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Black Republic of Letters

"Nécessité d'un journal haïtien à Paris" / "Necessity of a Haitian Newspaper in Paris"

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"The Necessity of a Haitian Newspaper in Paris"
Translation:

Despite the diversity of Parisian newspapers that permit all causes and all interests to have defenders, most of the civilized countries that have constant relations with France have managed to make themselves represented directly in this capital of contemporary intelligence, which has inherited the ancient renown of Athens and Rome.

England, the United States, Portugal, Greece, Romania all have newspapers established in Paris. Our brothers from Brazil have theirs, already ten years old; the French colonies, among the organs of publicity dedicated to their cause, they proudly claim the Liberté Coloniale which, under wise and enlightened leadership, carries so proudly the flag of the Black race.

Alone, or nearly alone, the Republic of Haiti, which has an annual commerce with France of over 80 million, which borrowed its language, its customs and its laws from France, which maintains a relatively numerous colony in Paris, alone, the Republic of Haiti does not yet have its newspaper.

This represents such a manifest anomaly that it has already attracted the attention of many of our compatriots. There is cause to hope that an agreement will unite their efforts in a common cause. When a noble and fertile idea alights simultaneously on a large number of minds, it is an infallible sign that it has come to maturity.

For the past year, the question noire has been on the agenda; it has become all the more pressing with the recent events in Porto-Novo and Dahomey. The current colonial policy unfortunately seems to want to go against the wish expressed by Victor Hugo, at one of the last banquets of the former Anti-slavery Society, for the peaceful civilizing of the mysterious Continent. The irreconcilable enemies of our race will not miss the opportunity to stir public opinion up against us in Europe, and, in order to do so, they will make use of any slander. It is thus that unfortunate recent events in Guadeloupe and Martinique have furnished for certain newspapers in Paris the pretext for a new an unjust attack against the Black populations of these colonies.

The effect of the beautiful movement that was launched in favour of the nègres by the appeal of Mgr Lavigerie is nearly destroyed by the odious and incessant campaign that is being carried out against us by a few irreducible minds, aristocrats of the skin, who, in their brains stuffed with prejudices, still have ideas worthy of the Middle Ages and of the feudal era. There has been a sort of reaction against the ideas of philanthropy and fraternity, a reaction that was affected by the international relations of the powers of Europe. And because we all stand united, the civilized world does not take the trouble to establish the distinctions: they group all Black people together in one sentiment of reprobation.
Our Principles
The very title of the journal, La Fraternité, indicates our intentions and the principles that will guide us.

When liberty began to spread its benefits throughout the world, those who longed for the past pronounced against it a terrible anathema: they called it egotism. No doubt, the Revolution, as if to cure evil, inscribed on its flag: Liberté, Fraternité. But when we look at the facts and not the doctrine, it is incontestable that it was liberty that preoccupied the Assembly of 1789, and that fraternity was for them only an aspiration and a theory.

The rights, of which the formula is Egalité, by breaking the classes, suppressed devotion or made it a supererogatory virtue. The day will come when the doctrine of rights, pushed to its extreme consequence, will express itself in this barbarous formula: "every man for himself!"

Fraternity has thus, to this point, been a vain word. Yet, society is not made to stand on a simple principle; since liberty alone dissolves. Certainly, human law can never go as far as divine law, but it should always try to do so as much as possible. And if human society cannot impose devotion, for the want of charity "which liberty makes beautiful," neither can it avoid it altogether.

No doubt, we demand our rights in the name of absolute justice; but can we absorb ourselves in our rights when humanity is suffering all around us? Man needs humanity; having at the same time a mind and a heart, justice alone is not enough for him: he also needs love and charity. And if, as is our strong hope, the Black race, too long slandered and despised, will rise up and take the torch of civilization, it will not be in order to violate moral law, it will not be to seek to oppress the fallen or less advanced races.
Our goals
Considering the deplorable situation that our unfortunate fumblings and our errors have put us in, and giving a concrete form to our sincere aspirations toward progress, we hope to prove to the civilized world that we only ask to take the long steps that we still need to take; we wish to effectively affirm the active and profound faith that we have in the destiny of our dear Haiti, a destiny that is tied—we must not forget—to the destiny of the Black race.

To form, at the heart of the new generation, a core of young people imbued with the sacred principles of justice and integrity, of which enlightened patriotism will act as a point of reference around which Haitian society can reform itself; to safeguard and defend the dignity of our country against all; this, in short, is the goal that we are setting for ourselves.

We will force ourselves, to that end, to make Haiti better known, to modify the unfortunate opinion that is held about us, not only in Europe, but especially in America. Since it is an eminently regrettable fact that the states of Central America and Northern America have less established relations with South America than with Europe. We hate to admit it, but we in Haiti are less informed than those in Paris about events in Guatemala and the Republic of Argentina. The great and beautiful Revolution, which made Brazil into a republic without bloodshed, is only know becoming known among most of our compatriots. And we do not believe we will advance much by affirming that our friends in South America profess the same ignorance toward us.

It seems to us that the moment has come for these sister Republics to come together with ours, and also with the patriarchal land of Canada which, like us, boasts of its French connection. Knowing one another better, we will like one another better, and maybe we will be able to find in a fruitful agreement the counterweight necessary to resist certain invasive ambitions which, under the pretext of taking the young-America from the outdated influence of Europe, is moving toward melting the diverse nationalities into a single gigantic confederation.

From a more particular point of view, our work will establish a fruitful source of competition for these young Haitian writers—our indispensable collaborators—who will thus be able to produce works capable of meeting great publicity.

La Fraternité will furthermore be a school of independence, where the citizens of Haiti will learn to envision without weakness the duties and the responsibilities of the free press. It seems, in effect, that we are disinclined, in our country, to restraining the role of journalism, without worrying that we risk breaking the most powerful resource of civic courage, without thinking that a country without a free press is a country where patriotism no longer has a centre. Today, being aware of its destiny, the Haitian society recognizes that it is capable of improvements and obliges itself to advance, it cannot put up silence in principle.

We want to form free citizens, having a high idea of moral dignity, penetrated with their role in the State, and not soldier who have abdicated their will and their personality. We want to form men and not machines, hastening by all the means in our power the reign of intelligence, the domination of thought over brutal force, of moral order over immorality.

Finally, we want to take up the cause of the entire Black race. We hope that when the noble and generous efforts of Cardinal Lavigerie takes on a practical form, when the next Anti-slavery Congress takes place, Haiti, the first independent Black state, will be prepared to offer its support to this effort to improve the lot of our unfortunate fellows in Africa.
Our Hopes
Persuaded that a long future demands a long past, and that for a work to be solid and durable it requires hard and laborious preparation, we do not hold the chimeric hope of immediately restoring our country from such a profoundly troubled social order. Our entire life is dedicated to the cause that we are undertaking to defend. Certainly, it is not a given that we will see a triumph. But what does it matter? The fruit of our work will be taken up by others. And maybe one day, seeing Haiti healthier and more prosperous, seeing the Black race permanently rehabilitated, our efforts will be remembered, not for ourselves, but for the principles that we will have served.

Benito Sylvain
Paris, 23 August 1890
The 1890 Anti-Slavery Congress in Paris
In September 1890, just weeks after La Fraternité began printing, an anti-slavery Congress took place in Paris. La Fraternité covered this event extensively. Below, you can follow through this coverage.
In the very first article of the first issue, Benito Sylvain refers to the anti-slavery campaign that Cardinal Lavigerie launched not long before, but he laments that the related progress against European racism, "is nearly destroyed by the odious and incessant campaign that is being carried out against us by a few irreducible minds, aristocrats of the skin, who, in their brains stuffed with prejudices, still have ideas worthy of the Middle Ages and of the feudal era."