#georges sylvain

[lasaraconor]

Georges Sylvain, envoyé extraordinaire et ministre plénipotentiaire, république d'Haïti - 1909

[haitianhistory]

Undated portrait of Haitian poet, diplomat and founder of L'Union Patriotique Georges Sylvain (1866-1925)  Original Image Credit: CIDIHCA.

Similarly to many individuals of his generation, Sylvain viewed the Occupation of Haiti as a transgression of international law and as a insult to Haiti's national sovereignty. In 1922, he founded the Union Patriotique (Patriotic Union) to oppose the Occupation and the inherent racism of most Marines towards Haitians. While Haitian and American sources disagree on the matter, many (usually American) historians concede that the Union Patriotique was modelled after the NAACP, following James Weldon Johnson - at the time secretary of the organisation - visit to Haiti in 1920. If the two did meet and discussed ways to better organize Haitian resistance to the Occupation and to make the abuses of American Marines known to a wider public outside Haiti, it is still unsure as to whether the Union was truly a response to Johnson's recommendations or if an indigenous movement to that effect was not, in fact, in place before his arrival. (Sources: X X X X)

[haitianhistory]

Haitian poet and diplomat Georges Sylvain writing and posing for a picture, 1909. (Image Credit)