Haiti - Blog Posts

These people are just as important.

Master doc that contains different resources and support for many countries including Palestine, Congo, Haiti, Hawai’i, etc ((op is underneath the link))

Google Docs

Master Document

Master Document

Hell - Sleater-Kinney

Master doc that contains different resources and support for many countries including Palestine, Congo, Haiti, Hawai’i, etc ((op is underneath the link))

Google Docs

Master Document

Master Document

The more things change, the more they stay the exact same. Abolish the plantation that is Amerikka

I will keep on saying this: If the mass deportations of Black and Brown people was considered racist under Trump, it doesn’t magically stop being racist just because a Democrat™ is doing it now. The silence from “allies” who were screaming bloody murder about immigration abuses under Trump is as deafening as it is hypocritical.

And I will keep saying this too: Abolish ICE. ICE is beyond “reforming.” And prosecute ICE and Border Patrol agents who commit human rights abuses.

(vía https://soundcloud.com/prensarf-noticias/frontera-dominico-haitiana-de-comendador-entre-la-tranquilidad-y-la-tension?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=tumblr)

Dans le vodoun ayitien, on dit que chaque humain marche avec son kò kadav = le corps matériel, son nanm = l'âme, son tibonanj, son gwobanang, ses lwa têt, ses mystères et ses anges. Le kò kadav est, entre autres, l'expression physique et actuelle de tout les ancêtres qui nous habitent. Quand je travaille sur les objets je me sens connectée à un tissage ancestral. Les objets sont plus que de simples ustensiles ou décorations. Ce sont des productions culturelles qui expriment des perceptions philosophiques, scientifiques, esthétiques et qui surtout témoignent de vie humaine !

Martinique contemporary art, yoruba material, vévé haitian vodou.

Hey the Red Cross sucks, donate here instead:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/haitian-village-earthquake-relief-fund

gofundme.com

Haitian Village Earthquake relief Fund, organized by Violette Similien

As many of you know, a 7.2 Magnitude earthquake devastated the Southwestern … Violette Similien needs your support for Haitian Village Eart

Please stop scrolling ⚠️

There was a recent earthquake in Haiti, here are some ideas of what to donate,where to donate, and a link to a spreadsheet with more resources. I would appreciate if you could share this :)

Link to more resources here

Edit: the link isn't working for some people so I'll post the donation links below along with their socials :)

1. Haiti Emergency Relief Fund

2. What If? Foundation

@WhatIfFdtn - Twitter

3. Little Footprints, Big Steps

@LilFootBigSteps - Twitter

4. DoWork

@doWorkorg - Twitter

5. ADFHaiti

@ADFHaiti - Twitter

6. Hope For Haiti

@HopeforHaitiFL - Twitter

hopeforhaiti - Instagram

YouTube LinkedIn Facebook

7. Espwa haiti

@HaitiESPWA - Twitter

Facebook

8. Locally Haiti

Instagram Facebook LinkedIn

PLEASE talk about Congo, Haiti, and Sudan, with the same fervor you give Palestine. PLEASE care about black struggle and suffering.

As I recently got the news that my country is in shambles due to mass jailbreak and violence…here are some links to help the country of Haiti…

Help Marc Henry and his family in Haiti

Please help this woman bury her mother in Haiti

Help Haitian refugee father return to home

Help this Haitian family of 3

Help rebuilt this home destroyed by the 2021 earthquake

Help this refugee Haitian family

Help repair this home in Haiti

Help this family escape Haiti

Help this separated family

Help repair this shelter for refugees

Help provide Haitian migrants food

Please help this family bring Anthony’s body to the US

Help rescue Rose’s brother

Help this family

Help this family escape

Help feed this school of children

Donate to Hope for Haiti

In the meantime, don't forget to also help the people of Palestine

🙏🏿🙏🏿 fos é couraje pou #Haïti #prayforhaiti #huricane #matthew

Pirates and Astrology

🧭 1. Navigation as Proto-Astrology

Example: Using the North Star (Polaris) and constellations such as Ursa Major (The Big Dipper) to chart position at sea.

Details: Though strictly astronomical, pirates used the stars not just to know where they were, but when to move, and how to read the mood of the sea. To many, these movements weren’t just physics—they were omens.

If a particular constellation rose bright and sharp, it was seen as a sign of clear skies.

If the stars were dim or flickering, they might interpret this as an upcoming storm—an astrological forecast of sorts.

Many pirates would also sail under particular moon phases, believing a full moon offered better luck, visibility, and even heightened intuition.

🌒 2. Lunar Superstitions and Astrology

Example: Planning a raid according to the Moon’s phase—especially avoiding New Moons for fear of misfortune.

Details:

Waxing Moon (growing): considered a time of gain and success—raids were often launched in this phase.

Full Moon: excellent for visibility at night and thought to be blessed by Selene, the ancient Moon goddess in European lore. Pirates believed the full moon brought clarity and truth, so betrayals were often uncovered under her light.

Waning Moon (shrinking): a time of loss, retreat, or banishment. Bad time to begin new ventures.

Some pirates would carve moon symbols into their ships or keep silver coins under their bunks to honor the Moon’s power (silver being the Moon’s metal in traditional astrology).

🔥 3. Zodiacal Beliefs and Personality

Example: Some captains kept crew logs where they noted birthdays (or baptism dates) of their crew—not for celebration, but for interpreting temperament.

Details:

A crewman born under Aries might be prized for bravery but watched for recklessness.

A Pisces might be considered a good lookout due to intuition, but perhaps too soft for hand-to-hand combat.

A Leo captain was believed to have natural command—some would even be referred to by their sign, like “Leo Jack” or “Scorpio Jim.”

This personalization mimicked what we today know as sun-sign astrology. It wasn't formalized but rooted in folk understanding.

🪐 4. Planetary Days and Hours

Example: Choosing days for launching voyages based on planetary influences—Tuesdays (Mars) for attack, Fridays (Venus) for negotiation or division of spoils.

Details:

Monday (Moon): moody, not ideal for business.

Tuesday (Mars): aggression, war, great for raids.

Wednesday (Mercury): speed and trickery; ideal for escaping or deceptive maneuvers.

Friday (Venus): gifts, wealth, pleasure—some pirates used this day to share treasure or engage in carousing.

Saturday (Saturn): many avoided sailing on this day due to its association with misfortune and restriction.

This system mirrored planetary hour magic found in grimoires like Picatrix or the Key of Solomon, which pirates could have encountered through contact with Moors, Spanish monks, or Arabic manuscripts.

💀 5. Tattoos and Talismans as Astral Wards

Example: Star tattoos, crescent moons, and astrological glyphs etched on skin and tools.

Details:

Tattoos of stars weren’t always decorative—they were often meant to ward off drowning. Sailors believed the stars would "guide them home" even in death.

Some pirates wore pendants engraved with zodiac signs, or planetary sigils (like Jupiter’s glyph for luck).

Charms and talismans blessed under certain skies were worn to invoke planetary aid—a nod to astrological talismanic magic.

Certain captains were rumored to possess amulets enchanted under rare conjunctions (like Mars-Jupiter) to ensure victory or dominance.

👻 6. Jinn, Spirits, and Celestial Entities

Example: In regions influenced by Islam (like the Barbary Coast), pirates often invoked jinn or star-spirits through whispered prayers and rituals.

Details:

The Barbary Corsairs, based in North Africa, often followed Islamic astrology (ilm al-nujūm). They may have timed attacks based on astrological signs, particularly Leo or Scorpio for war.

Some pirate captains consulted astrologers in Tunis, Algiers, or Tripoli before embarking on long campaigns.

Spirit invocations were carried out during specific celestial alignments. A pirate might even bury treasure on a day when Saturn (the planet of delay and secrecy) was in the 12th house—believing it would remain hidden for centuries.

🧙‍♀️ 7. Witches, Sea-Wives, and Star-Seers

Example: Caribbean pirates often visited local seer women—called “mothers of the moon” or Obeah women—to get astrological blessings.

Details:

These women combined folk astrology, African spirituality, and European grimoires.

A captain might request a reading of the stars before battle, or a charm made while Venus was rising, to win over rival crews.

Some pirates swore by their seers more than any map—believing the stars whispered fates only women with “the second sight” could interpret.

⚓ Conclusion: Pirates and the Astrology of the Sea

Though they sailed with rum in one hand and cutlasses in the other, pirates often leaned on celestial intuition and cosmic signs to steady their course. Their superstitions were not childish—they were a system of belief, a salty astrology born from life-and-death choices made beneath the moon and stars.

The pirate, after all, lived between worlds: land and sea, life and death, chance and fate. Astrology, in all its mystical forms, gave them a language to understand that liminal space—and to dare the waves with the stars in their favor.

⚔️ 1. Barbarossa Brothers (Oruç and Hayreddin) — The Corsairs of the Maghreb

Region: Ottoman Algeria / Mediterranean

Era: Early 1500s

Astrological Influence: Operated under the Ottoman Empire, which deeply respected astrology. They were known to consult court astrologers in Algiers and Istanbul for timing sea raids and negotiations.

Example: Oruç Reis allegedly waited for favorable lunar phases before launching attacks on European ships. Ottoman naval campaigns often coordinated with astrologers, and as naval commanders under Ottoman rule, the Barbarossa brothers likely used astrological calendars.

Mystical Additions: The brothers also relied on North African marabouts (holy men) who used astrology, dream interpretation, and geomancy to advise warlords and pirates alike.

🌙 2. Sayyida al-Hurra — The Pirate Queen of Morocco

Region: Tetouan, Morocco / Western Mediterranean

Era: 16th century

Astrological Influence: As an educated noblewoman and ally of Barbarossa, she was steeped in Islamic scholarship, including ilm al-nujūm (science of the stars).

Example: Sayyida al-Hurra was said to consult Sufi mystics and court sages before engaging in battle or negotiation. It’s believed her title “al-Hurra” (the free one) was given during a favorable celestial alignment.

Cultural Context: Her court in Tetouan preserved Arabic astrological manuscripts from Andalusia. Her identity as both a leader and spiritual woman suggests she moved through astrological circles as both a patron and believer.

🌊 3. Al-Mustafa bin Jafar — Corsair of Tripoli

Region: Libya (Tripolitania)

Era: Late 17th century

Astrological Influence: A commander in the Barbary States, he allegedly used star signs and planetary hours to time ambushes against Venetian and Spanish galleons.

Example: Oral tradition in Tripoli recounts that bin Jafar would delay voyages based on the Moon’s position, and his personal flag bore a star and crescent—symbolic not just of Islam, but of lunar magic and celestial favor.

🔥 4. Henry the Slave-King (Henri Caesar) — Haitian Pirate with African Roots

Region: Caribbean (Haiti) / African diaspora

Era: Early 1800s

Astrological Influence: Though more of a mythic figure, stories say he blended West African vodun, astrology, and Caribbean obeah to summon protection and curse his enemies.

Example: Legends describe Caesar timing his attacks with eclipses and comets, claiming they were signs from his ancestors. He carried talismans blessed under Jupiter and Mars.

🐍 5. African Mystic Pirates of the Swahili Coast

Region: Zanzibar, Mombasa, Comoros

Era: 15th–18th centuries

Astrological Influence: The Swahili coast was rich with Islamic mysticism, blending Arabic astrology, African animism, and Indian Ocean trading lore.

Example: Pirate dhows in this region often featured celestial symbols etched into the wood, and some captains hired Swahili astrologer-priests who timed sea raids based on planetary hours and rising stars—particularly Sirius and Canopus, stars sacred in East African and Arab star lore.

🌌 The Common Thread

These pirates, though diverse in culture and era, were bound by a shared worldview where the heavens were not far-off mysteries, but maps of fate, just waiting to be interpreted.

Cultural Bridges:

Arabic astrology, descended from Babylonian and Hellenistic traditions, was deeply entrenched in courts, trade routes, and religious life.

African cosmologies, especially in Mali, Yoruba, and Berber traditions, viewed stars and planets as divine beings with personalities—guides or warnings.

When the sword was raised, the stars had already whispered their omen.

What happened to Haiti?

I wrote an earlier piece on Haiti, mostly on the revolution and its leading founders Toussaint L’Overture. But the missing parts, like what happened after the revolution, who became president after L’Overture’s capture, and why Haiti still looks and is, impoverished must be answered.

So, independence day for Haiti from French rule is January 1st, 1804, when General Jean-Jacques Dessalines led his forces against Napoleon’s colonial army. Upon achieving liberation, Haiti became the first independent black republic and the first leading state to abolish slavery altogether. Except, in 1825, France’s government, alongside the U.S and other Western powers placed an embargo on Haiti unless they paid the French government $36 billion dollars as reparations to end slavery and keep their independence, and ever since, Haiti has been exploited for its natural resources and has fallen victim to international trade crimes by European and American ‘world powers’, putting the country in extreme economic decline.

‘‘Haiti has had a long volatile relationship with the United States and other foreign countries. For the past century or more, reforms have been imposed largely by outsiders, leaving the country with little ownership of the development of economic and political systems. Haitians were left with a ‘prickly nationalism’ distrust of foreigners, and an economy largely dependent on foreign assistance.’’

Haiti, last weekend, has had another major earthquake, this one’s magnitude at least 7.2, which destroyed ‘more than 7,000 homes and damaged 5,000 leaving about 30,000 families homeless, not to mention the death toll was up to 1,200, and over 6000 plus injured. Hospitals, schools, offices, and churches were decimated and badly damaged.’ The tropical storm that came before battered the southwestern side of the country and the earthquake made it worse. The country sits on a fault line between two tectonic plates, the North American and the Caribbean plates, which slide past each other over time. There are two other major faults along the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and the southern one is known as the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system., which the U.S Geological Survey says caused this one and the January 2010 earthquake.’’

Because the country has been in economic decline, and with the recent political unrest (the recent assassination of their former president, Jovenel Moise) its people have been unable to bounce back from the damages of previous earthquakes and are currently living through extreme humanitarian crises. There are thousands of people who are now homeless, in desperate need of aid, food, fresh drinking water, clothes, and socks. It is our responsibility to help, as the privileged who benefit from the exploitation of Haiti, to help and give back what we can.

P.S. Do not donate to the Red Cross. Instead, find and donate to trusted organizations whom you know your money is going directly to the Haitian citizens who will hopefully get basic needs and funding. If you cannot donate, then volunteer at organizations that are sourcing those basic needs. Read and research and spread the word to help.

1) https://batischool.org

2) About Us - Sow A Seed (sowaseedonline.org)

3) Responding to the Major Earthquake in Southern Haiti - Hope for Haiti

Haitian Revolution

     NO. 1

As history points out, the French Revolution sparked things like Freedom, Equality, and Fraternity, into the hearts of oppressed peoples, and birthed the Haitian revolution, where enslaved peoples did not have to stay that way. Thoughts of freedom and a life of their own ran through the hearts of the large population of enslaved and free blacks on the island of Saint—Domingue, where they did not have to answer any longer to the white hierarchy and elite. The one leading man that helped change a revolt into a revolution that paved change to the island, was Toussaint Louverture. But who was Toussaint Louverture? How exactly did one person, who was also enslaved, become the leader of a revolution, and how did it change life?

   NO. 2

The Haitian Revolution is such a widely popular topic to discuss and converse about is because a successful slave revolt against one the leading powers at that time, France, Spain and Britain, but mostly France, has never been done before. That, and it proved black people were not the primitive, lower species that the majority had deeply believed them to be, and Toussaint Louverture proved to be one of the most brilliant army generals to-be-rulers at that time. By scanning the map of the island, he was able to gain allies in the free black militia and the mulatto population, who were tired of being treated second-class. To go back to the quote, the Code Noir (Black Code), at the time legalized the most cruel, abusive and harsh treatment of slaves; if you ran, and you were caught, you would suffer dearly, and so would any slave you came into contact with by two folds. ‘’It forbid slaves from bearing arms, the assembly of slaves, and slaves trading or selling their own goods for a profit. It stated that slaves who struck their master or any free person were to be punished by death. It explicitly defined slaves as personal property.’’ The fact that King Louis XIV of France, put the Code Noir under effect and Louverture was able to defy it, and did it with his own army himself shows that his leadership was effective; and indeed, for in the capital of Haiti, Louverture is considered a hero and liberator for his people.

In American Political Science Review on Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, who was born on a southern plantation who is biased, showing a clear defense of slavery, particularly American slavery, and bases his experience on an economic study of American slaveholders and there sharecrops. He has made use of Southern newspapers and pamphlets, and some source materials, but has not made any effort to research ‘Negro’ sources, from which he claims are ‘dubious details’ anyway. The review last five pages, and explicitly states that the ‘Negro’ as a responsible person has no place in the book, and gives Louverture the term ‘criminal’ to suit his needs, and the needs of others. Half of the book implies historical facts, the treating of Africa and the slave trade and West Indian and American conditions while the other half is a series of essays on aspects of slavery—cotton crop, plantation economy, etc., and the other half is devoted to freedom and crime among slaves and slave codes. ‘The law is the law, and it should stay that way!’

  NO. 3

  According to Toussaint Louverture: A Black Jacobin in the Age of Revolutions , The man who would in later life be known as Toussaint Louverture himself belonged to the category of ‘creole; His father was Gaou Guinon, an African prince who was captured by slavers and endured the horrors of the Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean. As an enslaved child, Toussaint would have been known as Toussaint Breda, named after the plantation on which he was born. The actual details of his birth remain’s uncertain, but from his name he is associated with All Saints Day; his personal life, meaning his early childhood, is also uncertain. As Phillipe Girard comments, ‘retracing the childhood of a slave is an arduous task, not only because of the lack of archival traces, but also because such traces that exist tend to dehumanize the enslaved and deny their individuality.’

Toussaint, after rising to power, did not wish to surrender that power to Paris and ruled Saint Domingue as an autonomous entity. In 1801 he issued a Constitution for the island, which provided for autonomy and established Toussaint as governor for life, where he abolished slavery and aspired to put in place a multiracial society composed of blacks, whites and mulattos. When Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in France, he aimed to return the Caribbean colonies to their earlier profitability as plantation colonies. In 1802 he dispatched an expedition of French soldiers to the island, lead by his brother in law Charles Leclerc, to reestablish French authority and slavery. Leclerc arrested Toussaint and deported him to France where he was imprisoned in Fort de Joux, where he died on April 7, 1803. For a few months, the island lay under Bonaparte’s control, but the French soldiers fell victim to weapons and disease, and surrendered to the indigenous army in November 1803; On July 1, 1804, under Jean-Jaques Dessalines control, Louverture’s general, the colony, the first black republic, became known as Haiti.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free 🇵🇸 🍉 Free Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Yemen, Tigray, Syria, Haiti, Hawai’i, Puerto Rico, Tibet. I've made a list for some donation and free resources for those who need them. Donation Pages and other resources you can help support (Donation Page for Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and other refugee camps) (The Palestine Children's Relief Fund) (Donations go towards Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan) (Purchasing eSims allows people within Gaza to connect to the outside to communicate with their families and also to show what’s happening within Gaza) (A donation site which provides urgently needed humanitarian aid in moments of crisis and conflict in 70 different countries.) (A donation page for Sudan Relief) (A donation page to send water, food and aid to those who are living in Yemen.) Other ways you're able to help for free, contact your local senators, boycott, inform yourself and others! Anything you are able to do is able to help. Inform yourself about Sudan, South Sudan, Palestine, Somalia, Uyghurs, Congo, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Morocco Inform yourself about Haiti, Hawai'i, Puerto Rico, Tigray, Tibet, Uighurs, West Papau: (A collection of resources for organizers and anyone who wants to learn more about Palestine.) (A free daily button you can click to help the people of Palestine and other areas of crisis.) (A comprehensive list of brands to boycott and reasons why.) (Another list of brands to boycott.) (Contact your local US senator.) (Contact your local Canadian parliament) (Contact your local UK parliament)

You can use this call script if you call your local US government.

Call Script: My name is {Your Name}. I am a constituent of {Representative's Name}. I am calling to ask that the Representative add their name to the Ceasefire Now resolution led by Representatives Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib, regarding the unfolding crisis in Gaza. It is absolutely urgent that the Representative demand a ceasefire, and that they call on Israel to allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza. The only way forward is addressing the root causes of violence: Israeli military occupation and apartheid, and ending U.S. complicity in this oppression.