Haitian dancer and choreographer Sanford Placide organized UNI, an art collective and dance showcase at the Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center in New York City on May 18 to highlight the richness of and diversity of Haitian culture.
In commemoration of Haitian Flag Day, three Haitian songstresses will take to the stage in New York City to celebrate the woman behind the flag — Catherine Flon.
Beyond the need for cultural awareness, Saint Paul thinks it’s vital that a different voice be heard when Haiti is discussed. He sees the Institute as playing part of that role: “The mainstream outlets will tell you about Haiti when there’s a catastrophe, but they will never tell you about stability in Haiti. It’s like Haiti has never been a country with a stable day-to-day life,” Saint Paul said. “It’s vital to use the Institute to show a counter narrative to this: beyond stigma and charity and disaster.”
On April 18, Community Board 17, which represents the neighborhoods of East Flatbush, Northeast East Flatbush, Rugby, Farragut/Hyde Park, Remsen Village, Ditmas Village and Erasmus, voted to co-name Rogers Avenue, from Farragut to Eastern Parkway, with Jean Jacques Dessalines Blvd.
“There are transgenerational differences that impacted this,” Ferrari said. “The older generation feels like they own leadership, and everyone else has to take a seat back and listen. Real leaders groom other leaders. We need millennials to have a seat at the table.”
Marie entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2004. She never went back after experiencing a traumatic incident in Haiti. Before overstaying her visa, she was a frequent traveler who often came here on vacation. She worked as a secretary for more than six years at the Secretary of State for Literacy in Haiti….
“The Lotus collection is exactly what it is,” said designer and founder, Joelle Fontaine. “So if you think about the lotus flower, you know, she’s kind of like the flower that grows in unfavorable conditions. And I think that’s what the I am Kreyol woman represents. She represents someone who is resilient, who’s bold, who’s strong. She’s able to grow in an area where most wouldn’t expect her to grow.”
In one piece titled Madame Beauvoir’s Painting, the artist Fabiola Jean-Louis highlights the strength and fortitude of women, while providing subtle commentary on the spectrum of the Black identity. Madame Beauvoir’s Painting is inspired by 18th-century French portraits of elite, white women. However, instead of a white woman pictured in the ornate dress, Jean-Louis inserts Madame Beauvoir – a black woman.
In the first episode of 2018 of Gab w/ Fab, Fabiola Jean chats with Paul Beaubrun of Zing Experience after his performance at Rockwood Music Hall.
