``Old Toussaint L'Overture'' by Larry Richardson.
By Amanda Zivcic
January 23, 2010 -- Since the earthquake struck Haiti on
January 12, 2010, there has been a global outpouring of support. Many people,
horrified by the scenes of sheer devastation, the astronomical death
toll and the struggle of survivors to gain access to medicines, food
and shelter, are left wondering: why so many?
The oft-repeated tag of Haiti being “the poorest nation in the Western
hemisphere” is true but this did not just happen. It is the result of a
history of colonialism, slavery, imperialism, foreign military
intervention, foreign-imposed dictatorships and unjust debt.
The Caribbean nation’s indigenous people were all but wiped out by
1520 due to the disease and exploitation that came with the arrival of
the Spaniards in 1492. After France and Spain divided the island of
Hispaniola into Haiti and the Dominican Republic, French and Spanish
settlers arrived.