Evolving Toward Leadership
Boston has attracted significant numbers of immigrants from Haiti for over forty years. This arrival over time of Haitians in Boston corresponded to several waves of migration that have come to the United States from the Caribbean country since the 1950s. The largest of these migratory waves in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s flowed into the metropolitan New York area. Since the late 1970s, the largest destination has expanded to include South Florida. To characterize Boston-area Haitians as simply a smaller scale version of the migration to New York – or, more recently, of South Florida - however, is misleading. Since their arrival to New England’s hub, Haitians in Boston have adopted some unique traits of their new home – and have adapted quite well to that new homeland. And today, as one of the Boston metropolitan area’s largest immigrant groups – perhaps its largest group - they are becoming key players in shaping that area’s future.

A City Built on Politics
In the mind of most Americans, Boston is a city of politics and politics in Boston is something dominated by its Irish population, particularly the legendary Kennedy family. In today’s city, however, where the traditionally powerful white population has recently become a minority, another immigrant group - Haitians - has found itself to be in a position to play an important role in building institutions, starting enterprises and building broad political coalitions with other groups. The strong organizational basis of the community is evident from the broad array of public and private entities that serve it. To those who have followed the community’s evolution, it has come as not much of a surprise that Haitians in Boston are now beginning to develop themselves into an emerging, local political force.

One key actor of this unfolding Boston political drama is Haitian-born, Marie St. Fleur. A second-term State Representative who has quickly become a leading figure in the Massachusetts Democratic Party, St. Fleur is a symbol of the Boston Haitian population’s maturity. Moreover, the State Representative from Boston has recently begun to project herself beyond the Boston area as someone who can address issues related to Haitian-Americans more broadly. As Boston’s Haitian-American leaders and the institutions that they have developed - and that have nurtured them - address issues of economic development, public health, marital abuse, immigrant’s rights and other issues that concern their population, their eyes are increasingly on another prize – that of elective office.

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