Newswise — Lyns-Virginie Belony has been teaching an introductory course on Caribbean history at Université de Montréal since January and will begin teaching another on the history of Haiti in the fall. She plans to challenge the stereotypes that have long distorted perceptions of the island and to offer her students a more nuanced understanding of its history.
Academic background in Haiti and Black solidarity
Born to Haitian parents and raised in Quebec, Belony grew up in an environment where social representations of Haiti were often simplistic and decontextualized. This motivated her to learn more about her parents’ homeland. She began her exploration in her teens and went on to study history, specializing in Haiti.
In her master’s thesis—L’occupation américaine d’Haïti et la réponse de la National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)—she examined the NAACP’s response to the U.S. occupation of Haiti starting in 1915 and discussed how the NAACP not only denounced the occupation but also criticized the U.S. government’s inaction on domestic issues affecting Black Americans, such as lynching.
Her interest in Black solidarity, particularly during the interwar period, remains a central theme in her work. Black internationalism and Pan-Africanism are key focuses in her research and her approach to historical events.
PhD thesis on memories of Duvalierism in Montreal
To understand the impact of Haitian history on the Haitian diaspora, Belony did doctoral research on how the Duvalier dynasty is remembered in Montreal’s Haitian community. Her doctoral project focused on the period of the Duvalier dictatorships (1957-1986) and specifically how Haitians living in Quebec perceive this dark chapter in their country’s history.
Belony found wide divergences in the memories of Haitians in Montreal. “There is no single collective memory but a series of conflicting memories,” she explained. Some condemn the abuses and violence of the Duvalier regimes, while others, especially those who lived under the dictatorships, recall a time when, despite the hardships, “people had food, children went to school, neighbours respected each other.” Her analysis delves into these disparate, sometimes contradictory, recollections.
Avoiding a binary opposition between critics and apologists for Duvalierism, Belony allows for shadings and suggests a third category, the “undecideds” who condemn the Duvalier dictatorships but see positive aspects of the period.
Her work on the collective memory of Haitians in Montreal continues to inform her thinking as she explores the impact of memory on current perceptions of the situation in Haiti. In her research, she interrogates how history is reconstructed over time and shaped by personal experience.
A transnational approach to Afro-descendant histories
Belony also investigates the transnational dynamics of the history of Afrodescendant populations, with a particular emphasis on the central role of the Caribbean in the Pan-Africanist movement from the late 19th century onwards.
“At a time when a vast ideological apparatus in Europe was dedicated to justifying the inferiority of non-white people, a strong Pan-Africanist movement emerged, driven by major intellectual figures from Caribbean nations such as Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica,” Belony said. She underscores the contributions of these thinkers who identified as African descendants and redefined perceptions of Black identity.
“For them, being Black wasn’t something to be ashamed of but, on the contrary, a source of pride,” she said, pointing to the importance of these discourses in combating racial prejudice and valuing cultural heritage.
Belony is keenly interested in the period between the two world wars of the 20th century, when some Caribbean intellectuals not only championed a proud African identity but also flirted with contradictory political ideas, including fascism. Her analysis challenges simplistic readings of Caribbean political history and reveals the ideological tensions in the global Black community at the time.
Passion for teaching
Belony has taught as a teaching assistant and lecturer at UdeM and Université du Québec à Montréal, and has also shared her passion for Haitian history at Montreal's Centre Toussaint. She wants to help students “go beyond the images, which are somewhat stereotypical, decontextualized and simplistic, and serve to fuel anti-Haitian sentiments that have existed since the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution but have taken on new forms and gained strength in political debates in recent years.”
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