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Charles Deslondes was a Haitian slave who led the 1811 German Coast Uprising on January 8 along the Mississippi River. He compiled a group between 200-500 slaves and Maroons and marched from the sugar plantations on the German Coast (Mississippi River) to the City of New Orleans.

The slave, mostly armed with cane knives, burned five plantations, sugar cane mills and crops. Members of the uprising were caught and killed by firing squad or hanging. Their heads were cut off and placed on poles along the river in order to frighten and intimidate the other slaves, this display of heads placed on spikes stretched over 60 miles.

Charles Deslondes was born as a slave in Saint-Domingue, present-day Haiti; he was the son of an enslaved woman and a French planter. Deslondes was one of the slaves who led the 1811 German Coast uprising, a revolt of black slaves in parts of the Territory of Orleans on January 8-10, 1811. It was the largest slave uprising in U.S history that killed only two white men. The rebellion began on a cold, rainy night on January 8, 1811, on or near the plantation of Colonel Manuel André, 36 miles northwest of New Orleans near present-day Norco. The insurgent slaves of Andre, between 64 and 125 from sugar plantation, surrounded his house on the night of January 8; they broke in, assaulted and wounded Colonel André, murdered his son Gilbert (a member of plant militia), and then fled downriver in the direction of New Orleans. The rebels, led by Deslondes, proceeded south, torching and looting adjacent plantations and adding about five hundred recruits to their ranks. They rallied to fight and die for freedom.

Andre, however, managed to escape across the Mississippi and began to round up a posse of nearby planters.
The 1811 German Coast uprising began on the land known as early Louisiana's German Coast (named for immigrants in the 1720s, located above New Orleans on the Mississippi River) where the Germans became independent land-owners. Maroons were the African slaves who escaped from slavery in the Americas and mixed with the indigenous peoples of the Americas and formed independent settlements.

During the uprising, the slaves armed with cane knives burned five plantations, sugarcane mills, and crops. The revolt was well planned-- a fundamental challenge to the system of plantation slavery. The rebels were dressed in military uniforms and chanting "On to New Orleans, they rallied with an attempt to conquer the city, kill all its white inhabitants, and establish a black republic on the shores of the Mississippi. Very soon they met the twin forces of the American military and a hastily assembled planter militia. The slaves' ammunition did not last long, and the battle was brief. Soon the slave defense was broken and plant militia began their slaughter. Immediately about 40 to 45 slaves were killed, 14 slaves were executed and over the following weeks, an additional 44 slaves were killed.

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During the government of Fabre Nicolas Geffrard, he encouraged the immigration of African-American, specially Catholic farmers from Louisiana who had familiarity with Vodou.

Between 1859 and 1860, an estimated 500 black Louisianans immigrated to Haiti. Geffrard appointed James Redpath to attract immigrants to the island

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Here is a picture of Dr. C. Reynold Verret, Haitian-American and President of Xavier University of Louisiana

On May 14, 2015, the Board of Trustees of Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) unanimously elected C. Reynold Verret as the university's next president as a replacement for its longtime president Norman Francis, who held the post for long 47 years and helped establish Xavier as a premier historically black university. As the new president, Verret has taken charge of his new office since July 1, 2015. Dr. C. Reynold Verret is a native of Haiti, holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He arrived in New York in 1963 as a refugee, served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Hughes Institute for Immunology at Yale University and the Center for Cancer Research at MIT. He has earlier experience with Historically Black College and Universities. He was the Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Savannah State, Georgia's first historically Black college, since 2012. He has an outstanding STEM (an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education) background.

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Here is a painting of Haitian Artist Ulrick Jean-Pierre as he painted Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans.

A freed Haitian slave, Henriette Delille's work has been honored with a painting hanging in the Sisters of the Holy Family Motherhouse in New Orleans, she founded.

Delille dedicated herself to ministering to the sick and poor, providing an education to them, especially blacks.

Haitian artist Ulrick Jean-Pierre succeeded, according to Sister Jupiter, to define ". . . her spirit, her ministry, and the culture of the city she ministered to"

The Catholic Church is considering Delille for canonization, the first African-American honored.

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Here is Shoubou making it happen in a Rara band

It is estimated that Rara music was developed during the colonization period in Haiti Saint Domingue. It was likely a form of celebrating Christian Easter with their Voodoo religion that they brought from Africa

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Here is a picture of the Haitian musician Shoubou of Tabou combo in a rara band in New Orleans.

Haitian Rara is a form of music that is play in Haiti and in the Diaspora where you find a large Haitian community. Rara music centers around a set of musical instrument that are typical to Haiti. During a rara possession, you will likely see cylindrical bambou, trumpets, drums, maracas, and some percussion instruments.

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In this picture, the singer Shoubou of Tabou combo dancinf in a beat of Rara band at Haitian Pavillion in New Orleans

The Haitian community was invited at the Jazz festival in New Orleans in 2011 to display their culture. This was very successful as many people realized at the time how important the links between New Orleans and Haiti. Bothe were French colonies. They also have similar taste in food and music

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