14243: Haitian holiday (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Sun-Sentinel

Haitian holiday
By Toni Marshall
Staff Writer

December 29, 2002

Marie Jackson's hair salon on Southeast Second Avenue in Delray Beach is
busier than usual, but her thoughts turn to preparations for New Year's Day.

She usually cooks her meat overnight so that it's nice and tender in the
morning. She wakes up at 4 or 5 a.m. to add the pumpkin squash and other
vegetables, including malanga, a root vegetable popular in the tropics.

Jackson and many other Haitian-Americans will use old family recipes to make
pumpkin soup for good luck on Jan. 1.

The first day of the year means more than ushering in a new calendar for
Haitian-Americans. It's also the day Haiti won its independence from France,
becoming the first liberated black nation and the second oldest independent
nation in the Western Hemisphere. On that day in 1804, Haitian martyr
Jean-Jacques Dessalines led a fierce rebellion, defeating Napoleon
Bonaparte's forces and proclaiming Haiti's independence.

More than 300,000 Haitians in the tri-county area, including an estimated
30,000 in Delray Beach alone, will honor the holiday by continuing old
country traditions.

"I also add macaroni to my soup," Jackson said. "The ladies will gather in
my shop, and we will talk all day," she said, describing the days leading up
to the celebration.

She will attend a special Mass at a Catholic church, where she will also
drink pumpkin soup.

"You have to have pumpkin soup when you wake up ... before you leave the
house for the day," she said. "Then you come back and have a big meal in the
evenings."

Despite being about 600 miles from their homeland, they will continue the
traditions of eating pumpkin soup and visiting friends and family members.

Haitians will wear yellow to bed on Dec. 31 and buy new clothes for the
children to wear on the holiday. The older women still wear polka-dot
dresses, all for good luck. And area Haitians will go to church.

"All Haitians eat the soup and vegetables that day. It symbolizes when
Haitians got independence from the French government," said Francis Fleurant
of Pompano Beach.

"During slavery time black people were not allowed to eat soup, so when we
got our independence to make people feel free we eat it. It's like
Thanksgiving," said Fleurant, 39, a U.S. resident for 12 years who works in
the Broward County Supervisor of Elections Office.

Being the first black independent country is something to be proud of, say
many Haitians, whose early 19th century fight for freedom was seen as a
beacon of hope for all enslaved people.

However, the climate in their homeland today gives them great cause to
worry.

The tiny Caribbean nation, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the
Dominican Republic, is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Its
seesawing political landscape has given way to gang violence and economic
embargoes that have resulted in thousands of Haitians fleeing to other
countries for survival.

"It's unfortunate -- 200 years as the first black country, and after 200
years, it is still at that stage," Fleurant said. "We talk about what we can
do to alleviate the situation. It is very sad to see our country this way."

That is why holding on to Independence Day traditions is so important in
Fleurant's home. His three children, he said, need to know the significant
role Haiti has played in politics in the Americas.

"... We helped the U.S. government to purchase Louisiana. Haiti was the only
place any black could get free citizenship. Now they look down on us,"
Fleurant said.

In South Florida, Haitian-Americans are banding together to give emotional
and economic support to those at home.

Marlene Racine Toussaint of Pembroke Pines, a Haitian and women's studies
scholar, said that although politics at home may weigh heavily on the minds
of Haitians living abroad, the value of Independence Day is in no way
diminished.

"In the country people reflect. Maybe the sacrifice our ancestors made to
get independence will have some effect on them," said Toussaint, who left
Haiti for the United States in 1956. "We have valiant women and men who
fought for the liberation of our country and its independence. It is an
important date for us," she said.

What she remembers about Independence Day in Haiti is new clothes and new
shoes -- a tradition continued in South Florida.

"To open the new year, there is a tradition of visiting one another," said
Toussaint, who heads the Multicultural Women's Press, a small publishing
house. Children collect zetrčn, or gifts, from the homes they visit, just
like on Christmas.

"And then there is the homemade pink liqueur made from boiled syrup and
grenadine essence and alcohol served with cake," she said.

But there is one tradition struggling to survive.

Lea Mellon, 38, of Miami Lakes can't forget the vision of her mother and
grandmother wearing polka-dot dresses. Polka dots bring good luck, she said.
And Haitians never wear dark clothes to celebrate the holiday. Mellon, who
is a public service assistant for Miami International Airport, remembers her
mother buying material and making polka-dot dresses.

"You'll never finish counting the dots, which means you'll never finish
counting the blessings," she said.

Mellon has spent the past week searching for a dress. She hopes to pass on
the tradition, but finds it difficult to coax her daughter into wearing one.

"It's a very old tradition. Grandmothers used to do it. Not so much the new
generation," Mellon said. "It's a custom we are hoping not to lose. Some
people may not even be aware of it."

The Rev. Maud Paraison, of the Church of the Intercession in Fort
Lauderdale, remembers well the polka-dot dresses. A few members of her
congregation also will sport the dresses in pastels, reds or blues.

On Independence Day, scores will flock to her church to give thanks,
gathering later in the church hall to eat pumpkin soup.

As part of the traditional service, children will perform folkloric dances
and songs. The children have been practicing with mentors from Minority
Development and Empowerment Inc., a community service organization.

"Since before Thanksgiving they have been practicing for the midday
performance," said Guithele Ruiz, public relations director for Minority
Development.

"The good thing about the event is it enables us to have some of our youth
who are raised and born here to maintain some of their tradition."

Toni Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2004.



Our Community's Many Faces periodically spotlights nationalities conducting
South Florida celebrations of cultural and historic milestones.


Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel






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