U.S. extends TPS for another 18 months

Haitians who received "Temporary Protected Status" — or TPS— from the U.S. government last year got good news today: They can stay in the U.S. for an additional 18 months, per the order of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. She announced the extension today and it will be effective July 23, 2011— meaning that Haitian beneficiaries can remain in the United States through Jan. 22, 2013. Roughly 48,000 Haitian nationals have received TPS designation.

Martelly wants business leader as next prime minister

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Haiti's new president wants a business leader to serve as his prime minister, a government official said Sunday.

The official announcement that President Michel Martelly wants Daniel-Gerard Rouzier to be the country's No. 2 official comes one day after Martelly, a charismatic pop star known as ``Sweet Micky'', was sworn in as Haiti's next leader in back-to-back ceremonies at a makeshift Parliament and on the lawn of the National Palace, which collapsed in last year's crippling earthquake.

Parliament must still ratify Rouzier to the post.

Boston Haitian 'pioneers' honored at Reporter luncheon

More than 300 people were on hand this afternoon for the first-annual Boston Haitian Honors awards luncheon, hosted by the Boston Haitian Reporter to mark its tenth year of publication. The event included keynote remarks by Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, which has provided critical health services to the people of Haiti for more than 25 years.

Ten years later, the mission remains the same

Bill ForryThe idea to spin off a specific English language newspaper in the Boston Haitian community was one that I had long cultivated as the editor of the Dorchester Reporter, which my parents founded in 1983. The Haitian paper was loosely modeled on the Boston Irish Reporter, which was launched in 1990 with a similar mission for the Irish-American community.

The Boston Haitian community, I felt, was poised to blossom over the next decade and it deserved a dedicated publication to chronicle its rise and a forum to discuss the complicated policy issues that were sure to develop along the way.

Pastor Eddy Laguerre to lead Sunday's Unity Parade

Pastor Eddy LaguerrePierre Eddy Laguerre has been named the Grand Marshall of the May 15th Haitian Unity Parade by Haitian-Americans United, Inc. The parade, now in its 11th year, steps off from Mattapan Square on Sunday, May 15 at 1 p.m. The parade ends at Talbot Ave. in Dorchester. Tens of thousands of Haitian-Americans and friends line Blue Hill Avenue or participate in the parade.

Pastor Laguerre has been in pastoral ministry for the last 30 years. He has pastored many churches throughout the vast territory of the Northeastern Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists. He started his pastoral mission in Brooklyn, New York thenjourneyed through Temple Salem in Dorchester, Golgotha in West Roxbury, Ephese in Providence, Rhode Island, Brockton Temple, Philadelphie in Malden and the Cape Cod Haitian American church in Hyannis.

US House seeks accounting of aid money

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House of Representatives asked the Obama administration Tuesday to come up with an accounting of how humanitarian and reconstruction aid is being spent in Haiti, which has been slow to recover from the devastating earthquake of more than a year ago despite an outpouring of U.S. and international assistance.

Tenth anniversary edition of Haitian Reporter

May 2011 edition marks ten years of the BHRThe tenth anniversary edition of the Boston Haitian Reporter hit newsstands across the region on Wednesday, May 11. The edition carries a special section dedicated to the inaugural Boston Haitian Honors event, which will be held on Thursday, May 12 at the Boston Seaport Hotel. Honors will be presented to five outstanding community leaders from Boston's blossoming Haitian community to celebrated the newspaper's milestone and to mark the opening celebration in a long weekend packed with Haitian Heritage Month events.

You can download the full edition of the BHR May edition (PDF format) here.

On May 12th at the Boston Seaport Hotel, the Boston Haitian Reporter will commemorate its first decade in business by launching Boston Haitian Honors, an annual event recognizing exemplary community and civic leaders of Haitian descent who have demonstrated leadership, unrelenting commitment to community service and volunteerism.

The event is co-chaired by Senator John F. Kerry, Governor Deval L. Patrick, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Dr. Paul Farmer, who will attend the event and offer special remarks to the luncheon crowd, which is expected to draw roughly 300 attendees.

Is this the authentic face of Toussaint L'Ouverture?

Toussaint L'Ouverture portrait by Girardin

“Images are not arguments, rarely even lead to proof, but the mind, craves them, and, of late more than ever, the keenest experiments find twenty images better than one, especially if contradictory; since the human mind has already learned to deal in contradictions.”
— Henry Adams, A Law of Acceleration

If there is one important historical figure from the early nineteenth century who has been consistently misrepresented through imagery, it would have to be Toussaint L’Ouverture. One would think that as a minimum, someone of his ilk and significance to Haitian history and the overall contribution to humanity’s fight for equality, freedom and dignity, a proper physical representation of his figure would be easily accessible. However, that has not been the case.

As we know, images are powerful tools. Unfortunately, they are often conjured and perpetuated by the victors of history, and are thus prone to reimaging and propaganda. Predictably, the essence of Toussaint over the years has suffered a vast distortion and vilification that has been seared into our minds as we remember him as a figure that was either homely and diminutive, or at times ostentatious and imposing – perhaps misrepresentative of his legacy.

In March of last year, after Haiti’s tragic earthquake, a friend of mine, researcher, Mario Valdes, whom I had the opportunity to work with at PBS Frontline, emailed me a photograph of what may be the only historically accurate painting of Toussaint, shattering any and all previous notions I held about his physical appearance and affect.

Final results of legislative races delayed as questions persist

The certification of legislative election results from last month's runoff election will be delayed after U.S. and U.N. diplomats raised questions over the victories of more than a dozen candidates, Haitian officials said Monday.

U.S. diplomats said last week they wanted a public explanation for how Haiti's election commission declared victories for 17 Chamber of Deputies candidates and one Senate candidate after they ended up with far more votes than they had when preliminary returns were announced April 4.

Hitting the streets for Haiti's health

Walk for Haiti 2011The 8th annual Urban Walk for Haiti was held on Saturday, April 2 at St. Paul’s Church Courtyard in Cambridge. The annual fundraiser benefits Partners In Health’s work in Haiti. Festivities included a special performance by Afro-diaspora female group Zili Misik.

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