Culture

The Creole community is constantly growing in the world. Recently on 28th October they celebrated 28th annual gathering in Victoria, the Creole capital of the world. In the international calendar this day is remembered as "World Creole Day". Many musicians from La Reunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Martinique, Seychelles and Haiti performed one after another on this occasion before joining a family show at the end.

Many journalists were present in the audience. "Unbelievable" was the one single word to describe their experiences in the diversity and self belongingness displayed by the community. Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture said Seychelles feels proud to host this annual gathering of the Creole community and by presenting many talented musicians from six islands from the world of Creoles.

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The Jewish legacy in Haiti can be dated as far back as Christopher Columbus and his first crew of explorers. While the famous man himself has often been called a possible Jew, the claim has never been solidly proven. Still, many of his crew members were, including the man who traveled with him to act as his translator, Luis de Torres, who is known as the first person of Jewish heritage to set foot in the Americas.

Following this beginning, Haiti saw its number of Jews dwindle slightly as many people of Jewish descent were expelled following the slave revolt heralded by Toussaint L'Ouverture in 1804. In 1830, the persecution of Jews in Poland and other countries led to a small band of people seeking refuge elsewhere. Then there came the Nazi regime in Germany, which drove out many of the Jewish tribe from all across Europe. It funded the little Haitian country with an influx of those who could afford the travel and documentation for themselves and their families.

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Chaos emerged last Saturday at Port-au-Prince where two male partners were holding a private engagement ceremony. The British national and his male partner were attacked with rocks and molotov cocktail by angry locals.

In an attempt to prevent loss of human life, Haitian Police arrived just in time. According to rights advocates the act was not justified. One of the homosexual's rights defenders condemned the action saying that it was homophobic act.

The homosexual community followers are now pushing for justice to be done. They believe that the perpetrators are guilt of crime.

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In a study conducted by Erkan Gören, a scientist at Germany's Oldenburg University, he has determined how culturally diverse countries are, according to databanks compiled of each country's ethnic and racial demographics. Among 180 countries surveyed, Haiti showed little cultural diversity when assigned a computer-generated rating.

To clarify, the concept of cultural diversity is separate from racial diversity. Cultural diversity is based on racial and ethnic diversities. The more types of racial and ethnic populations, the more languages and cultural values they share.

Haiti's racial lineage began with the indigenous Taino Indians, who were bred out of existence by slaves emigrating from the Republic of Congo. At the same time, the Spanish and French invasions changed Haiti's racial and cultural profile further. The French and the Spanish battled for control of Hispaniola. Eventually the French retained control of the western half of the island, and the Spanish the larger eastern segment, named the Dominican Republican. The French interbred with African slaves, producing the light-skinned mulatto elite, who were high-born and spoke French. The low-born and darker-skinned Haitians were of Spanish and African blood.

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The Gay Rights Movement in the U.S. has motivated Haiti's religious groups to stage an anti-homosexual march. The event that touched a nerve within the Christian community was the Supreme Court's ruling. The Court says forbidding gays to marry is unconstitutional, at least in the state of California.

All religious denominations participated in the march. They displayed signs with homophobic messages written on them, and emotions ran high. The marchers warned they would set Parliament on fire if senators and deputies voted in favor of same-sex marriage.

One demonstrator asserted his belief God forbids same-sex coupling. Furthermore, he said God would take his revenge on the Christian community if they permit a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage pass into law.

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President Gérard of the Coalition of Religious and Moral Organizations (HCRMO) and its members gathered together in June to denounce the trend of allowing gay people to wed. Gay marriage has taken hold in the U.S., with 13 states permitting gay people to marry in religious ceremonies.

In a news conference, Gérard spoke of the sacredness of marriage between a male and female, whose sexual union is for the purpose of procreation. Moreover, he said the nuclear family (a male and female couple) is the nexus of all cultures, and not to be interfered with. According to HCRMO, gay marriages will violate God's plan, precipitating a breakdown of family values.

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French and Creole are the two official languages of Haiti and still, French is given more importance than Creole. This discrimination, as seen by many intellectuals worldwide, is primarily because of the fact that Creole is a mix of several West African languages and French. Creole, which is today the lingua franca, actually started when African slaves arrived at Saint Domingue and tried to speak French by whatever they picked up through listening. The reason why they tried to speak French was that the African slaves from different parts of West Africa had different languages and they failed to communicate with each other. Hence, they picked up French.

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