In Class Background Work For Krik? Krak!

• Author of “Krik? Krak!” is Edwidge Danticat. She is a Haitian–American novelist and short story writer. She was born on January 19, 1969, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• The Haitian revolution developed in form of a refugee crisis.
• “U.S. political leaders, many of them slaveowners, reacted to the emergence of Haiti as a state borne out of a slave revolt with ambivalence, at times providing aid to put down the revolt, and, later in the revolution, providing support to Toussaint L’Ouverture’s forces. Due to these shifts in policy and domestic concerns, the United States would not officially recognize Haitian independence until 1862.”
• France recognized Haitian independence in 1825.
• Toussaint L'Ouverture was a slave, who eventually became the leader of the Haitian slave revolt. He was crucial to the independence of Haiti. 
• In 1937,  the Dominican Massacre, otherwise known as the Parsley Massacre occurred. It took place in at border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It was a mass killing, with more the 20,000 Haitians were murdered by Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican Republic’s dictator’s order. They wanted the Haitian’s to leave the boarder and not live in the Dominican Republic, due to Trujillo wanting the citizens to be only white. People of color, even if not Haitian, were also murdered. 
• Voodoo is a religion that originates in Africa. In the Americas and the Caribbean, it is thought to be a combination of various African, Catholic and Native American traditions. It is practiced around the world. The religion does not have a holy book, and it is community-centered that supports individual experience, empowerment, and responsibility. 
• Duvalier (Papa Doc) was a Haitian president for 14 years.
• Tonton Macoute was a special operations unit within the Haitian Paramilitary. 
• Jean Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) was a president of Haiti. He was in power from 1971 until 1986. He was the son of Papa Doc and succeeded his father. He was the youngest president. He instituted budgetary and judicial reforms, replaced a few older cabinet members with younger men, released some political prisoners, and eased press censorship, professing a policy of “gradual democratization of institutions.”