Watch, take notes, and submit your questions (explanation below):
The Agronomist (2004). This documentary, directed by Jonathan Demme, examines the life and assassination of Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique. Available on Amazon Prime and other platforms incl PlutoTV https://pluto.tv/en/on-demand/movies/5e4edc5a79f6842cf7a62b0a
Links to an external site. or YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6myjV_cVGMU&t=9s
Links to an external site.
Ask yourself why I thought this documentary was worth your time. Submit QUESTIONS you imagine I will ask you about this documentary in preparation for class discussion. For example: “Why did I assign this particular documentary?”
Some background: Haiti’s indigenous people were decimated by disease brought by European settlers (Christopher Columbus’s crew!) France later claimed the territory, bringing slaves from Africa to cultivate sugar and coffee. In the 1800’s, the slaves rose up to successfully defeat the French landowners and French-run government. It is the only country that can claim a successful slave revolt. The free men, however well-intentioned, created generous social policies that ironically and unfortunately destroyed the country’s natural resources over time. It has been a chronically impoverished country since. The documentary uses the life of Jean Dominque, a Haitian citizen, a soil specialist, and later a journalist, to trace the travails of the Haitian people from around 1930 forward, showing the political twists and turns of dictators like “Papa” Duvalier and his son “Baby Doc” Duvalier, foreign interests (including the United States’s interest) and at intervals, free elections.
It is slow going watching the documentary. Stick with it. Put the “captions” on so you can follow both the translations from the creole (or Krey-ol), a dialect of French and the national language of Haiti, and even follow the accented English speakers better. Watch it with an eye toward what we are studying in class.