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Wednesday, October 14, 2020 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

From the time it was the wealthy colony of St. Domingue, through the Haitian Revolution, and across the centuries into the present, New Orleanians have had an ongoing relationship with Haiti.

From the early to mid-nineteenth century, Haiti was alternately portrayed as a place of fear and loathing on the part of those fearing a similar revolution in the U.S., or as a place of promise for people of African descent looking to it as a model of freedom.

As these initial associations and memories have faded in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, New Orleanians have cultivated a new kind of relationship to Haiti as a land of origins and inspirations. It is a land of origins for the many New Orleanians with ancestry going back to the colony of St. Domingue, and a land of inspiration for others who see Haiti reflected in New Orleans’ food, architecture, language, religious practices, and culture.

What is real, and what is imagined? I explored these questions by examining the intertwined histories of these two unique places in October’s Gallier Gathering.

Make sure to start this event a few minutes early. Space is limited due to popularity, and it will fill up!

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