:30:31.262 --> 00:30:33.831
PRODUCED NEARLY HALF
OF THE WORLD'S SUGAR

00:30:33.898 --> 00:30:38.870
AND GENERATED 2/5 OF FRANCE'S
OVERSEAS TRADE.

00:30:38.937 --> 00:30:41.673
A BRUTALLY EFFICIENT
PLANTATION ECONOMY

00:30:41.739 --> 00:30:44.442
LED TO A VERY DIFFERENT
WAY OF LIFE HERE

00:30:44.509 --> 00:30:47.312
THAN ON THE SPANISH SIDE
OF THE ISLAND.

00:30:50.448 --> 00:30:53.051
GUY ALEXANDRE, A SOCIOLOGIST,

00:30:53.117 --> 00:30:54.919
IS ALSO THE FORMER
HAITIAN AMBASSADOR

00:30:54.986 --> 00:30:56.654
TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

00:30:56.721 --> 00:30:59.090
SO HE KNOWS BOTH COUNTRIES WELL.

00:30:59.157 --> 00:31:02.894
[ALEXANDRE SPEAKING FRENCH]

00:31:02.961 --> 00:31:05.530
IN HAITI, THERE WAS
A PLANTATION ECONOMY

00:31:05.597 --> 00:31:07.165
LINKED TO THE EXPLOITATION

00:31:07.232 --> 00:31:10.668
OF A LARGE NUMBER
OF AFRICAN SLAVES...

00:31:12.303 --> 00:31:14.138
WHEREAS IN THE SPANISH PART,

00:31:14.205 --> 00:31:16.874
THE SLAVE RATE
WAS INFINITELY LOWER,

00:31:16.941 --> 00:31:19.611
AND THE ECONOMY WAS BASED
ON LIVESTOCK.

00:31:22.547 --> 00:31:25.383
THIS MEANT THERE WERE MAJOR
DIFFERENCES IN THE PROCESS

00:31:25.450 --> 00:31:28.019
OF POPULATION FORMATION,

00:31:28.086 --> 00:31:31.489
DIFFERENCES FROM THE OUTSET
WITH A MUCH HIGHER RATE

00:31:31.556 --> 00:31:35.660
OF RACE MIXING IN THE EAST
THAN WE HAD HERE.

00:31:35.727 --> 00:31:37.495
HOW DOES THIS
DIFFERENCE

00:31:37.562 --> 00:31:39.831
BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES
AND THE PEOPLE

00:31:39.897 --> 00:31:42.734
EXPRESS ITSELF
IN RELATIONSHIP, SAY,

00:31:42.800 --> 00:31:45.203
TO TRADITIONAL FORMS
OF BLACK CULTURE,

00:31:45.270 --> 00:31:48.873
LET'S SAY TO AFRICA?

00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:51.576
THE DOMINICAN ELITE
SIMPLY REJECTED,

00:31:51.643 --> 00:31:56.781
ALMOST COMPLETELY,
THE AFRICAN COMPONENT
OF THEIR CULTURE.

00:31:56.848 --> 00:32:00.018
THE HAITIANS AND,
SPECIFICALLY,
THE HAITIAN ELITE

00:32:00.084 --> 00:32:03.121
ACCEPTED THEIR AFRICAN
ORIGINS TO THE POINT

00:32:03.187 --> 00:32:07.759
WHERE OUR AFRICAN
ORIGINS ARE PART OF
THE NATIONAL CULTURE.

00:32:10.762 --> 00:32:14.098
[CHORUS SINGING]

00:32:21.306 --> 00:32:23.708
Gates: I'VE COME TO THE VILLAGE
OF TROU-DU-NORD,

00:32:23.775 --> 00:32:25.710
JUST OUTSIDE CAP-HAITIEN,

00:32:25.777 --> 00:32:28.846
FOR THE YEARLY CELEBRATION
OF THE TOWN'S PATRON SAINT--

00:32:28.913 --> 00:32:30.281
SAINT JAMES.

00:32:33.284 --> 00:32:36.654
MOST HAITIANS
OFFICIALLY ARE ROMAN CATHOLICS,

00:32:36.721 --> 00:32:39.090
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL THEY ARE.

00:32:39.157 --> 00:32:42.527
JUST OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
UNDER THE TOWN BRIDGE,

00:32:42.593 --> 00:32:44.362
PEOPLE PRACTICE A RELIGION

00:32:44.429 --> 00:32:47.498
MANY HAITIANS COMBINE
WITH THEIR CATHOLICISM--

00:32:49.300 --> 00:32:52.704
THE AFRICAN-BASED FAITH VODOU.

00:32:52.770 --> 00:32:56.107
[DRUMS AND SINGING]

00:32:57.608 --> 00:32:59.177
HOLLYWOOD MOVIES
WITH RACIST IMAGES

00:32:59.243 --> 00:33:01.346
OF SO-CALLED VOODOO DOLLS,

00:33:01.412 --> 00:33:04.782
ZOMBIES, BLACK MAGIC,
AND DEVIL WORSHIP

00:33:04.849 --> 00:33:06.884
HAVE DEMONIZED VODOU...

00:33:09.554 --> 00:33:11.989
BUT VODOU IS A COMPLEX
BELIEF SYSTEM,

00:33:12.056 --> 00:33:15.860
A RELIGION AS SOPHISTICATED
AS ANY OTHER RELIGION.

00:33:20.264 --> 00:33:24.068
Gates: IN MANY
OF THE NEW WORLD
BLACK SOCIETIES,

00:33:24.135 --> 00:33:25.970
IT'S NOT RESPECTABLE

00:33:26.037 --> 00:33:29.006
TO ADMIT THAT YOU
PRACTICE VODOU,

00:33:29.073 --> 00:33:31.709
BUT HERE, PEOPLE
ARE VERY PROUD,
THEY SEEM TO BE.

00:33:31.776 --> 00:33:33.911
OF COURSE WE
ARE VERY PROUD.
WHY?

00:33:33.978 --> 00:33:36.414
IN FACT, WE CANNOT EVEN
SEE OURSELF DIFFERENTLY.

00:33:36.481 --> 00:33:38.883
IN FACT, THAT'S THE ONLY
WAY WE SEE OURSELVES.

00:33:38.950 --> 00:33:40.118
IN FACT, I MUST SAY

00:33:40.184 --> 00:33:42.420
THAT WHAT CHARACTERIZED
THE HAITIAN NATION

00:33:42.487 --> 00:33:44.622
AS A NATION IS
THE PRIDE THEY HAVE

00:33:44.689 --> 00:33:47.558
FOR THEIR FOREFATHERS
AND FOR THEIR HERITAGE.

00:33:47.625 --> 00:33:49.894
WHEN OTHER PEOPLE SAY,
"COME ON. YOU'RE POOR,"

00:33:49.961 --> 00:33:52.263
WE KNOW WE ARE RICH
IN OUR OWN WAYS.

00:33:52.330 --> 00:33:53.664
WE ARE RICH
SPIRITUALLY.

00:33:53.731 --> 00:33:56.467
[DRUMS AND SINGING]

00:33:57.869 --> 00:34:00.304
Gates, voice-over: MAX BEAUVOIR
IS A BIOCHEMIST

00:34:00.371 --> 00:34:02.840
TRAINED AT CITY COLLEGE
IN NEW YORK CITY

00:34:02.907 --> 00:34:06.277
AND THE SORBONNE IN PARIS.

00:34:06.344 --> 00:34:09.614
FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS,
HE'S BEEN THE HOUNGAN,

00:34:09.680 --> 00:34:11.649
THE HIGH PRIEST,
OF ONE OF HAITI'S

00:34:11.716 --> 00:34:16.554
MOST IMPORTANT HOUNFOURS,
OR VODOU TEMPLES.

00:34:16.621 --> 00:34:19.757
MAX BELIEVES THAT VODOU'S
EMBRACE OF NATURE

00:34:19.824 --> 00:34:24.061
PLACES IT AT THE CORE
OF HAITIAN IDENTITY.

00:34:24.128 --> 00:34:27.498
Beauvoir: I WOULD SAY
IT'S THE AIM, THE AIM OF VODOU.

00:34:27.565 --> 00:34:30.134
WHEN VODOU
WAS CONSTRUCTED ITSELF,

00:34:30.201 --> 00:34:34.772
THE POINT WAS TO INCLUDE
INTO IT EACH GROUP.

00:34:34.839 --> 00:34:35.907
Gates:
EACH AFRICAN--

00:34:35.973 --> 00:34:37.642
SO, IN FACT, SENEGAL
WAS PART OF IT.

00:34:37.708 --> 00:34:41.379
MALI WAS PART OF IT.
DAHOMEY WAS PART OF IT.

00:34:41.446 --> 00:34:42.947
THE UPPER NIGERIA
WAS PART OF IT.

00:34:43.014 --> 00:34:46.184
SOUTHERN NIGERIA
WITH THE IGBOS
WAS A PART OF IT.

00:34:46.250 --> 00:34:49.086
ONCE YOU HAVE
THE NORTHERN CONGOS

00:34:49.153 --> 00:34:50.955
WITH CAMEROON AND GABON,

00:34:51.022 --> 00:34:52.590
THEY WERE ALSO
PART OF IT.

00:34:52.657 --> 00:34:55.927
SO, IN FACT, I THINK
THAT WAS THE BASIC
STRENGTH OF VODOU.

00:34:55.993 --> 00:34:59.530
IT WAS INCLUSIVE,
EMBRACING.
INCLUSIVE.

00:34:59.597 --> 00:35:01.432
[HOG SQUEALING]

00:35:04.035 --> 00:35:06.204
Gates, voice-over: LIKE OTHER
OPPRESSED PEOPLE, THE SLAVES

00:35:06.270 --> 00:35:09.040
DREW SOLACE AND COMFORT
FROM THEIR RELIGION.

00:35:11.476 --> 00:35:15.112
VODOU ALSO GAVE THEM
STRENGTH, COURAGE,

00:35:15.179 --> 00:35:18.916
ORGANIZATION,
AND LEADERSHIP,

00:35:18.983 --> 00:35:21.252
QUALITIES THAT HELPED
THE HAITIAN PEOPLE

00:35:21.319 --> 00:35:24.021
REALIZE THEIR GREATEST
ACHIEVEMENT--

00:35:24.088 --> 00:35:27.525
THE DEFEAT OF THEIR
COLONIAL MASTERS THE FRENCH.

00:35:29.961 --> 00:35:32.897
IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
JUST OUTSIDE CAP-HAITIEN

00:35:32.964 --> 00:35:34.832
SITS BOIS CAYMAN,

00:35:34.899 --> 00:35:38.402
THE FOREST OF THE ALLIGATORS.

00:35:38.469 --> 00:35:41.038
TODAY IT'S JUST
A MODEST VILLAGE.

00:35:41.105 --> 00:35:42.573
THERE'S NOTHING THERE
TO COMMEMORATE

00:35:42.640 --> 00:35:46.878
THE MOMENTOUS EVENTS THAT TOOK
PLACE MORE THAN 200 YEARS AGO,

00:35:46.944 --> 00:35:50.147
NOT EVEN A PLAQUE.

00:35:50.214 --> 00:35:53.351
THIS IS WHERE THE HAITIAN
REVOLUTION WAS CONCEIVED,

00:35:53.417 --> 00:35:56.087
A REVOLUTION THAT WOULD RESULT
IN THE CREATION

00:35:56.153 --> 00:35:59.056
OF THE FIRST FREE
BLACK REPUBLIC ON EARTH...

00:36:00.791 --> 00:36:04.262
AND IT ALL BEGAN WITH
A VODOU RELIGIOUS CEREMONY

00:36:04.328 --> 00:36:07.932
HELD ON THIS VERY SPOT.

00:36:10.368 --> 00:36:14.906
ANTHROPOLOGIST RACHEL BEAUVOIR,
WHO IS MAX BEAUVOIR'S DAUGHTER,

00:36:14.972 --> 00:36:17.174
HAS RESEARCHED THE EVENTS
OF THAT NIGHT

00:36:17.241 --> 00:36:21.212
USING ORAL ACCOUNTS PASSED DOWN
FOR GENERATIONS.

00:36:21.279 --> 00:36:25.816
Gates: RACHEL,
AUGUST 14, 1791.

00:36:25.883 --> 00:36:27.084
IT'S MIDNIGHT.

00:36:27.151 --> 00:36:29.220
TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED
HERE UNDER THIS TREE.

00:36:29.287 --> 00:36:31.923
THUNDER, LIGHTNING.

00:36:31.989 --> 00:36:34.158
THE WHOLE PLACE
IS TREMBLING.

00:36:34.225 --> 00:36:36.394
THE EARTH
SEEMS TO SHAKE,

00:36:36.460 --> 00:36:38.362
AND THAT'S WHEN
THEY GET TOGETHER

00:36:38.429 --> 00:36:41.332
IN THIS VODOU CEREMONY,
AND EVERYONE TOGETHER

00:36:41.399 --> 00:36:44.235
SAYS, "IT'S OVER.
SLAVERY IS OVER."

00:36:44.302 --> 00:36:46.837
THEY DID A SACRIFICE
OF AN ANIMAL,

00:36:46.904 --> 00:36:49.974
WHICH WAS A BLACK PIG,
AND THIS SACRIFICE,

00:36:50.041 --> 00:36:51.409
EVERYONE TOUCHED
THE BLOOD,

00:36:51.475 --> 00:36:54.345
AND THIS WAS
THE SACRED OATH

00:36:54.412 --> 00:36:56.781
THAT, ABOVE EVERYTHING,
LIBERTY WAS MOST IMPORTANT.

00:36:56.847 --> 00:36:59.050
[DRUMS AND SINGING]

00:37:05.022 --> 00:37:06.424
Gates, voice-over:
THE HAITIAN SLAVES CONFRONTED

00:37:06.490 --> 00:37:11.462
ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL
NATIONS ON EARTH.

00:37:11.529 --> 00:37:13.864
FOR BLACK SLAVES TO HAVE
THE WHEREWITHAL

00:37:13.931 --> 00:37:16.867
TO OVERTHROW THEIR WHITE
COLONIAL MASTERS

00:37:16.934 --> 00:37:19.604
WAS UNTHINKABLE.

00:37:19.670 --> 00:37:22.273
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE FRENCH
AND AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS

00:37:22.340 --> 00:37:24.842
INSPIRED MANY OF THE LEADERS.

00:37:24.909 --> 00:37:27.878
MANY OF THE SLAVES DREW
THEIR STRENGTH

00:37:27.945 --> 00:37:30.247
FROM THE PRIDE
IN THEIR AFRICAN PAST

00:37:30.314 --> 00:37:33.884
EXPRESSED IN THE BELIEF
IN THE POWER OF VODOU.

00:37:42.526 --> 00:37:44.729
Gates: WHAT WAS
THE ROLE OF VODOU
IN THE REVOLUTION?

00:37:44.795 --> 00:37:48.666
Rachel: VODOU REPRESENTED
THE CEMENT THAT GOT

00:37:48.733 --> 00:37:52.436
ALL OF THOSE SLAVES COMING
FROM SO MANY DIFFERENT AREAS,

00:37:52.503 --> 00:37:53.904
THE CONTINENT
OF AFRICA--

00:37:53.971 --> 00:37:56.374
HAITI IS LIKE
A MICROCOSM OF AFRICA...

00:37:56.440 --> 00:37:57.975
AND THE GLUE WAS VODOU.

00:37:58.042 --> 00:38:00.177
AND THE GLUE WAS VODOU,
MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL

00:38:00.244 --> 00:38:02.580
AND MAKING EVERYONE
MAKE SENSE OF EVERY OTHER ONE,

00:38:02.647 --> 00:38:04.749
AND THEN THEY HAD THE UNITY
NECESSARY TO HAVE

00:38:04.815 --> 00:38:09.720
THE MOST POWERFUL
SLAVE REVOLUTION
IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

00:38:13.190 --> 00:38:15.192
Gates, voice-over:
THE BOIS CAYMAN UPRISING MARKED

00:38:15.259 --> 00:38:17.395
THE BEGINNING OF
THE GREATEST SLAVE REVOLT

00:38:17.461 --> 00:38:20.097
IN THE HISTORY OF THE NEW WORLD.

00:38:22.366 --> 00:38:25.269
IT TOOK THE SLAVES JUST
TWO YEARS TO WIN THEIR FREEDOM,

00:38:25.336 --> 00:38:28.072
FORCING THE FRENCH
TO ABOLISH SLAVERY.

00:38:30.541 --> 00:38:33.944
HAITI WAS RUN BY THE GREAT
GENERAL TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE,

00:38:34.011 --> 00:38:37.548
STILL AS A FRENCH COLONY
BUT FREE OF SLAVERY...

00:38:40.985 --> 00:38:45.990
BUT IN 1802, THE FRENCH,
UNDER NAPOLEON BONAPARTE,

00:38:46.057 --> 00:38:49.193
REVERSED THE EMANCIPATION
OF THE SLAVES.

00:38:49.260 --> 00:38:51.896
TOUSSAINT WAS TRICKED
AND ARRESTED

00:38:51.962 --> 00:38:53.964
AND THEN SENT
TO A FRENCH PRISON,

00:38:54.031 --> 00:38:57.501
WHERE HE DIED IN EXILE.

00:38:57.568 --> 00:39:00.571
THE HAITIANS ROSE UP
AGAINST THE FRENCH ONCE AGAIN

00:39:00.638 --> 00:39:04.008
TO STOP THE REIMPOSITION
OF SLAVERY.

00:39:05.342 --> 00:39:08.612
AT VERTIERES,
JUST OUTSIDE CAP-HAITIEN,

00:39:08.679 --> 00:39:11.649
THE HAITIAN FORCES,
UNDER JEAN JACQUES DESSALINES,

00:39:11.716 --> 00:39:13.350
TOUSSAINT'S SUCCESSOR,

00:39:13.417 --> 00:39:16.854
ROUTED THE FRENCH ARMY
FOR THE LAST TIME.

00:39:18.189 --> 00:39:21.125
THIS BRILLIANT GENERAL,
A FORMER SLAVE HIMSELF,

00:39:21.192 --> 00:39:25.129
WAS DETERMINED THAT SLAVERY
WOULD NEVER RETURN TO HAITI.

00:39:28.332 --> 00:39:32.169
WHEN HE DECLARED INDEPENDENCE
ON JANUARY 1, 1804,

00:39:32.236 --> 00:39:36.340
HIS STIRRING WORDS
LEFT NOTHING TO CHANCE.

00:39:36.407 --> 00:39:39.176
"LET THEM TREMBLE
WHEN THEY APPROACH OUR COASTS.

00:39:39.243 --> 00:39:43.180
"IF NOT FOR THE MEMORY
OF THOSE CRUELTIES
THEY PERPETRATED HERE,

00:39:43.247 --> 00:39:47.685
"THEN FROM THE TERRIBLE
RESOLUTION THAT
WE WILL HAVE MADE

00:39:47.752 --> 00:39:51.188
"TO PUT TO DEATH
ANYONE BORN FRENCH

00:39:51.255 --> 00:39:56.193
WHOSE PROFANE FOOT
SOILS THE LAND OF LIBERTY."

00:39:56.260 --> 00:39:59.196
JEAN-JACQUES DESSALINES,

00:39:59.263 --> 00:40:03.734
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
OF HAITI, 1804.

00:40:03.801 --> 00:40:07.238
THESE WORDS ARE
STARTLING TO US TODAY,
EVEN SOMEWHAT FRIGHTENING,

00:40:07.304 --> 00:40:08.739
BUT THEY'RE
CERTAINLY UNDERSTANDABLE.

00:40:08.806 --> 00:40:13.244
DESSALINES FELT THAT THE FRENCH,
GIVEN ANY OPPORTUNITY,

00:40:13.310 --> 00:40:16.247
WOULD REIMPOSE SLAVERY
ON THIS ISLAND.

00:40:16.313 --> 00:40:18.749
AND YOU KNOW WHAT,
DESSALINES WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

00:40:18.816 --> 00:40:20.751
AND HE THOUGHT,
PERHAPS MISTAKENLY,

00:40:20.818 --> 00:40:23.254
THAT UNLESS HE
WIPED THEM OUT,

00:40:23.320 --> 00:40:24.755
SLAVERY WOULD RETURN.

00:40:24.822 --> 00:40:27.258
SO SHORTLY AFTER
READING THIS STATEMENT,

00:40:27.324 --> 00:40:32.263
DESSALINES ORDERED
THE MASSACRE OF THE FRENCH
PEOPLE ON THIS ISLAND,

00:40:32.329 --> 00:40:38.736
AN ACT THAT SHOCKED NOT ONLY
THE NATIONS OF EUROPE AND THE
UNITED STATES, OF COURSE,

00:40:38.803 --> 00:40:41.238
BUT EVEN MANY OF HIS PEERS.

00:40:41.305 --> 00:40:44.742
TWO YEARS LATER,
DESSALINES HIMSELF
WOULD BE ASSASSINATED

00:40:44.809 --> 00:40:50.247
BY THE VERY GENERALS WITH WHOM
HE DEFEATED THE FRENCH.

00:40:55.319 --> 00:40:57.254
BUT FOR THE HAITIAN PEOPLE,

00:40:57.321 --> 00:41:02.193
THE FIGHT TO RETAIN
THEIR INDEPENDENCE
HAD ONLY JUST BEGUN.

00:41:02.259 --> 00:41:05.196
NO SOONER HAD THEY WON
THEIR FREEDOM FROM FRANCE,

00:41:05.262 --> 00:41:07.698
THAN THEIR ENEMIES
BEGAN A CAMPAIGN

00:41:07.765 --> 00:41:10.734
TO STRANGLE THE NEW
REPUBLIC IN ITS CRIB.

00:41:20.811 --> 00:41:24.748
SANS-SOUCI, A REMARKABLE
FAIRY-TALE PALACE
IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

00:41:24.815 --> 00:41:27.251
JUST OUTSIDE CAP HAITIEN,

00:41:27.318 --> 00:41:31.755
WAS BUILT BY
DESSALINES' SUCCESSOR,
KING HENRI CHRISTOPHE.

00:41:31.822 --> 00:41:36.193
A BRILLIANT SOLDIER,
CHRISTOPHE HAD FOUGHT
IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

00:41:36.260 --> 00:41:40.698
AND HAD BEEN DESSALINES'
RIGHT-HAND MAN IN THE WAR
AGAINST THE FRENCH.

00:41:42.766 --> 00:41:48.239
HAITI'S CONTINUED SURVIVAL
NOW RESTED SQUARELY
ON HIS SHOULDERS.

00:41:51.308 --> 00:41:56.747
FRANCE, BRITAIN, AND AMERICA,
ALL REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE HAITI.

00:41:56.814 --> 00:41:58.549
THEY COULD NEVER ALLOW IT
TO BECOME AN EXAMPLE

00:41:58.616 --> 00:42:02.686
TO OTHER ENSLAVED PEOPLE
IN THE REST OF THE AMERICAS.

00:42:05.256 --> 00:42:07.191
FEARFUL OF INVASION,

00:42:07.258 --> 00:42:11.695
CHRISTOPHE CONSTRUCTED
A GREAT FORTRESS
KNOWN AS THE CITADEL.

00:42:13.264 --> 00:42:19.236
BUILT ATOP A 3,000 FEET PEAK,
IT TOOK 20,000 MEN TO CONSTRUCT.

00:42:21.305 --> 00:42:26.243
IT'S STILL THE LARGEST
FORTRESS IN THE ENTIRE
WESTERN HEMISPHERE.

00:42:31.382 --> 00:42:36.186
PATRICK DELATOUR IS AN
ARCHITECT WHO IS IN CHARGE OF
THE CITADEL'S RESTORATION.

00:42:36.253 --> 00:42:38.689
OH! HMM.

00:42:38.756 --> 00:42:41.692
PATRICK, WHAT WAS
CHRISTOPHE AFRAID OF?

00:42:41.759 --> 00:42:43.694
THE RETURN
OF THE FRENCH.

00:42:43.761 --> 00:42:48.699
THE RETURN OF THE
FRENCH AND GOING
BACK INTO SLAVERY.

00:42:48.766 --> 00:42:54.238
AND AS SOON AS FRANCE
WOULD BE AT PEACE
WITH ENGLAND,

00:42:54.305 --> 00:42:57.741
AND BE AT PEACE
WITH THE REST OF
THE EUROPEAN POWERS,

00:42:57.808 --> 00:43:00.144
FRANCE COULD THINK
OF ONE THING:
TO COME BACK.

00:43:00.210 --> 00:43:01.845
BECAUSE EVERYBODY
WANTED HAITI TO BE CRUSHED

00:43:01.912 --> 00:43:06.650
BECAUSE IT WAS BLACK MEN
WHO HAD FREED THEMSELVES
FROM THE SHACKLES OF SLAVERY.

00:43:06.717 --> 00:43:12.690
YES. THE PAIN OF
SLAVERY IS SUCH THAT

00:43:12.756 --> 00:43:15.192
WHENEVER YOU'RE MAKING
AN ANALYSIS OF HAITI
OR THE HAITIAN,

00:43:15.259 --> 00:43:17.194
IT IS THERE THAT
YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO.

00:43:17.261 --> 00:43:18.696
MM-HMM.

00:43:18.762 --> 00:43:23.734
I BELIEVE THAT THE QUEST
FOR EQUALITY AND THE
QUEST FOR FREEDOM

00:43:23.801 --> 00:43:27.738
WAS SO GREAT
THAT THOSE GUYS,
IN FACT, WROTE IT DOWN

00:43:27.805 --> 00:43:29.740
AND SAID THAT
THEY WOULD RATHER DIE

00:43:29.807 --> 00:43:32.242
THAN GO BACK
TO SLAVERY.

00:43:32.309 --> 00:43:33.877
Gates, voice-over:
WITH THE FRENCH EXPELLED,

00:43:33.944 --> 00:43:38.682
THE HAITIAN PEOPLE REJECTED
EVERYTHING THAT REMINDED
THEM OF SLAVERY.

00:43:38.749 --> 00:43:41.685
Gates: HAITI WAS THE
MOST PROFITABLE COLONY

00:43:41.752 --> 00:43:44.688
IN THE HISTORY
OF COLONIZATION.

00:43:44.755 --> 00:43:47.191
SO IF THEY COULD
HAVE MAINTAINED
THE PLANTATION SYSTEM,

00:43:47.257 --> 00:43:48.692
HAITI WOULD HAVE
BEEN RICH.

00:43:48.759 --> 00:43:51.195
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN
ONE OF THE WORLD'S
RICHEST ECONOMIES.

00:43:51.261 --> 00:43:56.734
THEY SYSTEMATICALLY
DESTROYED ALL THE
MEANS OF PRODUCTION.

00:43:56.800 --> 00:44:01.171
ANYTHING THAT HAD
TO DO WITH SLAVERY
WAS DESTROYED.

00:44:01.238 --> 00:44:04.174
AND WE DESTROYED
THE WHOLE DRAINAGE
SYSTEM,

00:44:04.241 --> 00:44:06.176
THE ROAD SYSTEM,

00:44:06.243 --> 00:44:11.181
THE INVESTMENT INTO
THE MACHINERY FOR SUGAR
AND THE GOOD WHEAT,

00:44:11.248 --> 00:44:13.650
AND ... COFFEE.

00:44:13.717 --> 00:44:18.689
SO BASICALLY, IT WAS
SOLELY THE NOTION
OF INDIVIDUAL SURVIVAL,

00:44:18.756 --> 00:44:20.190
FAMILY SURVIVAL.

00:44:32.803 --> 00:44:34.238
THEN YOU HAVE
THE PLATFORM.

00:44:34.304 --> 00:44:36.673
MY GOD,
LOOK AT THIS.

00:44:36.740 --> 00:44:38.675
THAT'S IT. WHEW!

00:44:38.742 --> 00:44:41.512
FROM HERE, YOU HAVE
HISTORY AT YOUR FEET.

00:44:41.578 --> 00:44:42.679
YEAH!

00:44:42.746 --> 00:44:44.181
YOU CAN SEE
ON ONE SIDE

00:44:44.248 --> 00:44:47.651
THE BED LACUNE,
THE ARRIVAL OF
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

00:44:47.718 --> 00:44:49.186
THAT'S WHERE
COLUMBUS ARRIVED?

00:44:49.253 --> 00:44:50.687
COLUMBUS.
TAKE A LOOK.

00:44:50.754 --> 00:44:53.690
ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
RIGHT THERE

00:44:53.757 --> 00:44:55.192
THERE'S ANOTHER FORT.

00:44:55.259 --> 00:44:56.693
NEXT TO IT,
THERE'S ANOTHER FORT.

00:44:56.760 --> 00:44:58.195
YEAH, I SEE.

00:44:58.262 --> 00:44:59.363
YES.

00:44:59.430 --> 00:45:02.132
SO THAT ONE COULD
SUSTAIN A GUERRILLA WAR

00:45:02.199 --> 00:45:04.368
AGAINST ANY
INVADING FORCE.

00:45:04.435 --> 00:45:05.669
IT'S TAKING
MY BREATH AWAY.

00:45:05.736 --> 00:45:06.904
YES.

00:45:06.970 --> 00:45:09.573
I HAD NO IDEA THAT
IT WOULD BE THIS
AWE-INSPIRING.

00:45:11.341 --> 00:45:13.677
Gates, voice-over: NO FOREIGN
TROOPS WOULD EVER TEST
THE STRENGTH OF THE WALLS

00:45:13.744 --> 00:45:16.680
OF THE CITADEL,
BUT THEY DIDN'T NEED TO.

00:45:16.747 --> 00:45:19.183
HAITI'S ENEMIES
USED OTHER MEANS

00:45:19.249 --> 00:45:21.685
TO CRIPPLE THE WORLD'S
FIRST BLACK REPUBLIC.

00:45:24.755 --> 00:45:26.690
ACTUALLY, THE
INVASION DID COME,

00:45:26.757 --> 00:45:29.193
BUT NOT IN THE FORM
THAT CHRISTOPHE THOUGHT.

00:45:29.259 --> 00:45:31.695
IT CAME IN THE FORM
OF TRADE EMBARGOS,

00:45:31.762 --> 00:45:36.633
OF BLOCKADES, AND THE
SYSTEMATIC DENIGRATION
OF THE HAITIAN PEOPLE,

00:45:36.700 --> 00:45:40.671
THE DENIAL OF THE RIGHT
OF BLACK PEOPLE
TO GOVERN THEMSELVES.

00:45:40.737 --> 00:45:45.175
AND NO ONE PURSUED
THAT POLICY WITH MORE
VIGOR AND PASSION

00:45:45.242 --> 00:45:50.647
THAN OUR OWN PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES
THOMAS JEFFERSON.

00:45:50.714 --> 00:45:54.184
Gates, voice-over: THOMAS
JEFFERSON CALLED TOUSSAINT AND
THE HAITIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS

00:45:54.251 --> 00:45:58.188
"CANNIBALS OF THE
TERRIBLE REPUBLIC."

00:45:58.255 --> 00:46:02.126
THE FRENCH, TOO, DID
EVERYTHING THEY COULD
TO CRIPPLE HAITI.

00:46:02.192 --> 00:46:06.130
OUTRAGEOUSLY, FRANCE DEMANDED
REPARATIONS FOR ITS LOSSES

00:46:06.196 --> 00:46:09.633
AS THE PRICE FOR
OFFICIAL RECOGNITION
OF THE NEW COUNTRY,

00:46:09.700 --> 00:46:13.670
THREATENING A BLOCKADE
IF THE HAITIANS REFUSED.

00:46:13.737 --> 00:46:16.173
HAITI HAD LITTLE CHOICE.

00:46:16.240 --> 00:46:24.681
INCREDIBLY, IT PAID FRANCE
MORE THAN $1 BILLION
BETWEEN 1825 AND 1947,

00:46:24.748 --> 00:46:27.651
EFFECTIVELY BANKRUPTING
ITS TREASURY.

00:46:27.718 --> 00:46:31.188
ONE FORM OF SLAVERY
REPLACED ANOTHER.

00:46:37.194 --> 00:46:40.130
FOREIGN INTERVENTION
IN HAITI'S AFFAIRS

00:46:40.197 --> 00:46:41.632
WOULD BECOME
EVEN MORE BLATANT.

00:46:43.734 --> 00:46:48.172
ON JULY 28, 1915,
THE UNITED STATES MARINES

00:46:48.238 --> 00:46:50.174
LANDED IN PORT-AU-PRINCE,

00:46:50.240 --> 00:46:53.677
JUST AS THEY WOULD DO
IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
A YEAR LATER.

00:46:55.245 --> 00:46:59.183
THEIR DECLARED AIM WAS
TO PROTECT AMERICAN
AND FOREIGN INTERESTS--

00:46:59.249 --> 00:47:05.122
IN OTHER WORDS, TO ENSURE
THAT HAITI PAID ITS DEBT
TO AMERICA AND FRANCE.

00:47:07.191 --> 00:47:13.130
FOR 19 YEARS, THE UNITED STATES
WIELDED AN ABSOLUTE VETO OVER
ALL GOVERNMENT DECISIONS,

00:47:13.197 --> 00:47:18.168
WHILE THE PROVINCES
CAME UNDER THE RULE
OF MARINE COMMANDERS.

00:47:30.247 --> 00:47:34.151
AND GUESS WHO THE
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT PICKED
TO DO THE OCCUPYING?

00:47:34.218 --> 00:47:39.623
SOME OF THE MOST RACIST
SOUTHERNERS IT COULD FIND
IN THE ENTIRE MARINE CORPS.

00:47:39.690 --> 00:47:45.629
WHAT WAS THE RESULT
OF OUR ILLEGAL OCCUPATION
FOR 19 YEARS OF THIS COUNTRY?

00:47:45.696 --> 00:47:51.635
OUR PRESENCE CREATED POLITICAL,
ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL INSTABILITY

00:47:51.702 --> 00:47:56.173
THAT CONTIED TO
PLAGUE HAITI FOR THE
NEXT SEVERAL DECADES.

00:47:56.240 --> 00:47:58.175
IT WAS INEXCUSABLE.

00:48:02.179 --> 00:48:06.617
HAITIANS WERE NEVER REALLY
GIVEN THE CHANCE TO DEVELOP
AS AN INDEPENDENT NATION.

00:48:13.690 --> 00:48:17.628
BUT NOT ALL OF HAITI'S PROBLEMS
CAN BE BLAMED ON FOREIGNERS.

00:48:17.694 --> 00:48:23.667
THE COUNTRY HAS ALSO SUFFERED
FROM SEVERAL BRUTAL, CORRUPT,
DESPODIC LEADERS.

00:48:27.738 --> 00:48:36.113
AND PERHAPS NONE EPITOMIZED
THIS MORE THAN HAITIAN PRESIDENT
FRANCOIS "PAPA DOC" DUVALIER.

00:48:36.179 --> 00:48:39.616
TO HAVE PEACE
AND STABILITY,

00:48:39.683 --> 00:48:45.622
YOU SHOULD HAVE A STRONG MAN
IN EVERY COUNTRY--

00:48:45.689 --> 00:48:49.626
NOT A DICTATOR,
BUT A STRONG MAN.

00:48:49.693 --> 00:48:54.631
DEMOCRACY IS A WORD--
IS ONLY A WORD,

00:48:54.698 --> 00:48:58.168
IS A [SPEAKING FRENCH],
A CONCEPTION.

00:48:58.235 --> 00:49:01.605
WHAT YOU CALL DEMOCRACY
IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY,

00:49:01.672 --> 00:49:08.612
ANOTHER COUNTRY CAN CALL THAT
A DICTATORSHIP.

00:49:08.679 --> 00:49:13.583
Gates, voice-over:
PRESIDENT FROM 1957
UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1971,

00:49:13.650 --> 00:49:17.120
DUVALIER WAS POSSIBLY HAITI'S
MOST DESPODIC RULER.

00:49:18.689 --> 00:49:21.625
HE STOLE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
IN FOREIGN AID,

00:49:21.692 --> 00:49:24.628
WHILE HIS PRIVATE MILITIA,
THE TONTON MACOUTES,

00:49:24.695 --> 00:49:27.130
OVERSAW A REIGN OF TERROR.

00:49:28.532 --> 00:49:30.667
THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
BACKED HIM,

00:49:30.734 --> 00:49:34.504
JUST AS IT HAD BACKED
THE DOMINICAN DICTATOR
GENERAL TRUJILLO,

00:49:34.571 --> 00:49:40.010
OSTENSIBLY, BECAUSE HE WAS
A LOYAL ALLY AGAINST COMMUNISM.

00:49:40.077 --> 00:49:42.679
THEY CONSIDER ME
LIKE A BLACK SHEEP.

00:49:42.746 --> 00:49:45.182
[LAUGHTER]

00:49:51.254 --> 00:49:54.524
Gates: BERNARD DIEDERICH
WAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
CORRESPONDENT IN HAITI

00:49:54.591 --> 00:49:58.862
FOR MUCH OF THE DUVALIER PERIOD,
AND HE MADE HIS HOME HERE.

00:50:02.599 --> 00:50:08.238
BERNARD TOOK ME TO FORT
DIMANCHE, DUVALIER'S
INFAMOUSLY SADISTIC PRISON,

00:50:08.305 --> 00:50:12.242
FROM WHICH VIRTUALLY NO ONE
EVER MANAGED TO ESCAPE.

00:50:12.309 --> 00:50:13.910
BERNARD,
WHAT HAPPENED HERE?

00:50:13.977 --> 00:50:19.049
Bernard: WELL, IT WAS
AN OLD ARMY HEADQUARTERS.

00:50:19.116 --> 00:50:22.252
AND IT WAS THE WORST
PLACE TO BE UNDER DUVALIER.

00:50:22.319 --> 00:50:23.754
IT WAS HIS GULAG.

00:50:23.820 --> 00:50:25.088
HE JUST PUT HIS
PEOPLE IN THERE,

00:50:25.155 --> 00:50:26.757
AND THEY DIED SLOWLY.

00:50:26.823 --> 00:50:29.259
TB WAS THE FIRST
THING TO STRIKE THEM,

00:50:29.326 --> 00:50:30.927
AND THEN DYSENTERY.

00:50:30.994 --> 00:50:34.264
AND THEY GRADUALLY
GOT WORSE AND WORSE
AND DIED.

00:50:34.331 --> 00:50:38.969
AND SOME BASICALLY
ROTTED TO DEATH HERE.

00:50:39.035 --> 00:50:42.906
WHAT WAS THE WORST THING
ABOUT DUVALIER'S
REIGN OF TERROR?

00:50:42.973 --> 00:50:47.911
WELL, HE ALLOWED THE
COUNTRY'S ENTIRE TALENT
TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY,

00:50:47.978 --> 00:50:51.248
AND THE COUNTRY HAS NEVER
REALLY SURVIVED THIS,

00:50:51.314 --> 00:50:54.384
BECAUSE YOU--YOU LOST
ALL THE BEST TEACHERS,

00:50:54.451 --> 00:50:56.586
ALL THE BEST WRITERS.

00:50:56.653 --> 00:51:00.957
HE HAD BROKEN THE SCHOOLS
AND HE HAD KICKED THEM OUT.

00:51:01.024 --> 00:51:03.026
[CHILDREN SHOUTING]

00:51:17.641 --> 00:51:19.576
Gates: TODAY IT'S HARD
TO FIND MUCH HOPE

00:51:19.643 --> 00:51:22.078
IN THE TENT CITIES
OF PORT-AU-PRINCE.

00:51:22.145 --> 00:51:23.413
HAITIANS ARE STILL WAITING

00:51:23.480 --> 00:51:26.883
FOR MOST OF
THE $10 BILLION PLEDGED IN AID.

00:51:26.950 --> 00:51:28.585
BUT IN ONE SMALL WAY,

00:51:28.652 --> 00:51:31.421
THE EARTHQUAKE HAS OFFERED
A FRESH BEGINNING.

00:51:31.488 --> 00:51:33.256
AFTER THE DISASTER STRUCK,

00:51:33.323 --> 00:51:36.193
IT WAS THE DOMINICANS WHO
WERE THE FIRST ON THE SCENE,

00:51:36.259 --> 00:51:38.361
PROVIDING AID AND SUPPORT.

00:51:43.266 --> 00:51:46.570
THE HAITIANS HAVE FACED
GREATER ODDS IN THEIR HISTORY.

00:51:46.636 --> 00:51:48.572
THE SAME RESILIENCE
AND COURAGE

00:51:48.638 --> 00:51:50.907
WITH WHICH THEY DEFEATED
THE FRENCH EMPIRE

00:51:50.974 --> 00:51:53.076
CAN BE SUMMONED TO REBUILD
THEIR SOCIETY

00:51:53.143 --> 00:51:56.413
AND CONSTRUCT
MORE PROSPEROUS LIVES.

00:51:59.649 --> 00:52:03.019
AND PERHAPS NOW,
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS,

00:52:03.086 --> 00:52:06.022
THE WORLD WILL WELCOME
THIS GREAT BLACK REPUBLIC

00:52:06.089 --> 00:52:09.693
AS A FULL AND EQUAL PARTNER
IN THE COMMUNITY OF NATIONS.

00:52:09.759 --> 00:52:13.029
IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?

00:52:16.500 --> 00:52:19.302
Announcer: HERE'S MORE FROM
"BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA."

00:52:19.369 --> 00:52:22.138
Gates: ...IF YOU WERE
SEARCHING TO CAPTURE

00:52:22.205 --> 00:52:26.142
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE CULTURES ON HISPANIOLA?

00:52:26.209 --> 00:52:27.644
WELL, DEMOGRAPHICALLY
SPEAKING,

00:52:27.711 --> 00:52:28.812
RACIALLY SPEAKING,

00:52:28.879 --> 00:52:31.448
A BLACK POPULATION AND
A MULATTO POPULATION.

00:52:31.515 --> 00:52:33.149
CULTURALLY SPEAKING,

00:52:33.216 --> 00:52:35.151
A SPANISH-SPEAKING
POPULATION,

00:52:35.218 --> 00:52:38.255
A CREOLE-SPEAKING
POPULATION.

00:52:38.321 --> 00:52:39.589
IDEOLOGICALLY SPEAKING,

00:52:39.656 --> 00:52:41.925
A CATHOLIC POPULATION
ON THIS SIDE,

00:52:41.992 --> 00:52:45.028
AND A VOODOO-PRACTICING
POPULATION ON
THE OTHER SIDE.

00:53:03.079 --> 00:53:05.916
To find out more about
how the people

00:53:05.982 --> 00:53:08.184
of Latin America embrace
their African history,

00:53:08.251 --> 00:53:10.887
visit PBS.org.