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Churches
Pastor Paul of the First Haitian Church of the Nazarene |
Spiritual and Cultural Centers
There is an impressive number of Haitian churches in Atlanta. By one
person’s count, there are nineteen Protestant churches, five
Adventist churches and one Catholic church that include significant
numbers of Haitian members. These churches provide an important spiritual
and cultural outlet for Haitians in Atlanta.
The weekly Haitian mass at the Catholic Church of the Sts. Peter
and Paul in Decatur, attended by an average of 150 worshippers,
is particularly noteworthy. On the weekend of November 2-3, 2002,
the church celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Haitian Catholic
Community in Atlanta.
The close intermingling of spirituality and culture provides an important
link for many Haitians in Atlanta with their homeland. Although the
churches concentrate as a first priority on the spiritual needs of
their members, as their parishioner’s needs have begun to change,
the churches are expanding to offer immigration and other outreach
services.
Banner from Catholic Mass* |
Social Meeting Places
Due to the lack of a centralized location dedicated to serving the
Haitian community, churches are the only places where Haitians in
Atlanta gather socially. Most of this interaction occurs within
individual churches. There are some instances however, when churches
collaborate to organize events for the community at large. Jean-Claude
LeDoux, member of a Seventh Day Adventist congregation, cited a
full-day outdoor event organized annually by his church that is
attended by members of other churches. But, this type of collaborative
activity may be the exception rather than the rule. Some community
members cite difficulties to achieve this kind of collaboration
because of intense competition among churches for congregation members.
Cultural and Educational Institutions
Keeping Haitian Culture Alive in Atlanta
The Association
for Haitian American Development (AHAD) is the oldest Haitian
community organization in Atlanta. AHAD was started in 1993 by Serge
Declama and his wife Marie Chantale. For seven years it operated actively.
From 2000-2002, however, the organization had a two-year hiatus, during
which the Declamas recuperated from seven years of non-stop work from
running the organization by themselves. In November 2002, AHAD has
returned to its former vibrancy, organizing a Haitian Culture Awareness
Week along with Spelman College. The celebration culminated with an
exhibit of the work of three Haitian-American artists.
In its 10 years of existence, AHAD has focused its activities principally
on social and historical issues of importance to Haiti, demonstrating
a strong ability to form partnerships with such local institutions
as Spelman College, the Alliance Francaise and a variety of African-American
organizations. In addition to its cultural and health-related events,
AHAD also publishes a newsletter called Creole Connection.
The publication features articles in English, Creole and French
written by leading Haitian and Haitian-American historians and essayists
on various cultural, historical and economic issues.
People have come to AHAD events from North Florida,
the Carolinas, New Orleans, Tennessee and Kentucky. |
While AHAD events cater mostly to the Atlanta Haitian community, at
the same time, they attract interest from members of the Diaspora
scattered throughout the southern United States. According to Serge
Declama, “People have come to AHAD events from North Florida,
the Carolinas, New Orleans, Tennessee and Kentucky.” AHAD’s
ability to draw from this large geographic area is a result of both
the natural magnetism towards Atlanta as the major urban center of
the U.S. South, as well as the fact that the small pockets of Haitian-Americans
living in outlying areas are not big enough to support their own Haitian-centric
organizations.
Looking Towards 2004
AHAD’s importance as a regional organization has become underscored
as the it gears up for the celebration of Haiti’s Bicentennial
in 2004. The goals of its founders, the Declamas, for the next few
years are to focus on solidifying their membership base by keeping
members up-to-date about AHAD’s activities and by organizing
regular quarterly events for them. The Declamas are also looking to
get directly involved with projects in Haiti as a strategy to strengthen
the organization. Implementing a sister city program and organizing
educational exchanges between students from Spelman College and Haitian
students are two of their ideas. The coming years herald a renewed
buzz of activity for AHAD and its members. The Camaraderie
Club of Atlanta is the other main cultural organization in Atlanta.
It seeks to promote fellowship and understanding among Atlanta’s
growing Haitian community. Its Mission Statement reads, “In
sharing the common bond of the Hatian community's heritage and in
celebrating the beauty and diversity of our talents, abilities and
interests, we hope to create a positive profile of our ethnicity.”
Among many events held throughout the year, the one that most stands
out is the New Year’s Eve Gala. The Camaraderie Club also
publish a newsletter.
Haitian Radio Programs and Businesses
Flyer for Hatian Radio Show |
Means of Communication
Efforts to begin Haitian-specific radio and TV programs n Atlanta
have recently begun to bear fruit. Two
radio programs are broadcast on AM stations each Saturday. Ambians
Lakay is aired from 10:30AM to Noon, and Verite Sou Tambou can be
heard from 12:30-1:30 PM. Jacky Magny, the producer of Ambians Lakay,
is in the process of establishing a TV show for the Haitian community.
These nascent efforts are very important steps to bridging the communication
gap that has been a major difficulty in uniting the sprawling community
of Haitians in Atlanta.
The Beginnings of a Haitian Commercial District?
Several Haitian businesses operate in the metropolitan area. Despite
their isolation from each other, they serve as small rallying points
for the community. At the Marché des Caraibes (Caribbean Market),
located in a Moreland Avenue
Penal Presmy outside
Galaxy Multi Services |
shopping center, one can meet a large number of Haitians from the
community each Saturday when they come to shop for the weekend. Across
the way from the Caribbean Market, is the Galaxy Multi Services store,
owned and operated by Penal Presmy. The store not only provides money
transfer services to Haiti, but also sells CDs and cassettes of Haitian
music, and other Haitian goods.
A New Star is Born
On Austell road in Marietta, Georgia, the Haitian-owned, New Star
Restaurant has become a pole of attraction for Haitians living in
the northern section of the Atlanta metro area. The restaurant is
particularly lively at lunchtime on Sundays, when it is jammed by
families going out for an authentic Haitian
New Star Restaurant |
meal. It is one of the first Haitian restaurants in the region. When
asked about his enterprise, owner Yves Pierre-Louis says that he had
come from New York to visit friends in Atlanta and was amazed by the
area’s economic opportunities. He talked to a few people during
his visit, and quickly found that the community lacked a Haitian restaurant.
Like Galaxy Multi Services owner Penal Presmy, Pierre-Louis also provides
such additional services as immigration and housing assistance. Pierre-Louis
says that while the restaurant business has been doing OK, the national
economic downturn has had a negative impact on it, influencing him
to branch out to offer these additional, income-generating, services.
Outreach Organizations
Pierre-Louis is not the only Haitian entrepreneur who has seized
upon the increasing number of immigration and housing needs of the
Haitian community in Atlanta as a means of expanding his small business
operations. A number of Haitian community organizations providing
an array of services have sprouted up in the past two years to address
the emerging needs of the evolving population.
Uniting the Community
 The
Haitian Community Relations (HCR) is a new organization created
by Joe Alfred, a teacher at Avondale High School in Smyrna, Georgia.
The HCR’s goal is to bring together geographically disparate
members of the Atlanta Haitian community so they can have a louder
voice in the general community through civic organization. Alfred
and his associates plan to accomplish this by creating a membership
base that will participate in community meetings and online forums
to address broad issues of the community that affect Haitians in
Atlanta.
Strenghtening Haitian Businesses
The Haitian American
Center for Business and Economic Development (HACBED) is another
relatively new organization. It was formed by a group of Haitian-American
businessmen and professionals striving to promote positive business
practices, enhance the business environment for the Haitian community
and promote the interests of Haitian businesses. Following the controversy
surrounding the detention of a boatload of Haitian migrants that
arrived in Miami on October 29, 2002, HACBED Director, Jacques Laurent,
was a main organizer of a protest organized in Atlanta against this
treatment of Haitians. As outlined below, this protest is further
evidence of the emergence and evolution of the Haitian community
in Atlanta.
Immigrant Services
In response to the growing number of new arrivals from Haiti, another
organization, the Haitian
Community Services Center of Atlanta (HACOS) has emerged with
the goal of providing specialized immigration and family issues
services for members of the Haitian population. They also work with
social and law enforcement agencies, health care providers, and
other non-Haitian organizations in this endeavor.
* Georgia Bulletin photographs used with permission. Copyright
(c) Linda Schaefer/Archdiocese of Atlanta
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