1945 – Haitian Intellectual Jean Price-Mars Becomes President of Haiti’s Constituent Assembly

On June 9, 1945, Haitian scholar Jean Price-Mars was named president of Haiti’s Constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting a new constitution after the end of U.S. occupation and political instability. Price-Mars was a towering intellectual figure and one of the earliest proponents of Négritude in the Caribbean. His ideas about racial pride, African heritage, and cultural identity influenced generations of Black thinkers globally. As Assembly President, he pushed for educational and social reforms grounded in Afro-Haitian identity. His leadership marked a pivot toward national self-determination rooted in cultural sovereignty. Though political tensions curtailed some reforms, June 9 stands as a rare moment when scholarship and politics briefly converged to imagine a liberated Black republic.