Rituals, Runaways, and the Haitian Revolution by Crystal Nicole Eddins

In this episode, historian Ana Lucia Araujo (Howard University) hosts sociologist Crystal Nicole Eddins (University of Pittsburgh) to discuss her Rituals, Runaways, and the Haitian Revolution: Collective Action in the African Diaspora, 2021. The Haitian Revolution was perhaps the most successful slave rebellion in modern history; it created the first and only free and independent Black nation in the Americas. This book tells the story of how enslaved Africans forcibly brought to colonial Haiti through the trans-Atlantic slave trade used their cultural and religious heritages, social networks, and labor and militaristic skills to survive horrific conditions. They built webs of networks between African and 'creole' runaways, slaves, and a small number of free people of color through rituals and marronnage - key aspects to building the racial solidarity that helped make the revolution successful. Analyzing underexplored archival sources and advertisements for fugitives from slavery, Crystal Eddins finds indications of collective consciousness and solidarity, unearthing patterns of resistance. Considering the importance of the Haitian Revolution and the growing scholarly interest in exploring it, Eddins fills an important gap in the existing literature. Crystal Eddins is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Rituals, Runaways, and the Haitian Revolution: Collective Action in the African Diaspora, which published with Cambridge University Press in 2021. Other works have appeared in the Journal of World-Systems Research, the Journal of Haitian Studies, and Gender & History. My areas of research and teaching interest include the African Diaspora, Historical Sociology, Social Movements and Revolutions, Race & Ethnicity, Women & Gender, eighteenth century Caribbean, and the Digital Humanities. Her ongoing research focuses on the role of shared consciousness, cultures, and identities within collective actions of the African Diaspora. To know more about this book, visit the publisher's book page https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/rituals-runaways-and-the-haitian-revolution/2FCBF92A767FD8DE3615602F589C326E