15012: Hermantin: Re: 14971: Jay: Little Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

I would be totally remiss if I did not respond to Math Jay's most
unfavorable description of Little Haiti as a "cultural" destination. Let's
start first with more accurate boundaries. Little Haiti as per the City of
Miami Planning Department spans from 36th Street South to 87th street or
City line to the North, from the railroad tracks to the East and I-95 to the
West.

I have visited many Haitian communities in the diaspora, and have not found
anything  comparable to Little Haiti, in terms of its spatial encapsulation
of Haitian cultural iconography.

Little Haiti's main commercial corridors are North East Second Avenue and to
a lesser extent 54th Street. North East Second avenue is dotted with
businesses adorned with colorful signage very remiscent of what is found in
Haiti. Side-alk vendors abound,selling everything from Mangoes, sugar cane,
guinea fowls (pintades), to articles of clothing, bedding ect.

At one corner of NE 1st and 54th in front of a store formelly used as a
fried chicken take out, a woman has set up a stand  on the ground where she
sells "mais moulu" by the " marmite", plaintains, and other essentials of
Haitian cuisine.

A couple of blocks down the street still on 54th right across from a
botanica one can go to Lakaye Ice Cream to enjoy delicious tropical ices
with flavors including Korosol ( soursop),coconut, passion fruit etc.  Pax
Villa funeral home is right across the street. At the next corner is another
thriving market, where folks come from all over to buy "Haitian" produce. It
extremely busy and lively on Saturdays.

On 54th Street one can also find the Haitian Refugee Center, Veye Yo's
Center where members still gather on Tuesday and Friday nights and where
presidential speeches or messages from Pres. Aristide are blasted on
loudspeakers strategically placed to face the street and on coming traffic.

Toussaint Louverture Elementary School is located on 59th Street which has
been renamed Felix Morrisseau Leroy Boulevard. Back to NE 2nd and 62nd where
Notre Dame D'Haiti Church( another major landmark in the community) operates
day and night. Again the sights and sounds of Notre Dame conjure powerful
memories of the Haiti of the past. It's even stronger on Saturdays during
the religious education season where you can see nuns in their habit,
interacting with Haitian children remiscent of Haiti raised kids, boys with
pants that fit and girls in braids adorned with  ornate ribbons and
barretes.

I could not forget to mention Louis Market where on can find the best
pistach griye ( roasted peanuts), Libreri Mapou and the Cultural Center
where Jan Mapou and the members of Sosyete Koukouy have worked so hard to
preserve and promote Haitian culture. We should not forget Edouard Duval
Carrie's studio, a gem, nestled between a auto repair shop and a import
export business,Cayard Market the oldest Haitian owned market in Little
Haiti, Les Cousins etc.

Botanicas are also very interesting places to visit, we have an open air
peristil now in Little Haiti. Botanicas  have interesting names like " La
belle Deese", "Diable en Deuil etc.

North East Second, is a wonderful cacophony of colors and sounds (record
shops blasting compas or racine music) and aromas ( there are at least 30
Haitian restaurants in Little Haiti). Restaurants have interesting names Bel
Fouchet, Lakaye; Le Bebe le la les, un de des; La Difference; Au Fin Gourmet
Creole.

I was going to forget, the Miami Mini Bus jitneys ( our tap taps ),
operating along North East Second Avenue. Neighborhood residents are avid
walkers and the streets are teeming with pedestrians adults children and the
elderly alike all contributing and strengthening  this neighborhood
incredible sense of culture and place.








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