15056: Hermantin: Re: 15022: Matt Jay: Re: 15012: Hermantin on Little Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

The term Little Haiti was coined by our esteemed pioneer and community
activist Viter Juste owner of Les Cousins Record Shop.

I really don't like to engage in lengthy debates of any sort, so this will
be my last post on the subject. I am curious to know what Mr Jay would
define as "Haitian Culture? Moreover, I would love to hear from him where in
South Florida besides Little Haiti and its extension to North Miami, would
he suggest that one explore the diverse aspects of Haitian Culture? Would it
be in the suburban enclaves of Broward and Kendall, where the Haitian middle
class resides?

I am very chagrined to say that my favorite beauty salon "Style" in the
bourgeois stronghold of Kendall ,also called Duvalierville,is now closed. I
used to enjoy going there just to get a blast of Petion-Ville culture. All
the "beautiful" ladies ( my daughter was shocked to see so many "yellow" and
"beige" Haitian women) spoke french (hum)to each other and the hairwashers
and other attendants who stayed silent most of the time were more of the
Little Haiti crowd. Yeah, that's Haitian culture too.

I don't know that anyone would object to Mr. Jay's  observation that Little
Haiti does not represent the totality of Haitian culture, but there are so
few venues controlled by middle class Haitians, that access to that part of
our culture is available by invitation only.






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