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Initiatives taken by Jean-Robert Lafortune for inform others about the culture, history and the contribution of the Caribbean
to U.S political development.
LECTURES and Conferences:
In December 1998, presented a conference/lecture titled: Little Haiti: Risks, Challenges or Opportunities?
Issues raised: 25 years of neglect and government irresponsiveness by City of Miami officials vis-a-vis Haitians residing
in the City. A closer look and profile of public schools and poverty indicators in Little Haiti. What the 1990 Census said
about haitian immigrants living in Little Haiti.
In May 2001, at Florida Atlantic University under the hospices of the University of the West Indies, Jean-Robert Lafortune
presented a conference lecture about Caribbean Linkage in South Florida - the quest for a Caribbean identity in Florida and
the lack of. What can be done to nurture that identity among those from the Caribbean basin?
In May 2002, as guest-speaker of the Amnesty International (Broward Chapter), presented a conference on "300 years
of Forced Haitian Migration in the United States and the implementation of a Haitian Containment Policy by President George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson"
This lecture focused on evolvement of existing socio-political conflict in colonial Saint-Domingue (Haiti)
among and between plantation and slave owners, free people of color, and the African/creole slaves. The reaction of George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson vis-a-vis the Haitian Revolution. Steps taken by the United States, the State of Virginia,
Maryland and South Carolina to banish African slaves who had made a stopover in Haiti from the U.S mainland. The direct link
between the sale of Louisiana territory and the success of the Haitian Revolution. Today's Haitian refugees fall victim of
the same Haitian Containment Policy that started over 200 years ago by the Founding Fathers.
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