[Scholar Series - Ep. #8] "Rituals, Runaways, and the Haitian Revolution (1521 - 1791)." A Conversation with Prof. Crystal Eddins

Get a free pdf copy of the book here Book Description A new analysis of the origins of the Haitian Revolution, revealing the consciousness, solidarity, and resistance that helped it succeed. About the Author Crystal Eddins is Assistant Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research has been supported by the Ruth J. Simmons Postdoctoral Fellowship, the John Carter Brown Library, and the National Science Foundation. Editorial Reviews Reviews ‘A compelling, elegantly written, and brilliantly conceived study in the development of racial definitions and solidarity. Eddins bravely opens windows and doors to a subversive and proud Haiti, and its role in the global context. The reader is observing the birth of a ‘new’ classic.’ Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, author of In the Shadow of Powers: Dantes Bellegarde in Haitian Social Thought ‘This beautifully crafted and overwhelmingly researched work restores the place of the multitude of known and unknown individuals who deployed myriad cultural, ethnic and religious practices derived from their African homelands to resist the dehumanization of slavery in 18th-century Saint Domingue (Haiti) in pursuit of racial liberation and human dignity. The book’s de-colonial perspective makes a seminal contribution to current Black and African diasporic studies. It is historical scholarship at its best.’ Carolyn Fick, author of The Making of Haiti: The Saint Domingue Revolution from Below ‘Crystal Eddins tells an important and fascinating story that reveals how oppression can be overturned under the most unlikely of circumstances. Perhaps most striking is her brilliant and counterintuitive analysis of advertisements designed to capture runaway slaves - advertisements that provide clues to piece together processes leading to collective consciousness needed to drive revolution.’ Rory McVeigh, University of Notre Dame ‘Crystal Eddins’s groundbreaking study reveals the agency of marronage and self-determination as key drivers of liberation and revolution. Her stunning analysis of thousands of fugitive advertisements challenges historical sociology and social movement studies with a Black/African diaspora reading of the collective efforts ‘from below’ that negated white-dominated capitalist structures. Her creative and exacting deployment of big data demands that we reconceptualize freedom, citizenship, property, and identity on a wider scale. Bravo!’ Mimi Sheller, Drexel University