Haitian Diaspora - Haiti Observer Blog

Shelley Vidia Worrell founded "CaribBEING" a local cultural institution back in 1999. It is a non-profit and cultural space that celebrates Caribbean heritage in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn. She is a first-generation Caribbean American and Flatbush resident whose parents are both immigrants from Trinidad. CaribBEING started its journey when Shelly bought a shipping container and turned it into a pop-up art space. She calls this not a store or shop; it is a "miniaturized mobile museum".

Worrell used to work at Google as a Strategic Partner Development Manager, but decided to spend more time with family and thus she created CaribBEING. She is in charge of making visitors feel that they have been transported to the Caribbean. Every inch of her container has the feel of a breezy, beachside aura.

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Gary Eugene was sworn in Tuesday as North Miami new chief of Police. The Haitian-American Police chief has a tgotal of 30 years of law enforcement experience. He has been with the North Miami Police Department for three years or since 2013. Gary Eugene started law enforcement as a detective with the city of Miami Police Department in 1985. In 1996 he became very engaged with the Little Haiti community as he was promoted lieutenant within the City of Miami Police department.

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On Thursday, May 26, 2016, after a long sixteen years' effort, the Miami-Dade Municipal Commission unanimously voted in favor of designating 'Lemon City' as 'Little Haiti'. 'Little Haiti' will have the boundaries roughly between 54th Street and 79th Street, and Northwest Sixth Avenue and Northeast Second Avenue. The announcement came before hundreds of Haitian-Americans who were present in Miami's city hall waiting anxiously to hear the outcome of their long fight and this victory was almost impossible without the effort of four former district commissioners. It was a sixteen year old argument over the idea of an official 'Little Haiti' -- and exactly, where its boundaries should be drawn.

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Thursday, May 26, 2016 is a historic day for the Haitian Diaspora. It marks an official recognition of Little Haiti in Miami as a neighborhood. That is after more than 16 years of fighting by community activists to recognize Little Haiti, to put it on the map, and to keep our legacy and history.

In a jam-packed Miami City Hall where several hundred came for support, the commissioners voted unanimously for the creation of legal boundaries for the community in northeast Miami. Members of the Haitian community were had argued that developers were buying property and removing Haitians from the area through gentrification.

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The Republican National Committee is scheduled to start running a series of ads in an effort to attract non-white voters in 2016. Pierry, the son of Haitian immigrants from Queens, is in on of those ads. The Republican party realized how poorly they did in 2012 when they only got 6 percent of the African-American vote and 27 percent of the Hispanic vote. they are hoping that with these ads, more minority groups will be voting for them. However, recent comments made by GOP candidate Donald Trump about immigrants, Mexicans, women, Muslims and other groups have not been helpful to the party.

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A December 2015 report prepared by the Boston Redevelopment Authority Research Division reveals that Boston is the 7th largest home for foreign-born residents among the 25 largest U.S. cities. Between 2000 and 2014, its foreign-born population grew from 151,836 to 177,461, an increase from earlier 19.2% to present 27.1%. The top six countries of origin for the foreign born population living in Boston in 2014 were as follows: Dominican Republic 13.0%, China 10.6%, Haiti 7.6%, El Salvador 6.3%, Vietnam 6.2% and Jamaica 4.4%. Haitian migration to the U.S was very small (around 5,000) in 1960. Recent data from the U.S Census Bureau on American Community Surveys show that the Haitian immigrant population numbers between the years 1980 and 2012 in the U.S were as follows: 92,000 (1980), 225,000 (1990), 419,000 (2000), 510,000 (2006), 587,000 (2010) and 606,000 (2012). Five metro areas, such as greater Miami, New York, Boston, Orlando, and Atlanta account for nearly three-quarters of the total immigrant population from Haiti residing in the United States. Haitians are the third most populous foreign-born demographic residents of Boston. On the language front, with its 4.2% share, French Creole is the third most common non-English language spoken at home and it is followed by Spanish 16.3% and Chinese 4.6%.

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Paske yo te ape fè fas ak pi wo lwaye, moun nan Ti Ayiti nan Miami ap di ase se ase. Nan Jedi, 3 Desanm, 2015, yon gwoup rezidan, pwopriyetè biznis ak aktivis kominotè te mete ansanm nan yon katye nan Ti Ayiti pou te pwotèste kont chanjman sa yo kote prix kay yo ape monte e yo oblije so nan yon kominote ke yo renmen anpil. Gen kèk nan devlopè ki enterese nan zòn nan yo te akize ki sèvi avèk arasman, entimidasyon pou fòse rezidan yo ak biznis lokal yo soti. Gen kèk moun kpote siy ak deklarasyon sa yo: "Nou vle rete", "non pou jantrifikasyon", "Little Ayiti se pa pou vann" ak plis ankò. Anpil moun nan zòn nan santi ke si yo pa aji, byento Little Ayiti pral disparèt.

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Dominique Anglade (born January 31, 1974) is a Canadian politician, a member of the Quebec Liberal Party. Since winning the National Assembly election of Quebec on November 9, 2015, she is representing the electoral district of Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne.

She is an engineer, businesswoman and the former president of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ). Her father was a professor, geographer, writer, and the founder of the University of Quebec in Montreal. Her mother Mireille Neptune was a committed feminist. Her parents tragically died in the 2010 earthquake. Anglade has received many great accolades likes of "Young Global Leader 2014 (by World Economic Forum), Toussaint 2013 Award by the Young Haitian Chamber of Commerce of Montreal, the Quebec Order of Engineers (2011). In 2010, she chaired the Canadian Conference 150 on behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada.

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The Wynwood Art District, in the neighborhood of Miami was founded in the early 2003 by a group of art dealers, artists and curators. Once it was a home of over 70 galleries and museums and was a haven for local artists in the early 2000s.

Gradually, Wynwood district became the epicenter of new Miami. The sudden surge in the real estate price, gentrification and higher rent forced many artists and gallery owners to migrate to some other nearby affordable locations while the art loving community kept moving towards Little Haiti. Unlike the art people of Wynwood, the artists and gallery owners of Little Haiti had preferred buying spaces instead of hiring.

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Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul opened the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean (AACCLA) on June 15th. The conference brought together 14 countries and almost 250 people to participate, centering on the theme "The Diaspora Investments in Latin America and the Caribbean". The focus at the conference was on how to funnel Diaspora investment to local businesses using best practices, and the economic initiatives to be developed to accomplish the goal.

Many foreign senior-level speakers joined ex-Bolivian President Jorge Fernando Quiroga in delivering opening remarks. They represented the American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.; George Washington University; Heineken Americas; Western Union Caribbean; and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

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