Jean Weevens Janvier: Indicted for killing Emile sisters last year. A Suffolk County Grand Jury has indicted a former Boston man in the Nov. 2011 double-murder of two Haitian-American sisters who were gunned down in their Dorchester apartment last November. The suspect, Jean Weevins Janvier, 30, has been on the run since the homicides and authorities say that they believe he's fled the country.
Prosecutors say that Janvier had been in a previous romantic relationship with Stephanie Emile, 21, who was found shot to death alongside her sister, Judith, 23, in their Harlem Street apartment on Nov. 14, 2011.
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Apr 30, 2012
Jean Weevens Janvier: Indicted for killing Emile sisters last year. A Suffolk County Grand Jury has indicted a former Boston man in the Nov. 2011 double-murder of two Haitian-American sisters who were gunned down in their Dorchester apartment last November. The suspect, Jean Weevins Janvier, 30, has been on the run since the homicides and authorities say that they believe he's fled the country.
Prosecutors say that Janvier had been in a previous romantic relationship with Stephanie Emile, 21, who was found shot to death alongside her sister, Judith, 23, in their Harlem Street apartment on Nov. 14, 2011.
Read more Apr 12, 2012
Gilbert Sisters: Sisters Shaina and Gabriella Gilbert have spent the last three years volunteering at a camp that Shaina created in Haiti. Gabriella will attend Columbia University in the fall, while Shaina is presently pursuing a Master’s degree at Boston University. Mattapan sisters Shaina and Gabriella Gilbert are six years apart in age, but they share the same passion for scholarship and volunteerism.
The Gilbert girls have particularly distinguished themselves by devoting their summers to teaching youth in their parents’ native Haiti.
In 2009, Shaina created a summertime leadership camp called Empowering Through Education, or ETE, which derives from the Haitian Creole word for “summer.” In its first year, the camp started with 40 students that expanded to over 100 over the past four years, teaching children how to become leaders of their communities and learn about social change. Read more Apr 10, 2012
Patrick JeromeAfter experiencing several film festivals, Patrick Jerome, Haitian-American filmmaker, realized that nothing like this existed in Boston. Arriving in America to a different film industry, he created the Boston International Film Festival (BIFF) to not only present his own films, but to bring culture and movies throughout the world to the city.
With only a small number of films accepted, the Tenth Annual BIFF will be screening over 100 movies from 30 countries at the Boston Common AMC Loews. Jerome said a record-breaking number of filmmakers are coming from South Korea, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, and France. Read more Apr 10, 2012
On April 28, the South Shore Haitians United For Progress (SHUP) will celebrate its Annual Benefit Gala at The Lantana in Randolph. The gala’s keynote speaker is Dr. Paul Farmer, the co-founder of Partners in Health. The event will include entertainment by Tabou Combo, Cultural Art Exposition, cocktails, dinner and dancing. Read more
Mar 23, 2012
Dorchester’s Harbor Pilot Middle School will be one of four places on Saturday where parents will have a chance to weigh in on the Menino administration’s attempt to overhaul the school assignment process. The community meeting will last from 9 a.m. Read more
Mar 23, 2012
Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry (D-Dorchester) posted an update this week on YouTube about local efforts to collect signatures in support of a petition to President Obama requesting implementation of the Haitian Family Reunification Parole program. Her office, which has coordinated the petition in Massachusetts, says that over 2,500 signatures have been gathered in recent weeks. To learn more and to sign the petition, visit lindadorcenaforry.org/haiti-action-updates/.
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Mar 20, 2012
Marjorie Alexandre Brunache, Counsel Minister for the General Consulate of Haiti in BostonMarjorie Alexandre Brunache, Counsel Minister for the General Consulate of Haiti in Boston, is the newest representative of the Haitian government in Boston. She was appointed to the position last fall and has served since Dec. 1, 2011. She succeeds Emmanuelle Dupiton and Gladys Joseph.
“What I want the community to know is we are here for them,” said Counsel Brunache. “We deliver so many important services, that outreach to educate the community on what we provide is key to our success.”
Read more Mar 12, 2012
Boston Cab Drivers Sue Over Low Pay from Chris Lovett on Vimeo.
BNN-TV's Neighborhood Network News — which appears every weekday evening in Boston— produced this report. Above, cab driver, Pierre Duchemin, and his attorney, Shannon Liss-Riordan, talk about a class action suit over compensation filed against cab fleet owners and city regulators. Aired March 8, 2012. Read more Feb 10, 2012
BHR 2-12The February 2012 edition of the Boston Haitian Reporter is now available in print and online.
In this month's edition, the Boston Haitian Reporter is pleased to introduce our readers to a new section of the newspaper that will feature the work of Haitian cartoonists and journalists. Their work has been brought to our attention through a groundbreaking project led by an international organization called the Cartoon Movement.
We encourage our readers to learn more about the background of Cartoon Movement and their Haiti project by going to their website. You can also view more work from very talented Haitian artists, cartoonists and journalists who have teamed with Cartoon Movement in recent months. There is also a video that documents the month that the Cartoon Movement’s editorial team spent in Haiti last July.
On January 12, 2012, the second anniversary of the earthquake, Cartoon Movement published the first chapter of the 75-page comics journalism project focused on life in Haiti— the first section of which is printed here in the Reporter.
Written by Port-au-Prince reporter Pharés Jerome, and illustrated by Chevelin Pierre, Tents Beyond Tents takes us down to the Champ de Mars in front of the crumbled presidential palace to the squalid conditions in tent camps on the outskirts of town. Jerome tells us of the forced evictions by state authorities and the modest progress that is finally allowing some families to relocate.
Read more Feb 6, 2012
Jean Weevens JanvierBoston Police have issued an appeal for the public’s help in locating their chief suspect wanted in connection with the double homicide of two sisters, Stephanie and Judith Emile, who were found shot to death in their Harlem Street apartment on Nov. 14.
Investigators say that 30 year-old Jean Weevens Janvier of Dorchester "has been identified as the person responsible for the homicides" of the sisters— who were 21 and 23 years old when killed.
According to Boston Police, "This investigation has included numerous interviews, along with the recovery of forensic evidence, which ultimately led to the issuance of an arrest warrant for Janvier."
Read more Jan 30, 2012
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JAN. 30, 2012. As Haiti continues to recover from the devastating earthquake of 2010, state leaders on Monday recommitted themselves to helping Haitians and their families living in Massachusetts to rebuild their lives.
“This was not about some distant calamity, but our neighbors, friends, co-workers and their families,” Gov. Deval Patrick said during an event Monday morning commemorating the second anniversary of the earthquake.
To mark the anniversary, state officials gathered at the State House with members of the Haitian community where Patrick presented a proclamation recognizing the earthquake and promising to continue the state’s efforts to help refugees and their families who have since arrived in Massachusetts.
Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, a Dorchester Democrat and a Haitian American, led the event, which also attracted House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer, Rep. Russell Holmes of Dorchester, and Rep. Alice Wolf of Cambridge.
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Jan 11, 2012
Victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti continue to find solace and medical treatment at Dorchester’s Codman Square Health Center, which has created a special program to focus on the specific needs of the Haitian clients still coping with the after-effects Read more
Jan 11, 2012
Karen Keating Ansara of The Haitian Fund at The Boston Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the Jan. 7 gala dinner hosted by Haitian-Americans United, Inc. Read more
Jan 11, 2012
Patrick SylvainTwo hundred and eight years ago, brave Haitians declared an end to slavery, giving birth to a new nation where each person was a human being. Tout moun se moun. This move advanced the notion of human rights for the first time in modern history, and was a vast departure from the values that were held in high regard during French colonial rule.
While at its inception, the revolutionary ideals of the newly formed nation called Haiti held great promise, the reality as understood today detracts from this plesant image. Still, our rituals and their symbolic associations mirror these revolutionary ideals. For example, soup joummou, the New Year’s and Independence Day celebratory pumpkin soup, signifies the communion of equals through the consumption of the once forbidden delicacy reserved for the colonial masters. Today, as family and friends gather around the dinner table, we are clearly proud of our freedom and accomplishments, yet know that there are countless Haitians who are hungry, sleeping under tents. Two hundred and eight years after independence, many Haitians live in abject poverty and have no rights as humans.
Read more Dec 19, 2011
Emeline Michel performs at Harvard on Nov 18Nedgine Paul, a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), has admired Emeline Michel’s music since she was a child.
“My passion for raising awareness about Haiti included inviting friends and colleagues to attend Emeline’s performances,”
said Paul.
When HGSE for Haiti decided to organize the Haiti Arts and Awareness Event to commemorate the historic Battle of Vertieres, the last victory before the Haitian independence, they invited Emeline Michel to perform on Nov. 18. The core theme of the event was the Haitian motto L’Union Fait La Force, In Unity there is Strength.
Read more Dec 12, 2011
Lyonel Traversiere's favorite proverb on responsibility: 21 an, pa 21 jou (21 years is not 21 days)On Nov. 16, Wheelock College hosted its annual Passion for Action Leadership Award Dinner. The event benefits Wheelock’s Passion for Action Scholarship program for students committed to service and the scholarship program awards $20,000 for four years. Since 2007, three to five students of each incoming first-year class are designated Passion for Action Scholars. The program provides leadership development, calls for a domestic service project and offers an international service opportunity. Students have worked in Ghana, Benin, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala.
“Service is a part of our culture, curriculum, college ethos,” said Jackie Jenkins-Scott, president of Wheelock College. “At Wheelock, its core to who we are…as an institution.”
Lyonel Traversiere, 21, is one of the Passion for Action scholars.
Read more Dec 12, 2011
Fresh from a state
Prime Minister Garry Conille (AP) visit to Cuba, President Michel Martelly hosted a “Invest in Haiti” conference in Port-au-Prince that attracted some 500 foreign visitors and investors earlier this month. Flanked by former US President Bill Clinton and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Luis Alberto Moreno, Martelly broke ground on a free-trade zone in the northeast of Haiti backed by US, IDB and South Korean funds that at its peak would employ some 20,000 assembly factory workers.
And the good news kept being rolled out at the conference: a Marriott-managed, Digicel-owned 150-room hotel in Port-au-Prince by 2013; a 250-room hotel near the country’s international airport by 2014; a 60-bed travelers hotel by 2012 — this one built with Haitian capital — also near the airport.
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Prime Minister Garry Conille (AP) visit to Cuba, President Michel Martelly hosted a “Invest in Haiti” conference in Port-au-Prince that attracted some 500 foreign visitors and investors earlier this month. Flanked by former US President Bill Clinton and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Luis Alberto Moreno, Martelly broke ground on a free-trade zone in the northeast of Haiti backed by US, IDB and South Korean funds that at its peak would employ some 20,000 assembly factory workers.
And the good news kept being rolled out at the conference: a Marriott-managed, Digicel-owned 150-room hotel in Port-au-Prince by 2013; a 250-room hotel near the country’s international airport by 2014; a 60-bed travelers hotel by 2012 — this one built with Haitian capital — also near the airport.
Read more Dec 9, 2011
Jean Appolon leads dance class in Cambridge.Jean Josue Appolon grew up in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, where he began to dance at the age of 13. He began his training under the instruction of the iconic choreographer Viviane Gauthier. He performed with her dance company and the Folkloric Ballet of Haiti. At first he would lie to his family about where he was going because dance was generally frowned upon.
“I used to say I was going to play volleyball,” said Appolon. “They even had my uncle follow me one time, to dance class. My family was against dance for many reasons, but mostly because they didn’t think you could make a real living. It’s not a real profession.”
Read more Dec 8, 2011
BHR 12-11: Click here to download our latest edition.On May 8, 2011, Haitian lawmakers voted – by an overwhelming majority – to amend the article in the constitution that would do away with the law that bans dual citizenship. This meant an estimated 4 million Haitians living abroad would finally have a say in the political process in Haiti. In addition to voting rights, they would be able to run for lower levels of office, among other rights granted through this amendment of the 1987 constitution.
For many Haitians living abroad who provided economic support of loved ones which bolstered Haiti’s economy for many years, this was welcomed news. Dual citizenship remained an unlikely possibility until major political strides were made in the last year – due mostly to the significant role the diaspora played in the aftermath of the earthquake. Political, private sector, civil society leaders acknowledged that Haiti would need its diaspora to rebuild.
However, dual citizenship has yet to become law in Haiti. Read more Dec 5, 2011
Sonia Pierre, photographed in 2007 by Ramon Espinosa (AP)SANTO DOMINGO _ Sonia Pierre, a human rights activist who bravely fought discrimination against poor Dominicans of Haitian descent since she was a child, died Sunday, according to colleagues. She was 48.
The renowned activist died outside of the municipality of Villa Altagracia while being rushed to a hospital after suffering a heart attack around noon Sunday, said Genaro Rincon, a lawyer who works with Pierre's Dominican-Haitian Women's Movement.
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