Back in 1999, Howard University (DC) Press released “ the Black Seminole Legacy and North American Politics” written by Dr. Bruce Edward Twyman. The Cincinnati, Ohio native and veteran of the US Air National Guard called Atlanta home for several year in the mid- to- late 1980s where he benefitted educationally via studies at Clark-Atlanta University which resulted in his obtaining both a masters and doctorate degree in African-American studies and political science. His best-selling and much acclaimed work on the effect the “afro-Seminoles” as they came be known, had on American politics and especially the major southern issue of slavery and cotton. It moved one reviewer to describe them as “the most potent political force in the 1800s.” Twyman’s success with that book most likely was the encouragement which motivated him to pen his most current offing “The Last Crusade & The Empire of Haiti” (Africa World Press) some 25 years later.
“It took seven years for me to complete this book,” Twyman explained during a recent one-on-one phone interview with The Inquirer.
Twyman left out little from his 300-page work about the island nation once called San Domingue while a French colony including its oft-ignored distinction as one of the wealthiest in the world. In 1804 and thanks to the Haitian Revolution of 1791 co- led by Toussaint Louverture, Haiti abolished slavery, 64 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. Louverture’s brilliance on the battlefield and in the political arena earned him distinction as one of the “fathers of Haiti”),
Twyman said one reason for making the book as comprehensive as possible was because of the wealth of knowledge his exhaustive research revealed. “Growing up in school , you didn’t get much info about Haiti,” he said. “ I found out much of the info about Haiti had been buried for over 200 years.”
Dr. Twyman said observations and thoughts while writing the book allowed him to express facts plus straighten misconceptions about Haiti and Haitian lifestyles, to wit: Is Haiti always in debt? Are (all) Haitians poor? Are Haitians always in conflict? (Do All) Haitians practice “voodoo”?
“As a country that suffered greatly after the 2010 earthquake and cholera outbreak, Haiti is often mischaracterized as a hopeless and helpless nation,” blogs Mijaba Bainet, a Haitian non-profit youth group.” However, the country is slowly starting to improve due to the hard work of its people and the help of thoughtful organizations (like Mijaba Bainet).
The book, much like his work some 20-odd years before about Black Seminoles, attracted responses from readers anxious to learn more about the history of the 221-year-old island nation, critics and some of Twyman’s literary colleagues.” His book casts fresh eyes on the Republic as it struggles through its contemporary relapses of domestic suicide,” says political science professor and Ohio publisher Dr. Kenneth L. Spruce. “Dr. Twyman presents an historic-political treatise which offers its readers a cogent explanation of how the tactics of divide & conquer administrations of several European powers still plays out today as if a curse on the self-actualization of this once-proud Caribbean nation.” “This book is a significant piece of work,” added public historian Dr. Anthony Dixon… concerning the cultural and historic ties within the African diaspora.”
Copies of “The Last Crusade and the Empire of Haiti” are available at most bookstores, online through Amazon.com or thru the book’s publisher Africa World Press (https://africaworldpressbooks.com/).
