PurposeThis activity prepares students for further inquiry into the impact of slavery, colonization and imperialism in Haiti in particular, and the Americas in general. This activity draws out students’ assumptions, attitudes and current levels of knowledge, providing a basis for teachers' planning.

ResourcesIn Other Words, handoutTimeline, handoutConcept Organizer, handout

Teaching and Learning Sequence

This is a good introduction activity to Episode One of Radyo Konesans Radio: Haiti in Context.

1. Write this proverb on the board:

Bay kou bliye, pote màk sonje The one who hits forgets; the one who bears the scar remembers.

2. Have students share their own interpretation of this proverb.

3. Take some time to brainstorm as a class what we know about slavery and colonization in the Americas. Below are some prompting questions:

What comes to mind when you hear the word slavery? What countries in the Americas practised slavery? Why was slavery abolished? When was slavery abolished? Did all countries abolish it at the same time? Names some countries that were colonized by Spain, Portugal, France. What happened during colonization?

4. Share the In Other Words handout with the students and have them circle one statement that really stands out to them: they might agree or disagree with it strongly, or they might be able to relate it to a historical or present day situation. Ask them to also circle one quote they didn’t fully understand.

5. Share responses as a class and discuss. This exercise will help teachers gauge the students’ current knowledge, attitudes and assumptions about the topic.

6. Students will, individually, or as a class, explore Episode One of Radyo Konesans Radio, taking a journey from Columbus to contemporary times to hear how Haitians took their independence. As they listen, students should use both the Concepts Organizer and Timeline handouts to jot down new words and manage dates and events in Haitian history.

AssessmentNo formal assessment is necessary for this lesson. The activity gives students an opportunity to think and express candid opinions. The anecdotal information gleaned from this introductory session may prove useful when planning subsequent lessons. Students’ responses and opinions expressed may reveal a great deal about attitudes, ability and willingness to express ideas.

AccommodationsEnsure that struggling readers are paired with a more proficient reader for this exercise.

PurposeThis activity invites students to reflect on the social consequences of slavery and colonization to better understand how different historical experiences shape present-day societies. Students will explore the barriers to participation faced by various social groups, and identify strategies to overcome these barriers from historical and present-day examples.

ResourcesConcept Organizer, handout

Teaching and Learning Sequence

This lesson fits well as the first activity after students have listened to Episode One of Radyo Konesans Radio. This episode illustrates how different social groups confront different barriers to participation and representation in the political process, and illustrates strategies Haitians used to claim their freedom.

1. Begin the lesson by reviewing, as a class, the concepts raised in Episode One. Students should have recorded these in their Concept Organizers.

2. Whatever the current situation is in Haiti when you do this lesson, Père Michel’s comment is timeless and a good launching point for this lesson: “Haiti is a story. We can’t explain the current situation without looking back to history.”

3. Referring back to the documentary, ask students to explain Mawonaj (a strategy of secret communication and the act of runaway slaves setting up communities in the mountains as a means of resistance and solidarity that was instrumental in conquering slavery). Students might also be familiar with the Quilombo settlements in Brazil, or the experience of Maroon Slaves in Jamaica. How did mawonaj help end slavery?

4. How did slaves in Haiti overcome exclusion? What strategies have been used by other social groups to resist exclusion (Aboriginals in Canada, blacks in South Africa, Gandhi and independence in India, civil rights movement, etc.)? Discuss the examples raised and have students recreate the following chart to record their notes for each example.

Social Group Key Players Form of Exclusion

Strategies for inclusion

African-Americans Rosa Parks Segregation Refusing to sit in the whites-only part of the bus

Extensions

a. Imagine you will have the chance to meet a Haitian elder who lived as a slave. What would you like to know about that time, about his/her memories and experiences? Have students work in pairs to formulate a set of twenty questions. Invite a historian, storyteller or elder from the African Diaspora to hear your questions. He/she can evoke an understanding of the era that may answer some of these questions.

b. Have students role-play three young Haitians living as slaves before the revolution. One is passionate about independence, one fears the consequences of rocking the boat, and one hopes for change but sits somewhere in the middle.

c. “You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him,” said Booker T. Washington who was born a slave in the US in 1856, and went on to establish dozens of small community schools and institutions of higher education for the betterment of black people throughout the south. Write a journal entry response to his quote.

AccommodationsFor exercises a. and c., some students might benefit from working in pairs. Some students might benefit from the modelling of exercise b.

AssessmentDepending on the activity, use the Role-Play, Discussion, and /or Inquiry rubric.

PurposeIn this activity, students will investigate the role of individuals and groups in direct action. They will reflect on what constitutes legitimate exercises of power.

ResourcesExcerpts from Letter from a Birmingham Jail, handout

Teaching and Learning Sequence

Civic conflict exists in every society because of the struggle between differing views over how needs should be met. It is a natural result of people living together in groups. The expression of conflict can range from lively discussion to violent action. Civic conflict causes both positive and negative changes to occur.

The documentary introduces us to Boukman, a slave who escaped his captors. He rallied together leaders among the slaves in the plantations in the north of Haiti and motivated the slaves to revolt. He is considered the father of the revolution. As a result of his actions, Haiti became the first and only nation to have had a successful slave revolt and became the world’s first independent black republic in 1804.

1. Begin by recalling who Boukman was and what he did. Ask students how a leader like Boukman might be viewed today.

2. The Haitian revolution raised different moral dilemmas. In a society where all the forces of law and order are directed against a certain group, such as in the case of slavery in Haiti, how do the oppressed resist? Is violent resistance ever justifiable?

3. Take a moment to brainstorm a list of the many different forms of direct action ( i.e., lobby a group, organize a protest, engage in civil disobedience, write a letter, join a non-government organization (NGO), engage in armed conflict, suicide bombing, etc.).

4. Invite students to individually rank the methods listed from most effective to least effective with a written critique of each method.

5. Ask: Which method do you think is most effective in promoting democratic change? Explain

possible reasons for your selection (e.g., why would you use one but not another?). Explain possible reasons why others might choose different types of actions.

6. Hand out the Excerpts Letter from a Birmingham Jail. In this letter Martin Luther King explains the importance of non-violent direct action to oppose laws that oppress

blacks in America. Reflecting on this article, write a journal response expressing your views on the individual’s responsibility to resist violations of human rights.

Extensionsa. Select one of these quotes and respond to it as if you were writing a letter to the person

who said it.

“The best defence of peace is not power, but the removal of the causes of war.” Lester B. Pearson, Canadian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

“Resistance does not start with big words but with small deeds.”Remco Campert, popular Dutch writer

"Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral."Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator who believed in the liberating potential of education

b. Research one of the leaders of Haitian independence: Boukman, Toussaint L’Ouverture, or Jean-Jacques Dessalines. Write a short report describing how these were individuals were important in the development of democracy.

AssessmentDepending on the activity, use the Position Piece, Report and/or Discussion rubric.

Accommodations For the written reports, some students might benefit from recording their report on audio tape.

PurposeThis activity introduces students to the complexity of balancing a society’s needs and wants, considering how power, inequity and scarcity influence resource distribution.

ResourcesCommunity Cards, handout—one set for each group

Teaching and Learning SequenceAlious says in the documentary:“We’re not yet completely independent. To be completely independent we have to be able to go to school, we have to have housing, we must be able to eat three times a day.”

1. Ask students to explain the difference between a need and a want, and to give examples. In groups of eight to ten, ask students to examine their set of Community Cards, and to consider the requirements for a successful community.

2. Set up the scenario. Explain that times are good. The economy is healthy and the community is doing well. Students should determine from their cards which items are needs, which are wants, and to collectively prioritise them.

3. Have students report back on their top three priorities and why they chose them. Students should see that a community has basic needs as well as wants. Discuss why some groups in society are denied what we consider to be basic needs. Ask: “Have the needs of Canadians expanded beyond the traditional food, shelter and clothing? Have wants become needs?”

4. Next, explain that times have changed, the economy is in trouble and the community is anxious and concerned about how scarce resources will go around. The potential for conflict is high. Have the students turn their cards face-down. A representative from each group will go to another group and randomly separate out half the cards into a pile. Your community no longer has access to these items. Groups should re-evaluate their situations by looking at what needs/wants have been denied.

5. Have students discuss: How will these changes affect the community in the short term? In the long term? Would everyone be affected by this change, or just certain groups? How would these changes affect various groups differently (kids, workers, the

elderly, the rich, new Canadians, etc.) in the community?

Extensionsa. In Economics, this activity can lead into a deeper study of scarcity; in Civics to a study of the common good, and in Politics and World Issues, students can look at examples of tensions between individuals and groups with respect to their needs and wants.

b. Students can read about the Universal Declaration of Human rights – there’s an interactive plain language version available at: www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/humanrights/declaration/index.aspStudents can create a poster that illustrates ten of the basic human rights they consider most important.

AssessmentAs the groups work, circulate to answer questions, offer guidance and make anecdotal notes about performance of groups and individual students. Use the Discussion, Cartoon/Poster and/or Group Skills rubrics provided.

AccommodationsSome students might benefit from watching you model some of the processes described. Ensure groups are heterogeneous, so that students with varying needs and abilities have an opportunity to participate with and learn from one another.

PurposeIn this activity students look at economic interdependence during colonial times, and consider the impact of interdependence on today’s global economy.

ResourcesBlank overhead of a world map Eat This, handout

Teaching and Learning Sequence

Consider the quote: “Each time we say the history of Haiti, remember it’s the history of the world we’re speaking of.”

1. Discuss the quote in relation to the ‘transatlantic triangle’: traders left Europe for Africa's west coast. From there Africans were brought to the Americas and sold as slaves. The ships returned to Europe with goods like sugar, cotton and coffee from the slave holding colonies.

2. Have students check their shirt label and find out where it was manufactured. Using a world map transparency, draw the lines that link the countries of production to your home-town. Observe the shapes that emerge.

3. Identify ways in which countries are becoming increasingly interdependent. What are the implications of choices made in Canada for the current and future well-being of people and environments around the world? List the responses on the board.

4. Students will read the article Eat This, which looks at the impact of global trade on the rice industry in Haiti. After having reviewed new concepts, return to your brainstorm list and ask: “How could the international trading system be made more fair?”

Extensiona. Imagine you are Inodil Fils, the rice farmer quoted in Eat This. Write a diary entry that describes the trade rules he is up against as a small farmer and the impact it is having on his family and community.

b. Can we make trade fair? Select a product: rice, coffee, cotton, corn or cocoa. Research your product and the key trade issues and options that surround it (check out www.maketradefair.com for info). Create a poster communicating your findings.

AssessmentDepending on the activity use the Discussion, Inquiry, Position Piece, or Cartoon/poster rubric.

AccommodationsSome students might benefit from reading the article aloud to a partner who can help them understand troublesome vocabulary or concepts.