Black Hamlet - Part II

Destination Freedom Destination Freedom dramatizations of the great democratic traditions of the Negro people is brought to you by station WMAQ as a part of the Pageant of History and of America's own destination freedom Among the nations of the Western Hemisphere the first to end the barbaric system of slavery was the Caribbean colony of Haiti

Among the slave leaders whose militant rebellion help bring about the change one stands apart We tell his story in the second and final chapter of Black Hamlet, the story of King Henri Christoff of Santo Domingo.

They say in Haiti, atop the tall mountain 3,000 feet above the sea. The ghost of King Henri Christoff walks again in the lonely halls of Isitadair, like a distraught hamlet, retracing the steps that took him from the stables of Santo Domingo to the top of the mountains as king.

retracing his steps to find which mistake brought him death. Which step in the long climb to the kingdom was unwise? Miscalculated, Miss Judge. And, though King, do you remember the steps you took from your Garrett room in the hotel stable to the gaudy rich billiard rooms where a nobleman struck you and where the innkeeper called to sound the slave doctor

and thereafter his prescription kept echoing in your mind. Blaze, I risk, freedom. When you hear drums roll in the mountains, keep to your room. We'll come for you when we are ready. And, O King, you kept to your garret behind the stables, while in the valleys and on every plantation, the elements of the rebellion were collecting underground like a huge hurricane.

You kept contact with two Santh the leader, and at night listened for the drums from the mountains, for the knock on your garret door. And the knock came that chilled your hot blood. What's this, the revolution?