(2007, published by Basic Civitas Books, New York)

Publisher’s description: February 29, 2004, the democratically arrested president of Haiti was forced to leave the country as marauding bands of rebels-resplendent in their American military issue and brandishing new M16 and CAR-15 machine guns-descended on the capital of Port-au-Prince. Jean-Bertrand Aristide repeatedly sought aid from President Bush but, as Colin Powell put it, the United States had “frankly, no enthusiasm: for doing anything about what was transpiring in Haiti.” Randall Robinson-one of America’s foremost African American voices-explores the singularly curious and inimitable tragic history of this island nation. An Unbroken Agony begins with the present anarchic disrepair of modern Haiti and looks back to see how this grew from such a heroic struggle for emancipation. In the late 1700s an army of Haitian slaves overwhelmed the French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte, Spain, and England to win their freedom and wrench from France the crown jewel of their colonial empire. The loss of this foothold virtually ended France’s ambition in the Americas and enabled the fledgling United States to make the Louisiana Purchase. From one revolution to another, Haiti has changed the fate of empires yet has not been able to live up to the promise of its birth.

The book is available at Teaching for Change Bookstore at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St. NW, Washington, DC (two blocks from the Cardozo/U Street Metro.

Contact: General Manager Don Allen 202.387.POET or click here for more info.