# The twenty-first-century echo  
In 2004, on the two-hundredth anniversary of Haitian independence, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced into exile under controversial circumstances. He went first to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then, after a brief sojourn in Jamaica, settled for seven years in South Africa. The South African Government under Thabo Mbeki invoked Haiti's place in Global Africa in supporting the decision to host Aristide despite local criticism. Mbeki had been the only African head of State present at the Haitian bicentenary celebrations where he claimed that he was working 'together with the leadership and people of Haiti' to address 'the problems facing this inspirational home of African freedom'. Aristide himself was only too willing to point out the similarities between both places. In a doctoral dissertation in linguistics, later published as a book while in exile, he emphasized that the Swahili word Haitii means 'do not obey', a suitable parallel for his country's history (Aristide, 2011). Molefi Kete Asante, African American professor in the United States, put it even more directly: 'Haiti is the African's epic against colonialism' (Asante, 2011, p. 4). As before, there were more than a few in the Caribbean and Africa who found ulterior motives behind African embrace of Haitian leaders who had fallen out of favour.  
A far less contestable solidarity forged when the massive January 2010 earthquake devastated much of Port-au-Prince. African countries drew on historical obligation to call for further support of Haiti, the first black republic in the world. Among the more dramatic displays of support for Haiti was Senghor's successor, President Abdoulaye Wade's offer of land to Haitians wishing to repatriate to Africa. His country joined more than two dozen African nations that pledged funds in excess of US $\$ 50$ million for Haiti which, in addition to concerts, drives and volunteer relief assistance, demonstrated the indelibility of Haiti's place in the global African conscience.