Little Haiti To Be Renamed Little Haiti
May 26, 2016
On Thursday, the City of Miami Commission unanimously passed a resolution to officially name the neighborhood between 79th and 54th streets and NW 6th and NE 2nd Avenues as "Little Haiti." To most, officially recognizing "Little Haiti" is a no-brainer and a symbolic gesture that acknowledges the impact Haitian immigrants have had on our community.
But for real estate developer Phillip E. Breckinridge, the idea of officially naming the area that has been known as "Little Haiti" for 40 years "Little Haiti" is a travesty and bad for business. He believes the area should be known by its original, non-ethnic name "Lemon City".
"We need to respect the history of the area," said Mr. Breckinridge who purchased several investment properties in the Haitian community about 5-years ago and has watched his property's values stagnate due to the continued presence of Haitians, Bahamians, and African Americans in the area.
The area was initially called Lemon City in the 1800's when it was founded by several families. Starting in the 1970's, however, the community became known as "Little Haiti" after a wave of Haitian immigrants immigrated to the neighborhood and began to build the rich and vibrant cultural community it is today.
Speaking before the City Commission, Mr. Breckinridge and representatives of his group Developers objecting to unnecessary and costly historical enactments, asked the City Commission and the people of Little Haiti to "respect history.”
When asked by the Commission to address criticisms levied at him and others that their objection to Little Haiti's recognition was really an effort to minimize the ethnic identity of the neighborhood in order to hasten gentrification and increase property values, Mr. Breckinridge balked.
"There is really nothing racist or nefarious at all about our objecting to the name "Little Haiti," replied Mr. Breckinridge before mentioning that he had "a ton" of black friends.
"This is about respect for history," said Mr. Breckinridge who noted that he also supported similar proposals to force people to start calling things by their former, out-of-use names, including one that would cause Mohammad Ali to be renamed "Cassius Clay", and another that would change the name of New York to "New Amsterdam". "This is about tradition."
After the vote, an enraged Mr. Breckinridge returned to the area now officially known as Little Haiti and, in a last ditch effort, began to spray paint the words "LEMON CITY" on every sign, wall, or marker he could find. When confronted, Mr. Breckinridge said that he would never stop his efforts to have the land renamed Lemon City, noting that in order for him to get a reasonable return on his investment he needed at least a 40% increase in white residents to the area over the next 3-years. "White people just don't want to buy luxury condos in a place called Little Haiti," said Mr. Breckinridge candidly. "It's nothing personal."
800 Academics from the Caribbean are expected in Haiti
From June 5 to June 11, 2016, the Association of the Caribbean Studies (ACS) will have its 41st annual conference in Haiti around the theme "Caribbean Movements in the world: people, ideas, culture, arts and economic durability." The launching ceremony will take place on June 5th at the Marriott Hotel.
The African Union has 54 member states. And soon 55. Next month, Haiti will officially become a member
Yep, Haiti — in the Caribbean — will become part of Africa. It will be the first non-African country to join the AU bloc.
Culturally, though, a lot of people feel like the two are already joined.
“Haiti always calls itself ... a little piece of Africa in the Caribbean, so I think it’s only fitting that now they made it official,” said Garry Pierre-Pierre, publisher of the Brooklyn-basedHaitian Times.
“We share so much of the African culture from religious practices to the way we interact,” said Pierre-Pierre. “When I lived [in West Africa], it reminded me so much of Haiti, it was uncanny.”
The primary benefit for Haiti in joining the AU will be the economic ties.
“Haiti wants to develop a lot of industries, tourism one of them,” said Pierre-Pierre, a former New York Times reporter. “I think there are a lot of opportunities for commerce, for raw materials that are plentiful in Africa.”
It works both ways.
“As Africa develops industries it will be looking for markets, and Haiti will be one of them,” said Pierre-Pierre.
Beyond the economic ties that bind, joining the AU is for most Haitians a symbolic step — the unionhas been discussed for several years. Pierre-Pierre thinks that in 20 years, Haitians will look back on the decision and say, “What a brilliant move this was. What took it so long?”
The Secretary of the Youth receives a South Korean delegation
The Secretary of the Youth, Sports and Civic Action, Abel Nazaire, received a delegation from the International Youth Fellowship (IYF), a South Korean youth organization committed to change the conditions of young people, to bring joy to their homes and transform the future in numerous countries.
New Haitian Ambassador to the OAS
Last Thursday, Luis Almagro, the General Secretary of the OAS, along with Assistant General Secretary Nestor Mendez, received the letters of credentials for the new permanent Haitian representative to the OAS, Ambassador Jean-Victor Harvel Jean Baptiste. In this post, Jean Baptiste replaces Ambassador Bocchit Edmond, who was transferred to London where he is going to represent the Republic of Haiti, after having spent four and-a-half years at the OAS.
Haitian Red Cross throws the operation anti-Zika
Last Wednesday, at the Haitian Red Cross (CRH) training center in Port-au-Prince, an anti-Zika operation was launched.
The Haitian Red Cross will mobilize a vast operation which includes, mobilizing the community, the distribution of materials and the fumigation of certain zones identified by the Ministry of Health as being vulnerable communities with regard to the Zika virus.
This action plan has the backing of the American Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross, Red Crescent and UNICEF.
It should reminded that the last time the ministry updated the media on the number of Zika cases, there were about 2,000 cases in the country at the time.
The Cholera Epidemic continues to cause fatalities in Haiti
Health authorities confirmed last week the death of 8 people who contracted cholera during the first 3 weeks of May.
Three of those deaths occurred in health facilities and the other five were in the community, indicated Katilia Pierre, a representative of the Minister of Public Health (MSPP).
Between May 1st and May 21st, a total of 1,666 cases were recorded by health institutions. Out of those, 1,397 were hospitalized, informed Pierre. She added that four departments are on red alert for having recorded at least 10 cases of cholera and one death over a one week period.
Haiti - Delivery of the first urban solar power plant
GENINOV Group, a Canadian consulting engineering firm, with a subsidiary established in Haiti since 2009, has delivered to the Cellule Energie of the Ministry of Transport (MTPTC), his first complete solar system with a capacity of 100 kW to permanently illuminate the various places of Champ de Mars. The realization of this integrated high-tech system designed by GENINOV involves several renowned local and international actors. This pilot project was funded by the World Bank, which supports the actions of the Cellule Energie and Electricity of Haiti (EdH) to provide sustainable solutions to the major energy challenges of Haiti.
Enersa, specialized in the design and implementation of photovoltaic infrastructur served as the right arm in the building and installation of the required infrastructure. The solar panels provided by Yingli and other electrical accessories are secured on the roof of Ciné Triomphe with the help of specialized partners such as Greentec and Electrotech. The photovoltaic component consists of 336 modules of 305 Weach, providing a total power of 102.5 kW, which will reduce the carbon footprint on the environment by 120 tonnes annually.
The solar panels are coupled to a containerized Intensium® Max 20E energy storage system, the latest generation of lithium-ion batteries powered by Saft, a world renowned company in design and manufacture of high technology batteries for industry . This facility will store the energy collected by the solar panels during periods of sunshine to power the entire Champ deMars the day and night. The autonomy offered by this assembly is estimated at 38 hours.
The power conversion system (DRI-100) was provided by Princeton Power Systems, a US based company with global stature, specializing in the design and manufacture of technology products for energy storage and microgrid operations. Princeton Power Systems is represented in Haiti by Home Control, a GENINOV’s partner in the research and testing of alternative solutions. The integrated monitoring system EMOS (energy monitoring and operating system) provided also by Princeton allows to constantly monitor and control the installation and perform remote interventions in order to maintain a stable, optimal and efficient supply.