Haiti Resources

Want to learn more about Haiti, or explore some of the resources used to build this website? Check out our curated list of books, films, and websites on Haiti, prepared by Inside Disaster’s Haiti Researcher Claire-Helene Heese-Boutin.

Have any additional resource recommendations to share? Let us know in the comments below.

Contemporary Haiti

Bob Corbett’s Haiti Page
From history to politics to books and films this site has a little of everything. Bob Corbett has been painstakingly collecting articles, writing reviews and essays to provide a comprehensive well annotated site on issues concerning Haiti.

Carel Pedre
Carel Pedre is a Haitian TV and radio personality who became one of the country’s most prominent voices in the aftermath of the earthquake. You can follow his blog, Twitter feed, and Flickr stream for updates from Port-au-Prince.

Normangirvan.info
Website run by well known Caribbeanist scholar and activist. The website has content about the entire Caribbean region with one page of links to articles and other resources about Haiti.

Walking on Fire: Haitian Women’s Stories of Survival and Resistance
In an emotionally difficult read, Beverley Bell translates the stories of trauma and resilience common to many Haitian women. Bell has been working in Haiti since she was a teenager, and has become an important translator of Haitian voices to the English-speaking public.

When the Hands Are Many: Community Organization and Social Change in Rural Haiti
‘Men anpil chay pa lou’ is a Haitian proverb which translates to ‘when there are many hands the load is light. This proverb has been a critical coping strategy for many Haitians throughout their difficult history. Jennie Marcel Smith uses narrative portraits of peasant organizations engaged in agricultural work parties, business meetings, religious ceremonies, social service projects, song sessions, and other activities to illustrate this proverb in action.

Documentary Films

Aristide and the Endless Revolution
Through exclusive interviews with Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Paul Farmer, Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, Gerard Latortue, Noam Chomsky, Danny Glover, and many Haitian voices, the film explores the idea of the role of international interests in the tragic results leading up to and following the 2004 coup d’etat in Haiti.

Poto Mitan
Using the lives of five Haitian women the impacts of neo-liberal globalization on their own lives and Haitian society are told in the womens own words. Both film makers Mark Schuller and Rene Bergan are available to speak at screenings of the film.

Earthquake News Coverage

Cine Institute
Students at this film making school immediately began blogging and filming the aftermath of the January 12th earthquake. This page has free streaming films by the students and their blogs.

The Guardian Data Blog: Haiti earthquake aid pledged by country: full data
The Guardian Data Blog tracked pledged donations to Haiti two days after the quake and created data visualizations out of the country-by-country numbers.

The Guardian News Blog: Haiti
The UK-based Guardian newspaper provided day-by-day updates and news summaries in the days after the quake. We used their daily updates in the Timelines section of our website.

Feature Films

Black Dawn
A fun way to learn about the Haitian Revolution is through this animated feature.

Film Haiti
Excellent website with free streaming music videos, film trailers, short documentaries and other media from Haiti. A real gem!!

Windows on Haiti: List of films about Haiti
This is a great resource for films and videos about Haiti. Windows on Haiti has compiled a huge list of films including brief descriptions and means to access the films.

Fiction

Breath, Eyes, Memory (1998)
Haitian-born Edwidge Danticat’s first novel, about a young girl’s coming of age in Haiti and New York City, became an Oprah’s Book Club pick and instant bestseller.

Masters of the Dew (1944)
Jacques Roumain’s classic is one of the most famous Haitian novels ever written, following the story of a man who returns to his community after years away, only to find it torn apart by feud and devastated by drought.

Haiti’s History

The Black Jacobins
First written in 1938, CLR James highlights the diplomatic and military contributions of Toussaint L’Ouverture to the Haitian Revolution. Though it is no longer seen as the best text on the Haitian Revolution, CLR James creates a beautiful and inspiring story. A great read for young adults interested in the Haitian Revolution

Haiti Archives
Excellent archival materials about Haiti.

Haiti: The Breached Citadel (2004)
A descendant of two of Haiti’s most important writers and thinkers, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith outlines how Haiti’s colonial structures of society and culture still dominate in modern Haiti. “It brilliantly illuminates the rich tapestry of Haitian culture and reveals the remarkable resilience of the Haitian people, subjected to centuries of rapacity.” – Noam Chomsky.

Haiti: State Against Nation: The Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism
Haitian-born Michel-Rolph Trouillot examines the mechanisms through which the Duvaliers ruthlessly won and then held onto power for almost 30 years.

The Logic and Historical Significance of the Haitian Revolution & The Cosmological Roots of Haitian Freedom
A unique resource for those who would like a deeper understanding of the Haitian Revolution. Clinton Hutton, professor of Political Science at the University of the West Indies, reveals the African roots of the ontological and epistemological foundations of the Haitian Revolutionaries.

The Public Archive: History Beyond the Headlines
The Public Archive is an “accessible clearinghouse” of historical and archival information about Haiti, curated by the Vanderbilt University and open to everyone. Lots of great stories, images and video.

The Uses of Haiti
Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, rigorously researched this authoratative text on Haitian history and recent past. This a very useful source for understanding the contributions of international relations in Haiti’s current state of vulnerability.

Humanitarian Agencies in Haiti

Fonkonze
A micro-credit and financial institutions which provides a variety of financial products for Haitians with the greatest need. They were the first Micro-crediting organization to develop a debt forgiveness product after the 2008 hurricane in Haiti and continue to be a leader in innovative and influential strategies for poverty alleviation.

Lambi Fund
The fund channels financial and other resources to community-based organizations that promote the social and economic empowerment of the Haitian people.

National Human Rights Defense Network
The website has updates and reports about human rights in Haiti. Most content is in French with some English and Kreol.

Partners in Health: “Stand with Haiti”
Partners in Health has been working in Haiti for over twenty years. They launched the Stand With Haiti fundraising campaign after the earthquake to help Haiti “build back better”; this blog provides updates from their work on the ground.

The Reconstruction

Center for Economic and Policy Research: Relief and Reconstruction Watch
A frequently-updated, academically reliable blog tracking the latest news from Haiti’s relief and reconstruction. Text-heavy and dense, but a good place to catch up on recent developments and debates around Haiti.

Capitalizing on catastrophe : neoliberal strategies in disaster reconstruction
A compilation of essays written on challenges to disaster reconstruction within the neoliberal framework. Written in 2008 there are no articles directly related to the Haitian earthquake. However, Mark Schuller, a dedicated scholar and activist for Haiti contributes an article about reconstruction challenges in previous Haitian disasters.

Haitian Embassy in Washington
Great source of news, links, and publications including all official publications and speeches from the Haitian government. This is also a good source for general information about Haiti.

Haiti Response Coalition
Coalition of some major NGOs in Haiti including some grassroots groups. They have come together to respond to the earthquake and lobby for the inclusion of Haitian voices in the reconstruction plans.

Religion

Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti (1992)
Leslie Desmangles’ book provides an in-depth look at the history of Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti. An excellent introduction to the study of Vodou in Haiti.

Interesting Stuff

Windows on Haiti
Tons of links and a forum for discussions. Site includes a large, but poor resolution, gallery of Haitian Art.

Teaching for Change: Haiti
Site with information and resources for teaching about Haiti. Includes PDF version of the book Teaching about Haiti (excellent and accessible) as well as a comprehensive reading list for elementary to adult.

Latin American Network Information Center
Extensive list of links on Haiti. Subtopics include academic research links, Arts and Humanities, Economy, Elections and Political Parties, General Links, Government, Health and History.