'Jim Crow Goes to Haiti ’: Filmmaker unpacks 19 years of U.S. occupation of Haiti in new documentary
By Wilkine Brutus
April 7, 2026 at 7:00 AM EDT
A bold new documentary examines the nearly two decades of U.S. occupation of Haiti, an era often described as a forgotten and brutal chapter in American and Haitian history.
Haitian-American filmmaker Alain Martin, who grew up in Jacmel, Haiti, told WLRN his film — The Forgotten Occupation: Jim Crow Goes to Haiti — not only exposes the downsides of U.S. intervention in Haiti but also questions the “love affair” certain Haitian members had over perceived U.S. stability over the Caribbean country's political and economic instability.
The film, which opened Monday at O Cinema South Beach, unfolds as a direct, unfiltered letter to Martin's grandfather, confronting his right-wing politics, class privilege, and silence about the U.S. occupation, which began July 1915 and ended in August 1934 following public strikes, uprisings and resistance.
That silence is too often experienced throughout the Haitian diaspora, said Haitian-American author Roxane Gay, who is the executive producer of the film.
“I was really struck by how much history we don't know as first-generation Americans now,” Gay told WLRN. “I was raised by very proud Haitian parents who always reminded us that we were Haitian and did tell us some of Haiti's history. But for whatever reason, this occupation really was forgotten in many ways in that it wasn't part of our cultural vernacular.”
READ MORE: Miami director’s film shows Catholic and Jewish faiths healing a teen’s grief
Historians estimate that as many as 15,000 Haitians were killed in uprisings against U.S. forces during almost two decades of occupation.
The occupation, like the Jim Crow era in the United States, was shaped by anti-Black racism and ideas of white supremacy. U.S. officials and Marines reportedly brought segregation practices, racial hierarchy, and discriminatory treatment during their intervention into Haitian affairs.
The intervention was driven by geopolitical, financial, and racial motives, including claims that Haitians were unfit to govern themselves.
But some people, especially those in the upper class who benefited from the U.S. occupation and had closer ties to power, were divided.
Martin said his grandfather grew of age during the U.S. occupation and Haiti’s dictatorships, where he witnessed what he deemed as benefits, such as infrastructure improvements.
“I liken it to an abusive relationship. The person abusing you has given you some benefits but, by and large, it's been an abusive relationship, and perhaps you're afraid if you criticize it, you might lose those benefits,” he told WLRN.
"You gotta remember the occupation was a dictatorship. And dictatorships, when they are run efficiently, give you a semblance of order.”
U.S. Marines occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. (1920x1080, AR: 1.7777777777777777)
During the occupation, the U.S. seized control of Haiti’s finances and customs through a coerced treaty, imposed forced labor, and violently suppressed uprisings. And it centralized economic power in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which exacerbated urban-rural inequality.
Gay argues that the film’s Jim Crow framework reveals how racism and class shaped both U.S. domestic life and its policy in Haiti.
“One of America's greatest exports is racism and bigotry,” Gay added. “And we have seen that in all kinds of global systems that are designed to oppress, and it's really important for people to recognize that we have our hands in a lot of the problems that we see around the world.”
Famed Haitian author Edwidge Danticat documented the long legacy of the occupation in Haiti in a 2015 New Yorker article, which included accounts of Haitian resistance and the rebel leader Charlemagne Péralte. In the film, she also appears and explains that her grandfather, Osnak Danticat, was a Caco fighter who resisted the occupation and faced brutal U.S. repression.
The 1915 U.S. occupation of Haiti officially ended on August 15, 1934, amid Haitian resistance and public outcry from prominent legal scholars who argued the occupation violated international law.
Public dissent included challenges from the NAACP in the U.S. and journalists like James Weldon Johnson who help shape public perception of the U.S. occupation of Haiti.
Though American political influence persists today, Martin said the film is meant to add historical context for the internal and external forces that have kept Haiti impoverished.
“It’s very unfair how Haiti's contextualized in the media,” he said. “ So I want people to watch this film because I want us to have a broader conversation about Haiti to contextualize it in its true historical foundation.”
IF YOU GO
What: The Forgotten Occupation: Jim Crow Goes to Haiti
When: Two showings per day, beginning Monday, April 6 through Thursday, April 9
Where: O Cinema South Beach 1130 Washington Ave, Miami Beach.
For more information, click here
Haitian-American filmmaker Alain Martin, who grew up in Jacmel, Haiti, told WLRN his film — The Forgotten Occupation: Jim Crow Goes to Haiti — not only exposes the downsides of U.S. intervention in Haiti but also questions the “love affair” certain Haitian members had over perceived U.S. stability over the Caribbean country's political and economic instability.
The film, which opened Monday at O Cinema South Beach, unfolds as a direct, unfiltered letter to Martin's grandfather, confronting his right-wing politics, class privilege, and silence about the U.S. occupation, which began July 1915 and ended in August 1934 following public strikes, uprisings and resistance.
That silence is too often experienced throughout the Haitian diaspora, said Haitian-American author Roxane Gay, who is the executive producer of the film.
“I was really struck by how much history we don't know as first-generation Americans now,” Gay told WLRN. “I was raised by very proud Haitian parents who always reminded us that we were Haitian and did tell us some of Haiti's history. But for whatever reason, this occupation really was forgotten in many ways in that it wasn't part of our cultural vernacular.”
READ MORE: Miami director’s film shows Catholic and Jewish faiths healing a teen’s grief
Historians estimate that as many as 15,000 Haitians were killed in uprisings against U.S. forces during almost two decades of occupation.
The occupation, like the Jim Crow era in the United States, was shaped by anti-Black racism and ideas of white supremacy. U.S. officials and Marines reportedly brought segregation practices, racial hierarchy, and discriminatory treatment during their intervention into Haitian affairs.
The intervention was driven by geopolitical, financial, and racial motives, including claims that Haitians were unfit to govern themselves.
But some people, especially those in the upper class who benefited from the U.S. occupation and had closer ties to power, were divided.
Martin said his grandfather grew of age during the U.S. occupation and Haiti’s dictatorships, where he witnessed what he deemed as benefits, such as infrastructure improvements.
“I liken it to an abusive relationship. The person abusing you has given you some benefits but, by and large, it's been an abusive relationship, and perhaps you're afraid if you criticize it, you might lose those benefits,” he told WLRN.
"You gotta remember the occupation was a dictatorship. And dictatorships, when they are run efficiently, give you a semblance of order.”
U.S. Marines occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. (1920x1080, AR: 1.7777777777777777)
During the occupation, the U.S. seized control of Haiti’s finances and customs through a coerced treaty, imposed forced labor, and violently suppressed uprisings. And it centralized economic power in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which exacerbated urban-rural inequality.
Gay argues that the film’s Jim Crow framework reveals how racism and class shaped both U.S. domestic life and its policy in Haiti.
“One of America's greatest exports is racism and bigotry,” Gay added. “And we have seen that in all kinds of global systems that are designed to oppress, and it's really important for people to recognize that we have our hands in a lot of the problems that we see around the world.”
Famed Haitian author Edwidge Danticat documented the long legacy of the occupation in Haiti in a 2015 New Yorker article, which included accounts of Haitian resistance and the rebel leader Charlemagne Péralte. In the film, she also appears and explains that her grandfather, Osnak Danticat, was a Caco fighter who resisted the occupation and faced brutal U.S. repression.
The 1915 U.S. occupation of Haiti officially ended on August 15, 1934, amid Haitian resistance and public outcry from prominent legal scholars who argued the occupation violated international law.
Public dissent included challenges from the NAACP in the U.S. and journalists like James Weldon Johnson who help shape public perception of the U.S. occupation of Haiti.
Though American political influence persists today, Martin said the film is meant to add historical context for the internal and external forces that have kept Haiti impoverished.
“It’s very unfair how Haiti's contextualized in the media,” he said. “ So I want people to watch this film because I want us to have a broader conversation about Haiti to contextualize it in its true historical foundation.”
IF YOU GO
What: The Forgotten Occupation: Jim Crow Goes to Haiti
When: Two showings per day, beginning Monday, April 6 through Thursday, April 9
Where: O Cinema South Beach 1130 Washington Ave, Miami Beach.
For more information, click here