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Self-Determining Haiti

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About this book

Banks, military authority and national independence meet in James Weldon Johnson's account of the American occupation of Haiti. This pamphlet brings together four articles published in The Nation in 1920, based on his investigation, alongside official documents. Johnson challenges the stated reasons for intervention and traces the diplomatic pressure, control of customs revenue and constitutional changes through which he argues Haiti lost command of its own affairs.

Alongside that political argument are observations of Port-au-Prince: its cathedral, cafes, markets, residential streets and educated social circles. Johnson names Haitian writers and describes public discussion and country women walking toward town markets. These scenes support his defense of Haitian society against dismissive outside judgments.

About the author

James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where he started working in 1917.