In 2006 Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié, painted a portrait of the formerly enslaved revolutionary Toussaint Louverture.
#Louverture led the first successful slave revolution. He outlawed slavery, instituted a fair constitution, was elected ruler for life, but stepped down, in a deal with France, to stop them from invading. Again. He was captured by napoleon and died in French prison. Haiti is so poor because they’ve paid 21 billion dollars to France, well into the 20th century, as punishment for freeing themselves.
I tell you that story, because Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean designed the suits for the #Haitian athletes to reference the famous painting. The day of opening ceremonies, the #Olympic committee said they had to take Louverture off the uniforms, or they would not be allowed to compete or walk in ceremonies. Ms Jean pulled it off, painting for hours, but this just pissed me right the hell off.
Talk about erasure, right out in the open. Shameful.
