Tiny Haitian stamps, large Haiti stories

Here I am at one of the largest libraries in the world, learning about stamps which have been around for about two centuries, like the 1840 Penny Black in the UK. Several people claimed the postage stamp concept, but I wanted to know what stamps stand for. I have been learning a lot about stamps over the past few days, stemming from my great meeting with Richard Morel of the British Library's Philatelic Department. Marks showing postage had been paid were stamped on the item to be mailed, and when the paper versions were introduced, the term “stamp” stuck. Stamps can change names and indicate payment for postage, revenue and tax. Stamps were created for delivery, and their value now is just like artwork, and some are just as expensive!

It all started around my childhood from 1990 to 1991 when the famous Haitian folklore group Boukman Eksperyan’s most real of the top songs, Kè’m Pa Sote, never died since. That’s when I first saw stamps plenty of stamps in two of Daddy’s red and brown suitcases. One of the stamps I remembered from Daddy's suitcase collection, was François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc, born April 1907 in Port-au-Prince. He served Haiti as our 40th President, who didn’t make any jokes with our enemies who pretended to be our friends since God was a young boy.

Sadly, I have not yet found any stamps about Faustin Elie-Soulouque, born in Petit-Goave, Haiti 15 August 1782. Soulouque was a Haitian politician and military commander who served as President from 1847 to 1849 and Emperor of Haiti from 1849 to 1859.

I am just beginning to discover that Haitian stamps can tell us many stories about the history of Haiti.