Overview:
Born from Miami’s queer nightlife, Masisi blends artwork, music and spirituality to middle Black queer Haitians. On Oct. 17 and 18, Masisi is internet hosting its personal stage on the III Factors Pageant, referred to as Halo 88, which showcases native acts within the metropolis’s underground digital music scene. For Masisi, which debuted in 2019, being within the 12-hour pageant anticipated to attract 50,000 individuals is a “commencement.”
Rising up in Lake Price, Florida, about 60 miles north of Miami, Akia Dorsainvil discovered early to not again down nor to cover who he’s. When neighborhood youngsters tried to choose on him, his mom would “take me proper again outdoors to battle,” Dorsainvil now remembers.
“My mother didn’t increase no punk a** b***,” stated Dorsainvil, a DJ, organizer and artist who based Masisi, an occasions collective and radio station constructed across the Black Caribbean queer expertise. “I’ve all the time been that man, the baddest b**ch.”
The combination of confidence and boldness performs no small half in laying the muse for Masisi, which goals to reimagine queer nightlife for the Haitian/Caribbean diaspora. Dorsainvil, whose father is Haitian and mom is Black American, helped construct the platform to channel its members’ fearless vitality into artwork, neighborhood and celebration. He additionally selected the collective’s title as a strategy to reclaim being referred to as “masisi”— a Creole slur akin to the homophobic epithet fa***t—as a unfavorable trait whereas rising up. To him, the phrase stands for assured, expressive, unapologetically completely different.
“I used to be already referred to as that, so I stated, ‘Effective, I’ll be it. However I’ll make it stunning,’ [and] it’s horny to say,” the 31-year-old defined. “It was used to disgrace us. Now it’s our energy.”
A name to battle stigma—and rejoice
The choice to show a phrase as soon as used as a slur to disgrace queer Haitians into one thing they will declare with delight emerged in 2019. After organizing underground drag exhibits, raves in deserted malls and late-night gatherings for years, Dorsainvil determined to carry collectively dance, spirituality and cultural delight with a gaggle of 17 individuals.
The purpose? Not merely to throw occasions, however to create a legacy of connection, pleasure and liberation. To be an alternative choice to the taboos assigned by some church buildings and to mainstream homosexual tradition that left Haitian queerness within the margins.
Six years later, Masisi is about to run its personal stage for 12 straight hours at an digital music festival anticipated to attract 50,000 listeners Oct. 17 and 18. Masisi’s participation within the III Factors Pageant at Halo 88 marks one of many uncommon instances queer Caribbean artists have led programming on such a big public stage, and is a second Dorsainvil calls a “commencement.”
“I’m right here. I’ve all the time been right here. I’ll all the time be right here,” Dorsainvil, 31, stated. “That’s Masisi’s message.”
“Even when individuals be at liberty for 5 hours, that’s sufficient. That freedom is actual.”
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The group erupts in celebration as music fills the evening throughout a Masisi occasion in April 2024 in Miami, marking a brand new chapter in constructing its personal storytelling platform. Picture courtesy of Masisi -
Two partygoers share a dance beneath the timber at a Masisi occasion, surrounded by laughter, music and motion. The gatherings intention to facilitate queer Caribbean connection. Picture courtesy of Masisi -
A celebration visitor waves the Haitian flag proudly throughout a Masisi occasion in September 2024 in Miami, celebrating Haitian id and queer pleasure. Picture courtesy of Masisi
‘Pure blessings’ and pleasure throughout
Lots of the early events have been held on the 777 Mall in Downtown Miami, a former buying middle turned artwork studio hub, house to many working queer artists. There, a drag queen usually lip-synced to konpa whereas waving a Haitian flag and the gang chanted alongside as smoke machines crammed the room. Between DJ units, somebody would seize the mic to demand protections for trans youth, whereas the dance flooring roared again in settlement.
Past the beats, Masisi incorporates Vodou traditions, ancestral remembrance and cultural ritual. Commemorating cultural occasions like Bwa Kayiman means attendees wearing white, dancing to music that traditionally freed them, alongside experimental tracks produced by younger Black queer artists.
“It’s music from the longer term,” Dorsainvil stated. “However rooted previously, slave dance music reworked into liberation soundtracks.”
But, Masisi confronted resistance from a number of fronts: from the broader Black neighborhood, from inside Haitian circles, and from a metropolis that doesn’t absolutely embrace Black queer individuals. In response, the collective started speaking brazenly about Black queer pleasure and made some extent of centering individuals usually pushed apart, particularly dark-skinned Black trans and queer, even in LGBTQ areas.
Masisi has since turn into a sanctuary, not only a get together. Regardless of Miami’s ubiquitous queer nightlife, the smaller, usually missed scene — the place events like Counter Corner and Internet Friends made room for Black queer and trans individuals of colour — has doubled as each refuge and resistance.
“The primary time I ever went to a Masisi occasion was in 2021, a summer time get-together,” recalled Girl Narcisse, a Haitian attendee.
“Once I walked in there, I felt like I belonged for the primary time ever in my life. Any Masisi occasion I’ve ever been to, from the primary one to the final one, is nothing however pure blessings, spiritually awakening, spiritually blessings, simply blessings throughout.”
For others, the collective has provided an sudden path.
“Masisi opened their arms extensive and gave me the area to follow a craft that was very new to me,” stated Haitian DJ Tia, a Lakou Dlo present host resident on the Masisi Radio station, calling it “transformative.”
“It’s house, with out having to be pressured to be house. The music, the vitality, the vibes—each occasion simply brings a lot life.”
Yoly Belizaire, one other Haitian common, remembers one rooftop gathering vividly.
“I’ll always remember Juneteenth 2022, we have been all sporting white. On that dance flooring it felt as if it reworked right into a non secular aircraft of existence.
“In heteronormative areas there’s all the time this have to carry out, however in Masisi areas we are able to take off the masks, be right here, be current, absolutely embodied,” Belizaire stated.
Newcomer Sunny Fisher additionally finds Masisi’s sound alone transformative. The sound which blends Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Haitian rara and konpa beats, with digital, home, and ballroom influences, a pulse that feels each ancestral and futuristic. Though tailor-made for individuals of Caribbean descent, Masisi additionally welcomes those that love digital, experimental classic recordings and older music kinds sound—from konpa to disco to rave.
“My first occasion was Artwork Basel 2022. Once I walked in, I believed, ‘wow, I’ve by no means heard feels like this earlier than.’ From starting to finish it was pleasure. Each Masisi occasion looks like that, like a unending feeling.”
Bringing the enjoyable—and funds—in therapeutic areas
In 2024, Masisi launched Masisi Radio, a web-based broadcast platform that has now launched greater than 100 episodes documenting the neighborhood with mixes, interviews and fundraisers as a strategy to archive the second. Artists at present attain individuals all around the U.S., the Caribbean and London.
The radio station can be the platform for the group’s newest initiative, the Protection Fund Telethon, to boost cash for a neighborhood member dealing with an immigration standing change. The reside occasion streamed on YouTube and Twitch on Sept. 28, 2025, with all donations going towards authorized prices to assist Black queer individuals dealing with immigration violence and housing insecurity.
At III Factors subsequent weekend, Masisi is internet hosting its personal stage, Halo 88, through the occasion showcasing native acts within the metropolis’s underground digital music scene. First-time Haitian DJs will spin alongside icons like Sean Paul, marking a milestone as Masisi’s attain continues to develop.
“We’re making room for spirit in these areas,” Dorsainvil stated. “As a result of Black queer pleasure is sacred. As a result of it transforms areas of ache into areas of celebration, echoing traditions in Black and Caribbean tradition the place music and dance are types of worship and therapeutic.”
Sources for queer Haitians and supporters
- Masisi Radio – For updates, radio episodes and neighborhood fundraisers, comply with on IG: @masisiradio and Twitch & YouTube: Masisi Radio
- S.A.F.E. (South Florida Alliance for Fairness) – Offers free assets for queer youth and hosts workshops on diasporic id and artwork.