Overview:
US Communities honor Haitian Heritage Month, reflecting on years of celebration and group pleasure.
NEW YORK — From Irvington in New Jersey to North Hempstead in New York, a rising variety of States, counties, and cities in america are formally recognizing Might as Haitian Heritage Month, reflecting the rising visibility and civic engagement of Haitian communities throughout the nation.
Pushed by native advocacy and group pleasure, these designations have turned Might right into a month of cultural celebration—from flag-raising ceremonies and avenue parades to public tributes and political proclamations. Haitian Individuals are utilizing the second not solely to honor their ancestry, however to name consideration to their affect within the U.S and the challenges nonetheless dealing with Haiti.
On Might 6, the North Hempstead City Board formally devoted Might as Haitian Heritage Month, honoring considered one of Lengthy Island’s most vibrant immigrant communities, the Long Island Press reported.
The proclamation was executed in a ceremony crammed with music, pleasure and reflection and welcomed by Haitian Individuals gathered in New Cassel, house to a big Haitian inhabitants. The ceremony included a singing of the Haitian nationwide anthem, a deeply emotional second given the disaster presently dealing with Haiti.
“To have the ability to have fun a flag of a rustic that the flag must be the other way up, to get this from you all, I can’t inform you how that feels,” mentioned Mimi Pierre Johnson, a Haitian American and state director of the Haitian Diaspora Political Motion Committee.
Councilman Robert Troiano of North Hempstead was the primary municipality on Lengthy Island to declare Might Haitian Heritage Month. The city has hosted public Haitian Flag Day celebrations for greater than a decade, the Long Island Press mentioned. Former Council Member Viviana Russell was on the ceremony and mentioned the custom started after Haitian residents in Westbury and Carle Place requested for a strategy to commemorate their heritage.
This 12 months’s Haitian flag ceremony in North Hempstead will happen on Might 18 alongside Prospect Avenue in New Cassel, a hub for Haitian-owned companies and cultural exercise.