On the night of 13/14th August 1791 a meeting and voudou ceremony took place at the foot of the mountains just outside what is now Cap Haitian. The purpose of the ceremony was a call for action, a call for the revolution which would lead to Haiti becoming the first Black Republic. One of the leaders who was present was a Jamaican named Boukman whose words have come to represent the revolution and continuous struggle of the Haitian people.
“The god who created the sun which gives us light, who rouses the waves and rules the storm, though hidden in the clouds, he watches us. He sees all that the white man does. The god of the white man inspires him with crime, but our god calls upon us to do good works. Our god, who is good to us, orders us to revenge our wrongs. He will direct our arms and aid us. Throw away the symbol of the god of the whites, who has so often caused us to weep, and listen to the voice of liberty, which speaks in the hearts of us all.”
I went to the site of Bwa Kayiman on August 14th 2007 and spoke with the principle officiating Voudou priest who explained the ceremony to me. In the light of the day Bwa Kayiman is a large clearing in the bush with the mountains to one side and a covered space where the voudou ceremony takes place. As an historic site for all African descendants, Bwa Kayiman is much more – for me it is a place where the collective spirits of all our ancestors across Africa and in Ayiti came together with the lovers of liberty to form a powerful force against the wickedness of the oppressors.
