The Lessons of Hayti Directed by Byron Hunter Documentary 54 min
“The Lessons of Hayti” examines the unique history of Black self-sufficiency and political power in the United States from it’s origins just following President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 up to the second inauguration of America’s first Black President, Barack Obama, 150 years later, and how that power has eroded since the Civil Rights era, leaving Black America in a current state of economic turmoil. As told by prominent historians, scholars, former Hayti residents, and a survivor of the Tulsa Riots of 1921, “The Lessons of Hayti” details a history of Black success in America, including the creation of over 100 independent Black communities, nearly 100 Black Colleges and Universities, and wielding massive political power in the former Confederate States, all within 50 years of the end of slavery. “The Lessons of Hayti” also examines the demise of these historic Black communities over the last 100 years due to both racial violence and political backstabbing triggered by pivotal historic events including the landmark case “Plessy vs. Ferguson” in 1898, the end of of World War 1 in 1918, and the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s.
