My people are back in the news cycle again, and this time it’s because we “eat cats and dogs.” This dangerous rhetoric has real consequences but is not new. Haitians have been subject to lies, stereotypes, and negative propaganda for over 200 years because of their refusal to remain enslaved. The 1804 moment reverberates in the way Haitians are treated and seen: stories of a backwards and evil land filled with gangs, earthquakes, illnesses, and massive poverty cover up the long history of embargoes, reparation payments, military occupations, illegal interventions, constitutional revisions, and more.

I am a fiercely proud Haitian American, a Black woman and historian who has dedicated her life’s work to challenging these narratives that pervade our politics, media, churches, and history books. So I always take the opportunity to speak truth about Haitians, including this recent article. I do this in honor of my ancestors (like Jean Jacques Dessalines, pictured with this post) and my community, in the diaspora and on the island. And I do this so the people who do get to read my work or hear me speak know to ignore the lies.

L’union fait la force. I love you, Ayiti.