|
Page 1 of 2
The life of a great and good man is always profitable to be reviewed, and especially so when that life was occupied in deeds of self-sacrifice and patriotism.
Earlier this year Danny Glover announced the formation of his new production company, Louverture Films, a name inspired by Toussaint Louverture, a former slave-turned-leader who rallied blacks in the Haitian revolution (1789-1804). Aptly, the first of the company?s six planned independently financed feature and documentary projects is the dramatic historical epic Toussaint, with Don Cheadle starring as the charismatic title character and Angela Bassett as his wife. Glover is directing the film, which begins shooting in April in Mozambique and South Africa.
Most interesting and exciting for the haitian community of this announcement.
Who is Toussaint Louverture?
The Haitians have been untiring in preserving the deeds of virtue and patriotism of their race. Their poets have sung and their historians recorded the names of those illustrious men and women whose deeds are fit example, and of whom they have a just pride. To the Haitian, Toussaint Louverture, Henry Christophe, Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Alexandre Petion are men whose deeds create a pride and patriotism just and undying. And their deeds are inscribed upon the tablets of their memory with unfading impress. The reason for this is that these men have done noble deeds for their country and exhibited the capacity of their race.
No one can lay claim to a higher place on the pinnacle of fame for noble deeds, true patriotism, statesmanship, virtue and bravery among men, than Toussaint Louverture.
In Saint Domingue during the struggle for liberty and independence, which the great powers of Spain, France and England sought to deny the Haitians, there arose a man with a heart pregnant with heroism, with a soul brimful of patriotism, and with strength of arms and skill capable of wielding a sword in defense of his race, the equal of the white warrior or statesman, and having withal wisdom enabling him to govern wisely and well.
This man was Toussaint Louverture. His birthplace, like that of all great men, has been a matter of dispute since his death. He is said by some to have been born in Africa; but those whose information is most reliable accredit his birth in the year 1745, on the plantation of Count De'Noe, in the Northern province of Saint Domingue, not far from Cap Français. Although born a slave, and denied every advantage which freedom bestows, yet Toussaint betrayed at an early age traits of character portraying a great man, possessed of a noble soul and an independent spirit. He was benevolent, always manifesting a great kindness of disposition, even towards the brute creation.
He was of a patient temper, a faculty most useful, as well to a military commander as to a statesman. So remarkable were these traits of character that the super-intendent on the plantation where Toussaint worked as a slave granted him, it is said, unusual privileges, among these the opportunity to learn to read and write, which he did, making also fair progress in arithmetic, that helped him become one of the few literate black revolutionary leaders.
Social historian James G. Leyburn has said of Toussaint Louverture that "what he did is more easily told than what he was." Although some of Toussaint's correspondence and papers remain, they reveal little of his deepest motivations in the struggle for Haitian autonomy.
Upon hearing of the slave uprising, Toussaint took pains to secure safe expatriation of his master's family. It was only then that he joined Biassou's forces, where his intelligence, skill in strategic and tactical planning (based partly on his reading of works by Julius Caesar and others), and innate leadership ability brought him quickly to prominence.
In this oppressed condition the natives looked around them for a leader, a Moses, who could deliver them from the oppression of the slave owner. They had reached the point where it was either liberty or death for them. Knowing Toussaint's unblemished character, his bravery and his intelligence, they naturally looked to him for deliverance. He had felt the sting of the lash and knew all about the horrors of slavery; nor was his heart slow to beat in response to his brethren's call. He loved them; he believed that God did not make his race to suffer except as they suffered themselves to be oppressed. Toussaint therefore determined that he and his brethren should be free, and he knew it could only be done by shedding the blood of the slave owner, and otherwise reducing his power.
 After this Toussaint began the work of liberating himself and brethren from slavery by force of arms, in which contest he was stoutly resisted by French arms. Haiti was at this time under the dominion of the French, who had wrested the island from the hands of the Spaniards and partially emancipated the slaves.
Through the bravery of Toussaint in war, and his skill as a General on the battle field, he drove from Haiti the pale-face oppressor of England, France and Spain. By his wisdom and judgment as a ruler he had placed his country upon a footing of equality with other governments, and proved the capacity of the negro in self government.
|
