Toussaint Louverture - Cultural References

Cultural References

• English poet William Wordsworth published his sonnet "To Toussaint L'Ouverture" in January 1803.
• African American novelist Frank J. Webb references Toussaint in his novel The Garies and Their Friends about free African Americans in 1857.
• Alphonse de Lamartine, a preeminent French poet and statesman of the early 19th century, wrote a verse play about Toussaint entitled Toussaint Louverture: un poeme dramatique en cinq actes (1850).
• In 1934, Trinidadian historian C. L. R. James wrote a play entitled Toussaint Louverture, which was performed at the Westminster Theatre in London in 1936 and starred actors including Paul Robeson (in the title role), Robert Adams and Orlando Martins. The play was later revised in 1967 as The Black Jacobins, after James's classic 1938 history of that name.
• In 1938, American artist Jacob Lawrence created a series of paintings about the life of Toussaint Louverture, which he later adapted into a series of prints. His painting, titled Toussaint L’Ouverture, hangs in the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, USA.
• In 1944, the African American writer, Ralph Ellison, wrote the story, Mr. Toussan, in which two African American youths exaggerate the story of Toussaint L'Ouverture. In this story, Toussaint is seen as a symbol of Blacks asserting their identities and liberty over white dominance.
• Kenneth Roberts' best-selling novel Lydia Bailey (1947) is set during the Haitian Revolution and features L'Ouverture, Dessalines, and Cristophe as the principal historical characters. The 1952 American film based on the novel was directed by Jean Negulesco; Toussaint is portrayed by the actor Ken Renard.
• In Frank Webb's novel, The Garies and their Friends, Toussaint's portrait is a source of inspiration for the real estate tycoon Mr. Walters.
• 1971 album 'Santana (III)' features an instrumental song titled "Toussaint L'Ouverture". It has remained a staple of the band's concert repertoire since that time. Officially released live instrumental versions are included on the 1974 album ' 'Lotus' ' as well as the 1998 CD re-issue of Abraxas.
• In 1975 black feminist playwright Ntozake Shange referenced Toussaint Louverture in her Broadway play For Colored Girls Who've Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.
• In 1977 The opera Toussaint by David Blake was produced by English National Opera at the Coliseum Theatre in London, starring Neil Howlett in the title role.
• The 1979 song 'Tribute to the Martyrs' by British reggae group Steel Pulse, from the album of the same name, mentions Toussaint Louverture as one of the martyred Black heroes of modern culture, along with Steve Biko, Paul Bogle, George Jackson, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.
• 1983, Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Brooklyn-born New York painter of the 1980s, whose father was from Haiti, painted the monumental work Toussaint L'Ouverture vs Savonarolla, with a portrait of L'Ouverture.
• 1995–2004, Madison Smartt Bell published a trilogy of novels inspired by the slave uprising and Haitian Revolution, with Toussaint Louverture a key figure. All Souls' Rising (1995) was shortlisted for both the PEN/Faulkner and National Book awards. Master of the Crossroads (2000) and The Stone That the Builder Refused (2004) completed the trilogy.
• In 2003, Hakim Adi published a book about great political figures from Africa since 1787 which he included Toussaint Louverture as one of the greatly influential political leaders in those years.
• In 2004, John Agard had published 'Half-Caste and Other Poems' (Hodder Children's, 2004) which features the poem 'Checking Out Me History; a poem that references Toussaint and 'Nanny de Maroon'. This poem is now being studied for GCSE English. The poem is copyrighted 1996, implying writing around that time.
• Bell also published Freedom's Gate: A Brief Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture (2007)
• Wyclef Jean created an album in 2009 referencing Toussaint L'Ouverture's life and influence on Haiti. The album is called From the Hut, To the Projects, To the Mansion
• Derick Alexander directed The Last Days of Toussaint Louverture, starring Joseph Ademola Adeyemo as Toussaint Louverture (2009)
• Nick Lake referred to many incidents in Toussaint L'Ouverture's life in his young adult novel In Darkness (2012)