AN AFROCENTRIC RE-EXAMINATION OF THE HISTORIOGRAPHY AROUND THE AFRIKAN REVOLUTION IN AYITI

Abstract

Throughout the history of western academia, there have been scholars who have interpreted and examined various aspects of human history. Within their “objectivity,” European historians and other Eurocentric scholars make it a point to universalize their own interpretations of different people’s histories and cultures. This type of scholarship tends to ignore or omit the contributions and historical realities of Afrikan people. This case is especially true of the scholars who have interpreted the historiography around the Afrikan revolution in Ayiti (Haiti/Hayti). The purpose of this study is to provide an Afrocentric re-examination and interpretation around the historiography of the Afrikan Revolution in Ayiti. As a result, this study seeks to highlight several essential Afrikan aspects and their overall impact on the Afrikan revolutionary war's totality in Ayiti. How can Ayisyen Vodou/Vodun and the more extensive system of Afrikan spirituality help better shape the interpretation and the historiography around the Afrikan revolution in Ayiti? Secondly, how have Eurocentric historiographies about different Afrikan histories been used to minimize Afrikan agency? Specifically, how did Afrikan people's dislocation caused by the European plantation play into the minimization of Afrikan agency in Ayiti during and after the revolution? Other relevant questions posed include: what is the relevance of utilizing Afrocentric historiography to teach young black children the stories and victories of Afrikan people in Ayiti? Furthermore, how can Afrocentric historiography be used as an analytical tool to discuss the theoretical issue of agency reduction formation and cognitive hiatus in Ayiti? These are the major research questions this study will attempt to answer, with the hope that this work may potentially raise the consciousness of young Afrikan people in Ayiti and abroad.