About the Radio Haiti collection

The Radio Haiti collection is perhaps the most thorough documentation of late 20th century Haitian politics and history, including but not limited to the Duvalier regime and its aftermath; the nascent democratic movement amid the tumultuous military rule of the Conseil National de Gouvernement in the late 1980s; the rise, first presidency, overthrow, return, and second presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide; the aftermath of the 1991-1994 coup years during which Haiti’s democratically-elected government was in exile; and the first presidency of René Préval. Radio Haiti both covered and spoke out against impunity, calling for justice for victims of human rights violations and political oppression as well as victims of corruption and corporate malfeasance. With his background as an agronomist, Jean Dominique focused in particular on the political and land rights of dispossessed peasant farmers and the need for Haiti to strengthen and support national agricultural production. Radio Haiti advocated for freedom of the press and documented repression of the independent media, and reported on grassroots and civil society organizations, workers’ rights, and women’s rights campaigns. Radio Haiti covered international relations: the plight of undocumented Haitian refugees fleeing to the United States or the Bahamas (so-called “boat people”), Haitian cane-cutters in the Dominican Republic and repatriations of Haitian people from the Dominican Republic, US policy toward Haiti and US involvement in Haitian politics, neoliberal reform and structural adjustment policies. Radio Haiti also promoted and showcased Haitian art and culture, including painting, literature, poetry, theatre, music, history and national heritage, and other intellectual production. They highlighted Vodou as a meaningful and important part of national culture worthy of serious analysis. The station focused extensively on key moments of repression and injustice, such as the 1987 Jean Rabel massacre of peasant farmers, the 1988 massacre of parishioners at St. Jean Bosco church, and the 1994 Raboteau massacre of Aristide partisans by the military and FRAPH (Front pour l'Avancement et le Progrès Haïtien) paramilitary, and on important assassinations and disappearances, including but certainly not limited to liberation theology priests Jean-Marie Vincent and Jean Pierre-Louis, and, of course, the hired killing of Radio Haiti’s own director, Jean Léopold Dominique in April 2000.

Radio Haiti afforded as much consideration and airtime to the voices and concerns of peasant farmers from rural Haiti, members of grassroots organizations, Haitian braceros living on Dominican bateys, and residents of poor urban neighborhoods as it did to prominent politicians and intellectuals. By reporting largely in Haitian Creole, the language that all Haitian people speak and understand, Radio Haiti made media and communication truly democratic, and showed Creole could be a language of political and intellectual inquiry.

Radio Haiti’s programming consisted of on-the-ground breaking news, reportage, extensive on-air interviews and debates (such as “Face à l’Opinion”, “Pawòl la Pale” and “Forum Électoral”), news magazines (such as “Inter-Actualités Magazine” and “Inter-Face”), cultural programming (“Entre Nous”) and editorials (“Le Point”). The Rubenstein Library acquired the Radio Haiti collection as part of the Human Rights Archive in 2013.

The Radio Haiti Archive digital collection was made possible through two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.