The celebration officially started with a combination press conference and job fair at FIU's Biscayne Campus. Co-sponsored by Miami-Dade County and the South Florida Workforce, the FIU event featured a luncheon hosted by Emiline Alexis of the County Mayor's office. The job fair was held in honor of Haitian Labor Day and was held in the lobby and patio of FIU's Wolfe Center. Sunday was an especially busy day with a book reading at the Mapou Bookstore in Little Haiti, a complimentary buffet featuring foods (and music) from all nine of Haiti's Departments (provinces), and an infectious and intoxicating display of Haitian drumming and vocal performances called "Zaka" in the Design Destrict.
They continued to avoid the racially-motivated behavior of many in the Cuban population in South Florida. In fact, the Caribbean (black?) organizers of the carnival care so little that they were happily prepared to give away the carnival's culture-driven economic and social enterprise to the Cuban community, even if the Cubans didn't really want anything to do with it, like Jewish Miami Beach and WASP downtown didn't. Does this mean that the huge economic infusion that was offered to other communities for acceptance is going to be realized by the people in Opa-Locka? Because, suddenly, it's as if some people belatedly became a little blacker; after all, they're home, they claim, to Opa-Locka. Yeah, right. The carnival organizers have some cojones, if not much sense of appropriateness. They outdid themselves in their fantasizing (but then, that's carnival). They opted for Hialeah and tried to hitch their wagon to Mayor Penelas' new coattail. Somebody needed to remind them of some of the politics involved. Seems Mayor Alex and Mayor [Raul Martinez] `don't tek tea', as we say in the Caribbean. Probably something to do with Alex backing the candidate who ran against Raul. Next stop, Hialeah City Hall. The rest, they say, is history.
Last Wednesday, the Haitian American Cultural Society and the Consul General of Haiti recognized non-Haitians of merit in a very special way: with honorary Haitian citizenship. Among the honorees, most notable were Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler, and Congresswoman Carrie Meek. For Meek, the recognition has added historical significance.
On March 1st and 2nd, The Riverside Church will open its doors to metropolitan New Yorkers for a Haiti Festival - a cultural and spiritual celebration of Haiti. The "Haiti Festival" will kick off Friday, March 1st with a workship service and live performances by Haitian folk and roots musicians. The Festival will continue on Saturday as Riverside Church is transformed into a traditional Caribbean marketplace alive with the rhythms and folklore of Haiti.
