From the publisher: On February 29th, 2004 the democratically elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was forced to leave his country. The twice elected President was kidnapped, along with his Haitian-American wife, American soldiers and flown, against his will, to the isolated Central African Republic. Although the American government has denied ousting Aristide it was clear that the Haitian people’s most recent attempt at self-determination had not been crushed by Haitian paramilitaries as Washington claimed. In An Unbroken Agony, bestselling author and social justice advocate Randall Robinson explores the heroic and tragic history of Haiti. He traces the history of a people forced across the Atlantic in chains; recounting their spectacularly successful slave revolt against France and the two hundred years of reprisals that would follow. The fate of Aristide’s presidency is tied to this people’s century-long quest for self-determination and his removal from power exposes the apartheid-like forces that frustrate these aspirations even today. Robinson majestically chronicles the convulsive history of this island nation—from Columbus’s arrival to the fearlessness of the slave revolutionaries who defeated the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, wresting from France the most valuable colony of any European power anywhere in the world; from the ideals of the young republic, to the foreign backed dictators who corrupted those ideals, culminating in the American led operation removing from power Haiti’s first democratically elected president and his entire government in 2004. Robinson captures the pride and courage of the Haitian people in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. With his passionate prose, Robinson brings alive the powerful memory of the Haitian revolution in the souls of ordinary citizens and shows the boundless desire of all Haitians to chart their own destiny—free of foreign interference.
Reviews
“A passionate and controversial look at continuing U.S. involvement in Haiti; recommended for all libraries.”
— Library Journal
“Fiery...Robinson eloquently urges the white world to accord the constitutions and laws of black countries the same sanctity it accords its own.”
— Kirkus
"Passionate..."
— Publishers Weekly
"Randall Robinson is a towering freedom fighter in the world of ideas and action. This poignant history of his beloved Haiti reminds us of his indispensable voice for our turbulent times."
— Cornel West, Princeton University
"Randall Robinson's courageous and dedicated work for justice and freedom has been an inspiration. It is therefore with great pleasure and anticipation that I learned of his new book on the tortured country of Haiti, which we have done so much to torment and devastate since it became the first free country of free men in the hemisphere over 200 years ago, continuing up to the present. It is sure to be another contribution of fundamental importance."
— Noam Chomsky , Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics, MIT and author of Hegemony or Survival and Failed States
"There are few voices that consistently rise above the din of punditry to speak up for those who are powerless. Randall Robinson is one such voice. With unimpeachable dignity and steadfast determination, Robinson’s eloquent prose brings attention to the plight of Haitians over the centuries in much the same way that he once brought people together to attack the vicious system of apartheid in South Africa. Displaying bravery both in the writing of this book as well as in his own actions detailed within, Robinson gives new life to heroes from Haiti’s revolutionary past and takes to task present day villains still patrolling the corridors of power in Washington, D.C."
— Michael Eric Dyson, author of Debating Race and Come Hell or High Water
"With each new book Randall Robinson further cements his reputation as one of this world’s foremost advocates for freedom and justice. In An Unbroken Agony, Robinson charts the heroic and tragic history of Haiti and exposes the truth about those international power brokers who would take away two of our most precious resources: knowledge of our past and the ability to determine our future."
— Henry Louis Gates, Jr. , W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University