“No Sympathy Without Struggle”: Understanding Dessalines’s Boldest Proclamation

By Ardain Isma
CSMS Magazine

As Haiti faces one of the darkest chapters in its modern history—besieged by gang violence, political paralysis, and deepening poverty—the cries of a forgotten people echo through the streets of Port-au-Prince and beyond. For many, the dream of liberation once ignited by the heroes of 1804 feels like a distant flame, flickering under the weight of fear and abandonment. In this moment of uncertainty, where the line between survival and despair blurs, the words of Jean-Jacques Dessalines resurface with a haunting relevance. His fierce belief in self-determination, forged in the crucible of revolution, demands a closer look—not to romanticize struggle, but to understand what it means to fight for dignity when the world seems deaf to your suffering.

In the annals of revolutionary rhetoric, few declarations burn as fiercely as this: « L’esclave qui n’est pas capable d’assumer sa révolte ne mérite pas que l’on s’apitoie sur son sort. » (He who cannot rise in revolt against his chains deserves neither sympathy nor sorrow.) These words, attributed to Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the formidable architect of Haitian independence, strike with the sharpness of a sword unsheathed. To some, the sentiment may seem harsh. To others, it is a clarion call for dignity through resistance. Either way, it encapsulates the brutal clarity of the Haitian Revolution — a struggle not only against slavery, but against silence, submission, and the slow death of the human spirit.

Dessalines was no gentle liberator. Born into slavery in Saint-Domingue, he clawed his way from plantation servitude to become the leader of the world’s first successful slave revolt. In the wake of Toussaint Louverture’s arrest and deportation by Napoleon, Dessalines emerged as the uncompromising commander who would finish what Louverture had begun: the complete dismantling of colonial rule.

By the time he stood before the people of Gonaïves on January 1, 1804, to proclaim Haiti’s independence, Dessalines had witnessed horrors most men would not survive. His vision of freedom was not simply about emancipation — it was about self-determination through action. In his view, freedom not seized was freedom not deserved. His fierce rejection of pity was grounded in the belief that true liberation required not sympathy from the world, but agency from the oppressed.

This quote is often misinterpreted as cruel or lacking compassion. But within the context of the time — a world in which Black bodies were commodified, and entire societies justified their exploitation with theology and pseudoscience — Dessalines’s words were radical and necessary. They were not a condemnation of the enslaved, but a challenge: you are not powerless; your resistance is your humanity.

Two centuries later, Dessalines’s challenge remains unnervingly relevant. In a world still wrestling with racial injustice, economic exploitation, and neocolonial power dynamics, his words echo like a drumbeat from the past: freedom cannot be begged for. It must be claimed.

And perhaps that is the true genius of Dessalines’s message. In refusing to pity the slave who will not fight, he was not diminishing that person — he was daring them to remember their worth.

Haiti in 2025 — A Nation at the Crossroads

More than two centuries after Dessalines declared Haiti free from colonial rule, the nation finds itself trapped in a new form of captivity. Gangs now control large portions of Port-au-Prince, replacing law with fear. Public institutions have all but collapsed, and the people—particularly in working-class neighborhoods—feel increasingly abandoned. The international community offers words, but little meaningful support. Still, from the rubble of this crisis, grassroots movements and neighborhood councils are emerging, calling for civic action and national unity.

Many Haitians, particularly the youth, invoke the spirit of 1804 not as folklore, but as fuel. They see in Dessalines’s legacy a reminder that dignity is not inherited—it is defended. Though overwhelmed by violence, they continue to organize, educate, and resist. The road ahead is uncertain, but the resolve of a people who once changed the course of history remains unbroken.

A Voice from the Future Echoing the Past

“Ce n’est pas avec des mots qu’on fait une révolution, mais avec le courage, la foi, la volonté, et le sacrifice.”
— Jacques Roumain, Haitian writer and revolutionary

“It is not with words that one makes a revolution, but with courage, faith, will, and sacrifice.”
— Translation of Jacques Roumain’s quote

Note: Ardain Isma is the Chief-Editor of CSMS Magazine. He is the author of several books, including Midnight at Noon, Bittersweet Memories of Last Spring, and Last Spring was Bittersweet.  You can order these books by clicking on the links above.