Overview:
US Communities honor Haitian Heritage Month, reflecting on years of celebration and neighborhood delight.
NEW YORK — From Irvington in New Jersey to North Hempstead in New York, a rising variety of States, counties, and cities in the US are formally recognizing Could as Haitian Heritage Month, reflecting the growing visibility and civic engagement of Haitian communities throughout the nation.
Pushed by native advocacy and neighborhood delight, these designations have turned Could right into a month of cultural celebration—from flag-raising ceremonies and road 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 influence within the U.S and the challenges nonetheless going through Haiti.
On Could 6, the North Hempstead City Board formally devoted Could as Haitian Heritage Month, honoring one among Lengthy Island’s most vibrant immigrant communities, the Long Island Press reported.
The proclamation was achieved in a ceremony stuffed with music, delight and reflection and welcomed by Haitian Individuals gathered in New Cassel, dwelling to a big Haitian inhabitants. The ceremony included a singing of the Haitian nationwide anthem, a deeply emotional second given the disaster at the moment going through Haiti.
“To have the ability to rejoice a flag of a rustic that the flag needs to be the wrong way up, to get this from you all, I can’t inform you how that feels,” stated 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 Could Haitian Heritage Month. The city has hosted public Haitian Flag Day celebrations for greater than a decade, the Long Island Press stated. Former Council Member Viviana Russell was on the ceremony and stated the custom started after Haitian residents in Westbury and Carle Place requested for a option to commemorate their heritage.
This 12 months’s Haitian flag ceremony in North Hempstead will happen on Could 18 alongside Prospect Avenue in New Cassel, a hub for Haitian-owned companies and cultural exercise.