On May 18th, CODEPINK is joining organizations around the world for the International Day of Action in Solidarity with Haiti. We are honored to present Vive la liberté!, an online exhibition in solidarity with the Haitian people  in the struggle for democracy and self-determination.

The solidarity with Haiti exhibition, “Vive la liberté!,” is presented with love, respect and solidarity with the Haitian people in the struggle for democracy and self-determination. The artwork and messages of support included in this series are representative of a radical departure from mainstream, ruling class ideology that tells us that the struggles in Haiti are separate from the struggles faced by the oppressed in every corner of the world wrecked by imperialism.

“Vive la liberté!” holds the contradictions of the past, present, and future with mediums as diverse as the artists and cultural workers who submitted them.  Through bold strokes, digital illustration, snapshots, and sound, “Vive la liberté!” explores Haiti as a historical project-- understanding the world as it is and the vision of a world outside of exploitation and colonialism as presented by the lessons of the Haitian revolutionary process.

“It is in revolutionary periods that the culmination of previous trends and the beginning of new ones appear.” – C. L. R. James. For over a century, Haiti’s sovereignty has been obstructed. US occupation, military dictatorship backed by external actors, coup d’états, the international guardianship of the UN– all of this imposes a political and economic direction that is fundamentally against the interests of the Haitian people and favours external interests over national sovereignty. 

The Haitian Revolution has remained embedded into the culture of the working- class struggle throughout space and time. It is said that before the beheading of Suzanne “The Tigress'' Bélair, she cried “Viv libète! A ba esclavaj!” (“Long live liberty! Down with slavery!”) through her muzzle at her French captors prior to her execution. Refusing to allow her oppressor to have the last word, the legacy of Lieutenant Bélair, a freedom fighter in the army of Toussaint Louverture, set a courageous precedent of the spirit of revolution that continues to strike fear in oppressive forces today.

The artwork in this exhibition are not meant to be owned or sold, but are instead displayed online for a broad public to use as a way to connect, to learn, and to inspire the development of working-class internationalism in solidarity with all struggles as opposed to systemic racism, poverty, extreme militarism and environmental, and moral devastation.

We stand in solidarity with our neighbors in Haiti, and we demand 

• Stop the massacres! Stop using our tax dollars to fund the brutal Haitian National Police and affiliated death squads
• Stop supporting the dictatorship of Ariel Henry
• Stop blocking, attacking, and deporting Haitian refugees
• Support the Haitian people's struggle for liberation and their own transition government free from interference by the US and the Core Group 
• End the occupation! Sovereignty and self-determination for Haiti

Long live liberty and long live the Haitian Revolution!

Artist: Ciara Taylor
Title: Viv Libete
Country: USA
Organization: CODEPINK