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1968-00-00

1968-00-00: (Radio Haïti Internationale Begins Broadcasting in Kreyòl, the First Radio Station to Use the Language of the Majority, Giving Voice to a Populat…

Haitian

1968-00-00: (Radio Haïti Internationale Begins Broadcasting in Kreyòl, the First Radio Station to Use the Language of the Majority, Giving Voice to a Population That French-Language Media Had Excluded Since Independence): In 1968, Radio Haïti Internationale initiated broadcasts in Kreyòl, becoming the first radio station to use the language spoken by ninety percent of the Haitian population. Founded by Jean Dominique, the station broke the monopoly of French-language media and gave voice to a population that had been excluded from the public sphere since independence. In a nation with low literacy rates where newspapers were written in French, radio in Kreyòl was a revolutionary act of communication. The station became a platform for human rights advocacy, political commentary, and the cultural assertion of the Kreyòl-speaking majority. Dominique would be forced into exile twice, under both Duvalier and Cédras, and was assassinated in 2000. The station he founded demonstrated that language was power, and that broadcasting in the language of the people was as threatening to the elite as any armed insurrection.