We, La Belle Morena, understand that History has been socially constructed to further the political and economic goals of a selected class of elites that continues to subjugate our respective nation-states of Dominican Republic and Haiti. The current status of Kiskeya is a direct result of colonial and neo-colonial processes that have erected artificial borders between people who have lived side by side for centuries. While there are occasional tensions that arise between the inhabitants of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, we maintain that these struggles are productions of the State, the International Community, and the economic elites that seek to re-colonize our peoples and protect their own economic interests.
La Belle Morena wants to provide Dominicans and Haitians on the island and abroad with an alternative understanding of the historical and current dynamics under-reported and/or invisibilized in national and international media. We also seek to inform the rest of the world about different grassroots efforts developed by Haitians and Dominicans alike struggling to put into practice their alternative visions for their respective countries.
La Belle Morena recognizes the disparities that separate Kiskeya into racialized, classed, genderized, and sexualized factions within the larger world-system that further marginalizes and exploits the supposed under-developed Haiti and developing Dominican Republic. Its visionaries understand that the social and economic capital they hold situates them within the globalized economy as allies and collaborators of cooperatives in Kiskeya engaged in self-sustainable work. That being said, La Belle Morena is committed to challenging vertical hierarchical business models and approaching this venture as a collective process.
