15648: (Hermantin) SunSentinel-Haitian-Haitian pride (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Sun-Sentinel

Haitian pride


By Leon Fooksman
Staff Writer

May 17, 2003

DELRAY BEACH· Haitian pride and influence will be on display in a parade
through the city Sunday as the annual Flag Day festival celebrates the 200th
anniversary of the island nation's birth.

An expected 7,000 participants will be led by a marching band to Merritt
Park, where they will eat, dance and listen to music. As they walk, their
sheer presence will make a statement that Haitians are gaining political and
social clout, said Joseph Bernadel, a Haitian activist.

"This population is becoming more recognized by all sectors," Bernadel said.
"Their presence is starting to become inescapable."

The festival is the largest Haitian gathering in Delray Beach, where nearly
12 percent of the city's 60,000 population is Haitian, according to city
figures.

Flag Day is celebrated by Haitians around the world with parades, festivals
and school activities.

It commemorates May 18, 1803, when slave troops fighting for freedom in
Haiti ripped the white stripe out of the French flag to signify their
separation. The slaves made a new flag from the remaining blue and red
strips, and declared independence the following New Year's Day.

Delray Beach's Haitian community has held a Flag Day festival three other
times, said organizer Wilner Athouriste. Last year's celebration was
canceled when an organizer died suddenly four days before the event, he
said. This year's festival is expected to be among the largest, he said.

"Everyone wants to come out and celebrate," Athouriste said. "This is one of
the best activities we have in this community."

The festival will begin at 4 p.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic
Church, 510 SW Eighth Ave. The parade will zigzag through the city's
southwest side to Merritt Park on Southwest Second Avenue.

The celebration is open to the public. Haitian leaders say it is an
opportunity for all residents to learn about the culture of Haitian
immigrants, who began moving to Delray Beach about 15 years ago to flee
their country's instability and financial breakdown. Many immigrants arrived
with no education and a limited knowledge of English, which hampered their
integration into politics and ability to get into top schools and find good
jobs, Bernadel said.

"Locally, the numbers are going up, but people are still not a dominant
political force," Bernadel.

That too is changing, he added.

Leon Fooksman can be reached at lfooksman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6647.


Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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