Citadel Kaepernick and the Neg Marron | Page 17

A Call to Action

Facing the Haitian National Palace is the erection of the Neg Marron statue to symbolize the Haitian Revolution. The statue was built in 1967 and commemorates the abolishment of slavery in Haiti in 1804, the second nation in the Americas after the US to take their independence, and it stands (intact until today despite the devastating earthquake of 2011) as a reminder of the call to action of the slaves to rebel against the French brutal slavery in Haiti.

The bronze statue is a depiction of a half-naked fugitive on one knee, almost very similar to Colin Kaepernick kneeling protest stand, but with the torso arched back, opposite leg stretched back and a broken chain at its left ankle, while holding a conch shell at his mouth with his left hand with his head tilted upward, while the other hand holds a machete on the ground to his right ankle. According to history, the runaway slaves in Haiti used the conch shell to make a unique sound that only the other runaway slaves would recognize the purpose, which was a call for them to gather to plot on the revolution against the French slave owners.

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