Celebrating Haiti at the White House
Representatives from across the Diaspora converged this past Wednesday, June 22nd, in the White House, as part of the annual National Caribbean-American Legislative Week and celebration at the White House. Members from the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti, and regional business and cultural leaders gathered to highlight the many important contributions of Caribbean-Americans to the United States.
The event included panel discussions featured prominent figures from the Haitian-American community, exploring the community’s contribution to the United States cultural landscape in trade, business, energy, music and an array of other topics. Young emerging leaders such as User Experience Researcher at Google, Nancy Douyon, and, representing South Florida, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), Francesca Menes, both discussed the growing impact of Caribbean-American Millennials in cultivating the political, economic and social fabric of the U.S. On the “Impact of Caribbean Culture on America: Through the Voices of Caribbean American Performing Artists” panel, acclaimed Haitian Jazz artist Emeline Michel also spoke about the influence of Haitian music spanning decades, and its presence at the core of many musical movements in American.
Following the panels, the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti, in collaboration with the Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS), hosted a reception to the delight of the attendees. For the occasion, the Embassy invited Chef Stephan Berrouet-Durand to created Haitian specialty dishes such as, “Soup Joumou” “Chicktaille” “Croquettes de Lam Veritab” “Mais a la Bonne Femme” and “Ti Punch” to the enjoyment of the guests.
The festivities also included a musical performance by Jazz artist, Emeline Michel and singer/songwriter, Dener Ceide. The night ended flawlessly with the audience and artists from all corners of the Caribbean singing along to Bob Marley’s “One Love.”
