1946: (A Radical Milieu — The Political Landscape of the August 1946 Assembly, Leftist Organizers Critiquing Elite Mûlatre Presidents Since the End of the US…

1946: (A Radical Milieu — The Political Landscape of the August 1946 Assembly, Leftist Organizers Critiquing Elite Mûlatre Presidents Since the End of the US Occupation, National Insecurities Heightened by Post-Occupation Rural-to-Urban Migration Shifting Interwar and Post-World War II Global Markets and a Rise in Anticolonial Black Nationalism, the Leftist Groups Including Noiristes Communists Labor Organizers and Socialists, the LFAS Having Garnered the Support of the Parti Communiste Haïtien and the Parti Socialiste Populair but Not the Leading Noiristes, the FRH’s Mixed Membership of Noiristes and Marxists Fracturing by June When the PCH Became Disillusioned with the Noiriste Focus on Color over Class): The unnamed woman walked into the crosshairs of a volatile political moment. Following the exile of President Lescot in January 1946, the political climate was charged with urgency and frustration about political representation. Leftist organizers critiqued the leadership of elite mûlatre presidents since the end of the US occupation who did not, in either their class status or color, represent the nation’s Black majority. National insecurities were heightened by post-US occupation rural-to-urban migration, shifting interwar and post-World War II global markets that exacerbated economic disparities, and a rise in anticolonial Black nationalism. The leftist activists who came to the assembly had varying ideas about the country’s future but all were determined to overthrow any semblance of the old regime — noiristes, communists, labor organizers, and socialists. The LFAS had garnered the support of several leftist politicians who were not aligned with the leading noiristes — specifically, the vocally pro-women’s rights assemblymen were members or sympathizers of the Parti Communiste Haïtien (PCH) and the Parti Socialiste Populair (PSP), including PSP president Max Hudicourt. In the immediate aftermath of the 1946 revolution, noiristes and Marxists came together under the Front Révolutionnaire Haïtien (FRH), primarily led by noiristes with Emile Saint-Lôt as president. But by June the PCH became disillusioned with the noiriste leadership’s focus on color over class differences and temporarily aligned with the PSP — and the noiriste assault on the PSP was, as Matthew Smith states, “harsh and personal.” At the August assembly, these personal attacks were levied against the LFAS women: women’s rights debates became a stage for politicians to pronounce their concerns along color and class lines.