www.dr1.com/forums/dominicans-abroad/47946-tribute-afri -
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Published on: 2/28/2006
Last Visited: 10/21/2007
Caribbean reporter, John Collins writes to praise the event as "the diaspora bounce back!"
"Regardless of the motive this is very welcome attention to a long overlooked group," he writes.
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Collins writes that those who came and their descendents were very religious Wesleyan Methodists who later became AME, when referring to all of the other communities around the DR. He has heard there were 11 or 12 settlements that have disappeared over the years.
He says that when he first met them they spoke early 19th century English with numerous religious expressions like "bless thee," etc.
Collins tells that his interviewee told him that the early members, while grateful to the Haitian occupation authorities for granting them the opportunity to make a new life in a new country, were shocked at the racist character of the Haitian military.For example, several told me that they cut off the white heads of statues in the churches!Collins comments that he couldn't help recall this when he sat in the cathedral in Port au Prince in 91 at Aristide's inauguration and saw that all of the statues including the baby Jesus were black!He mentions that it's a forgotten chapter in DR history & is largely overlooked.He hopes to return to Samana later this year & make a concerted effort to salvage some of this valuable information.
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Probably John Collins will do some more interviewing.
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Probably John Collins will do some more interviewing.