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Aug 23, 2022 7 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Today in 1791, enslaved people in Haiti launched a rebellion against European colonizers — sparking global revolts that collapsed the slave trade.

Haiti became the world's first Black-led republic and the first country founded by former enslaved people.
#SlaveryRemembranceDay 🧵 Image
Haiti was the second country in the Americas to gain independence, after the U.S.

But the U.S. did not recognize Haiti for decades. Rather, it sent aid to French colonizers to suppress the rebellion by enslaved people, over fears it could spark similar revolts in the U.S. Image
The French enslaved some 770,000 African men, women and children in Haiti — double the number of enslaved people sent to North America.

Deaths were so high on plantations, the enslaved population was fully replaced about every 20 years.

It was Europe's most "profitable" colony. Image
Haiti was the first country in the world to fully abolish slavery — after its rebellion led by enslaved people.

Europe and the U.S. would not fully ban both slavery and the slave trade for decades longer:
Britain: 1833
France: 1848
United States: 1865
#SlaveryRemembranceDay Image
France forced Haiti to pay reparations to former slave owners as a condition for independence.

Haiti paid 150M francs to ex-slave owners, equivalent to $20–30 billion today.

The payments took 120+ years and forced Haiti to get loans from French banks, crippling its economy. Image
France was not the only country to ensure former slave owners got reparations.

▪️ UK used taxpayer money to pay slave owners $350B (£300B) in today's dollars.
▪️ The U.S. paid slave owners $300 for every enslaved person set free.

They paid former enslaved people no reparations. Image
Haiti was part of the global slave trade. European countries kidnapped about 12.5 million people from Africa for enslavement in the Americas.

An est. 1.8 million people were killed on those journeys (the "Middle Passage") by disease, violence, confinement and other abuses. Image

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More from @ajplus

Jan 12
The International Court of Justice has begun the hearing for South Africa’s case against Israel. In it, South Africa accuses Israel of eight different acts of genocide.

Here’s what they are 🧵 Image
1 - Killing Palestinians

Israeli forces have killed at least 23,708 Palestinians since Oct. 7. 8,000 more Palestinians are missing. Image
2 - Causing serious bodily and mental harm

Over 59,410 Palestinians have been injured. More than 1,000 children have lost limbs. Image
Read 9 tweets
Jun 25, 2023
Over 26,000 people have drowned in the Mediterranean since 2014.

That is likely an undercount. Many of their deaths are not reported.

Here are some of their names, faces and stories:
2015:

Ghalib and Alan Kurdi (aged 5 and 2), drowned off Turkey with their mother, Rehanna, after fleeing Syria.

A photo of Alan’s body on the beach sparked public outcry, but Europe has been increasingly hostile to refugees since.
2016:

Fatim Jawara was a goalkeeper for Gambia’s women’s national soccer team. She hoped to play in Europe.

She was among 230+ people who drowned off Libya in late 2016. Fatim was 19.
Read 10 tweets
Feb 21, 2023
The U.S. launched a racist eugenics program in Puerto Rico in the 1930s — sterilizing about one third of Puerto Rican women by 1976, many forced or coerced.

It was just one chapter of U.S. colonial eugenics programs and medical experiments targeting women of color. 🧵(1/8) Image
The U.S. approved forced sterilization in Puerto Rico in 1937 for what it called "overpopulation."

U.S. land theft and exploitation plunged the island into poverty. Health workers coerced people seeking contraception — mostly targeting Black and brown women — into sterilization. Image
U.S. occupiers transformed Puerto Rico's economy to focus on sugar — for U.S. interests — after invading in 1898.

70% of Puerto Ricans were made landless by 1925. By the 1930s:
▪️ 1 in 3 people unemployed
▪️ 80% of land owned by 2% of population, mostly white Image
Read 8 tweets
Feb 20, 2023
BREAKING: A 6.3 earthquake hit the Turkey-Syria border, two weeks after the devastating earthquake.

No new casualties were immediately reported but witnesses report damage. Turkey has reported over 6,000 aftershocks since the February 6 earthquake killed over 46,000 people.
The Feb. 6 earthquake made over 1 million homeless in Turkey alone:
▪️ over 20,000 buildings collapsed
▪️ over 105,000 buildings need demolition

The government has been criticized for lax regulations. An ex-minister says that as of 2018, half of all buildings broke regulation.
Over 46,000 people in Turkey and Syria were killed by the February 6 earthquake.

Many are missing, but there is no official count.
The UN says:
▪️ Up to 5 million made homeless in Syria, many are already displaced
▪️ 350,000+ pregnant women need access to shelter, medical care
Read 7 tweets
Feb 15, 2023
The UK and the U.S. forcibly displaced an entire Indigenous population from the Chagos Islands to build a military base.

Chagossians were never paid reparations or significant compensation. A new @hrw report accuses both countries of crimes against humanity. 🧵
The Chagos Islands are the UK's last African colony.

Most inhabitants were descendants of African and South Asian people enslaved or indentured to work on coconut plantations.

The UK evicted them in the 1960s to build a U.S. base in exchange for discounts on nuclear weapons.
Up to 2,000 Chagossians were forcibly displaced from their homes from 1965-1973.

The UK:
▪️ blocked supplies of food and medical care to starve the population out
▪️ blocked people returning if they traveled
▪️ intimidated residents by shooting or poisoning over 1,000 pet dogs
Read 9 tweets
Feb 13, 2023
Deaths from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria have surpassed 36,000.

Rescuers are "digging with our nails" to reach survivors — some still being found after 7 days under rubble.

But the UN warns deaths may eventually double, and survivors in northwest Syria "feel abandoned." ImageImageImage
Turkey issued 100+ arrest warrants to developers and engineers over earthquake building collapses.

The government has been blamed for slow response, with hundreds of thousands homeless — some say they have not eaten in days.

An est. 200,000 people are still under the rubble. ImageImageImage
The earthquake made over 5 million people in northwest Syria homeless, says the UN.

Millions were already displaced by airstrikes, living in tents or bombed out buildings.

Aid is still only trickling in. Rescuers report "countless" preventable deaths: "We have no hope anymore." ImageImageImage
Read 5 tweets

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