The President Michel Martelly, associates his voice to those of all peoples who have experienced oppression, slavery of body and mind, of all people who have experienced torture and inhuman suffering, to say no to slavery in all its forms and invites all Haitians to reflect on this date of 14 August 1791.

Bois Caïman - August 14, 1791 :

This 14 August 2014 brings the 223rd anniversary of the Bois Caïman ceremony that took place on the night of 14 to 15 August 1791. Considered as the Founding Act of the revolution and war of independence, the ceremony is the first act of the first big uprising of slaves in the French colony of Saint-Domingue.

This uprising took place the night of August 22 to 23, 1791. The Bois Caïman is the ceremony sealing the first step towards the creation of the first independent black republic in the world : Haiti.

Beyond all the symbolism that surrounds the Vodou ceremony of Bois-Caïman is above all the unifying act that allowed several hundred of slaves to become aware of their common strength and daring to defy the established order, a lesson of Unity that all Haitians must keep in mind for the good of our Nation.

If the words "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," our national motto, were also used during the French Revolution, the concepts they express are found at the origin of the revolt initiated August 14, 1791 in Santo Domingo .

The ceremony of Bois-Caïman marks the beginning of a struggle against the unacceptable, the inhuman living conditions of hundreds of thousands of slaves, a struggle for the accession to Freedom which is a fundamental human right, a struggle to regain its Human Dignity.

223 years later, every Haitian has the legacy left by those who, like Boukman, Cécile Fatiman, Jean-François, Biassou had the courage to demand their rights, to fight for their children are not slaves but the Women and Men that project into the future,

Free to move,

Free to build their destiny.

As Winston Churchill famously said: A nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it.

So we have toward ourselves, a duty to remember.

The commemoration of the ceremony of Bois-Caïman should encourage us to become aware of our identity, our uniqueness and our strength when we are united.

Haiti, one country, one people !

HL/ HaitiLibre