[BEST OF] The Haitian Revolution
Rev Left Radio
Breht O'Shea
4.8 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2025
⏱️ 115 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
ORIGINALLY RELEASED Jun 21, 2020
In this episode, we explore the Haitian Revolution—the only successful slave revolt in history and a landmark event in the global struggle against colonialism and white supremacy. From the brutal plantation economy of Saint-Domingue to the rise of revolutionary leaders like Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, we trace how enslaved Africans overthrew French rule and declared the world's first Black republic. We also examine how this radical uprising shook the foundations of empire, inspired abolitionist movements, and remains a crucial—yet often erased—chapter in revolutionary history.
Alexander Aviña is an associate professor of Latin American history in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. His book, "Specters of Revolution: Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican Countryside" , was awarded the Maria Elena MartĂnez Book Prize in Mexican History for 2015 by the Conference on Latin American History.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everybody and welcome back to Revolutionary Left Radio. |
| 0:09.2 | On today's episode, we have back on the show, historian Alexander Avina, to talk about |
| 0:14.6 | the Haitian Revolution. |
| 0:16.5 | Alex has been on for multiple episodes, including our Chile episode, our Zapatista episode, Mexican |
| 0:22.2 | Revolution episode. |
| 0:23.7 | And, you know, this is really his focal point in what he studies is Latin American revolutionary |
| 0:28.5 | history. |
| 0:29.2 | And so I thought he would be a perfect guest to bring on to talk about the Haitian revolution |
| 0:33.0 | at a perfect time because I think the Haitian revolution often gets overlooked in a sort of Western |
| 0:39.5 | histories. We aren't taught it as much as we're taught the American and the French Revolution |
| 0:44.1 | in school, but it is the really crucial moment for black liberation historically. And I very |
| 0:51.1 | much see the ongoing fight for black liberation in this country and around the world as a direct descendant of the Haitian revolution and the Haitian revolutionaries. |
| 1:00.3 | So I thought it was a perfect guest at a perfect time to have on to talk about this deep and rich history. |
| 1:05.6 | Again, and I want to say this in the show, there is so much to tackle here. |
| 1:10.5 | This even among revolutionary historical events, |
| 1:13.8 | this one is incredibly complicated and protracted. So we're going to give as much information as we |
| 1:19.2 | can throughout this episode, but both Alex and I wanted to encourage people who want to learn |
| 1:24.4 | even more. If you want to really learn a step by step |
| 1:27.8 | historical account of the of the revolution and all the nuances involved the podcast |
| 1:33.0 | revolutions i think their fourth season is completely dedicated to talking about the |
| 1:37.9 | Haitian revolution and um also Alex mentions a PBS documentary as well so if you if you are |
| 1:43.8 | interested in anything you learn here you can follow up with that documentary. |
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