Henry Rosemond: An Understudied Figure of the Haitian Left

Henry Rosemond in The Daily Worker

Although the number of Haitians in New York City was very small in comparison to other Caribbean groups during the early decades of the 20th century, the Caribbean-New York nexus for black radicalism also existed for Haitians. The arrival of Haitians coincided with the US Occupation of the island. Some of the Haitians in New York at this time were involved with nationalist, anti-Occupation movements, such as the Union Patriotique (UP). Joseph Mirault, a journalist and member of the UP, for example, worked as a Pullman porter. Others, such as Henry Rosemond, was involved in the garment worker union, the Needle Trade Industrial Union, as well as anti-imperialist, black labor leftist circles (principally, the American Negro Labor Congress).

Margaret Stevens, in her excellent Red International and Black Caribbean: Communists in New York City, Mexico and the West Indies, 1919-1939, convincingly demonstrates how important this New York City-Caribbean connection was for Haiti. Rosemond, according to Stevens, returned to Haiti at some point in 1929, after the student strike, and was known to have disseminated anti-imperialist and radical literature. She demonstrates how Rosemond's involvement with the American Negro Labor Congress and Communists in the States shaped his belief in class struggle, radical rejections of US imperialism, and interracial struggle. 

The preponderance of West Indians among black radicals in New York likely also shaped Rosemond, since Richard B. Moore, George Padmore, and others, coming out of the African Blood Brotherhood and similar organizations, would have found commonality with him as  fellow immigrants from colonized Caribbean islands. Black nationalists, black socialists, and radical labor organizers of Harlem must have left an impact on Rosemond, and he appears to have had some sort of impact on Roumain and the first Communist party in Haiti. Thus, one must not only situate Roumain and the origins of Haitian Marxism within a Latin American context, but a wider African-American and Caribbean world in which debates on race, class, and nationalism were ongoing. 

Unfortunately, references to Rosemond do not, to my knowledge, appear in any of Roumain's writings, but Rosemond referenced Roumain in articles for the African-American press (Pittsburgh Courrier, for instance). Moreover, Stevens asserts that Rosemond played a role in establishing an Anti-Imperialist League cell in Haiti, which would have certainly attracted attention from Roumain, Petit, Beaulieu and others. It's not difficult to imagine that when Beaulieu and Roumain traveled to New York in 1932, they likely profited from contacts given by Rosemond. Rosemond's experience with labor organizing, strikes, and Communist party structures would have made him an ideal source of contacts for Roumain, Beaulieu, and Charlier.

In addition to the New York connection with left-wing Caribbean activism and ideologies, a Paris nexus would also appear to exist, particularly through Le cri des negres and the African, Antillean, and European leftist organizations in France. Michel Hector's work uses these Francophone sources, which may explain why Rosemond is not referenced in his work. However, the Paris-Caribbean nexus was likely just as important in terms of building upon earlier Pan-African congresses in Europe as well as directly putting into conversation Haitians, Antilleans, and Africans, such as Tiemoko Garan Kouyaté. Haitian contributors to these France-based Pan-African left journals included Ludovic Lacombe and Jean Barau, who contributed articles on events in their homeland from perspectives of labor, religion, race, and anti-imperialism. 

In summation, Henry Rosemond's experiences, writings, and activism require those interested in tracking the development of the Haitian labor movement and Marxism to consider the significance of New York as an epicenter of black radicalism. Paris, like New York, was also important, but New York was closer while producing Haitians directly engaged in labor struggles. Indeed, Rosemond was nearly beaten to death by police during a strike in 1929, the same strike in which he believed black and white workers could come together over to advance working-class interests. Yet, Rosemond and the ANLC were not class reductionists either, suggesting a possible nuanced interpretation of the interplay of class and race in Caribbean and US settings. What is needed is a more detailed overview of Rosemond's life and work in Haiti, and the extent to which the New York and Paris links were followed by similar developments in the island.