At age 82, Dunham began a 47-day hunger strike around March 1, 1992, protesting U.S. treatment of Haitian refugees.
Around March 1, 1992, at the age of 82, Katherine Dunham began a hunger strike to protest the United States government's treatment of Haitian refugees fleeing political violence following the 1991 coup against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The strike took place at her home in East St. Louis, Illinois.
Dunham's protest drew on her deep, decades-long personal connection to Haiti, where she had conducted foundational anthropological fieldwork in the 1930s and maintained lifelong ties, including ownership of a home in the country and initiation into Haitian Vodou. She was outraged by U.S. policies that interdicted Haitian refugees at sea and returned many to Haiti without full asylum hearings, a stark contrast to treatment afforded to refugees from other nations.
Her hunger strike was a remarkable act of activism for an artist in her ninth decade of life, demonstrating her enduring commitment to social justice causes beyond the dance world. The action generated substantial media attention and public sympathy, drawing support from other prominent activists and artists, including a visit from Jesse Jackson.
This protest exemplified Dunham's belief, articulated throughout her career, that art and activism were inseparable, and that her platform as a renowned cultural figure could and should be leveraged to advocate for marginalized and vulnerable populations, particularly those connected to the African diaspora and Haiti specifically.