Haitian Appreciation Thread
- Thread starter Fatboi1
- Start date
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Veteran
Thanks, wow. Wasn't aware of him or his contributions to that industry.
Always good reading about the super achievers in the diaspora, operating at the top of their fields.
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Jan 18, 2023
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Thanks, good news.
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‘Seeking Mavis Beacon’ Director Jazmin Jones Investigates the Story of the World’s Most Famous and Fictitious Typing Teacher
'Seeking Mavis Beacon,' a new Sundance documentary, examines the story of the woman behind the famous typing program
variety.com
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'Festival of resistance': Haiti jazzfest sparks hope in crisis-hit capital
- Jan 28, 2024 Updated
The international jazz festival was postponed in 2022 and then relocated to the northern city of Cap-Haitien last year over security concerns in Port-au-Prince, where the United Nations estimates that gangs control as much as 80 percent of the area.
"This is the festival of resistance to everything that's happening, our way of saying that we believe -- and want to move forward," Milena Sandler, one of the organizers of the festival, told AFP.
The event, in its 17th edition and ending Sunday, gives residents of Port-au-Prince "the hope that they can dream, live together," Sandler said.
"The city is not dead despite everything," she added.
Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, has been in turmoil for years, with armed gangs growing increasingly powerful and unleashing brutal violence, leaving the economy and public health system in tatters.
A recent UN report said homicides and kidnappings in the country had more than doubled last year.
In response to the security challenges, the 2024 PAPJAZZ festival was shortened to four days from eight, and concerts only held in a relatively safe residential neighborhood.
Stages were set up outside the Karibe Hotel, which hosts UN offices and where the visiting artists were housed.
Volunteers and national police officers ensured security around the venue.
Sometimes seated, sometimes on their feet, the audience -- mostly expats and middle-class Haitians -- danced and sang each night, with groups performing local "Rara" carnival music in between the acts.
- 'Resilience' -
"Despite the challenges, the festival bears witness to an impressive resilience. It's a celebration of Haitian cultural richness," spectator Esmeralda Milce, who works in marketing, told AFP.Milce said she was particularly excited to see Haitian artist Beethova Obas, whom she hadn't seen perform in over a decade.
"People are in a festive spirit," rejoiced Samantha Rabel, a young doctor.
Performers at the festival included foreign artists such as Cameroon-born American Richard Bona and Frenchman Ludovic Louis, as well as Haitian musicians based in-country or from the diaspora.
According to the Haiti Jazz Foundation organizing group, PAPJAZZ welcomed between 550 and 850 guests each evening from Thursday to Saturday.
Others flocked to see emerging musicians at free "after-show" concerts, held in three restaurants in the Petion-Ville neighborhood, which drew large crowds, according to an AFP correspondent.
The free concerts normally held in public squares and universities were excluded from this year's festivities
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Starts at 4 minute mark
Jan 30, 2024
*don't know what her natural hair color is, but she will be full grey by the election. hehhhehehe
Jan 30, 2024
*don't know what her natural hair color is, but she will be full grey by the election. hehhhehehe
Last edited:
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Jan 2024
Chef who fled Haiti cooks rich cuisine at Greenfield pop-up
The smell of crushed eggplants and sizzling red peppers wafts in the air of the Mesa Verde kitchen. But it’s not the signature cuisine of this Mexican restaurant in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Amy McMahan, the owner, scoops the dish called legume from a 10-gallon wok into a metal serving tray.
McMahan is Vietnamese-American and recognizes a kinship through the food — and how to keep it from spoiling in both countries' tropical climates.
“I think both Vietnam and Haiti share this kind of cuisine that has a lot of citrus and vinegar, so that it helps to mitigate against the heat,” McMahan said.
McMahan is lending the wok station in her kitchen to a 32-year-old Haitian migrant known as Chef Tina, who’s staying at the Days Inn shelter in Greenfield. We’re not using Tina's full name because she’s concerned about obtaining legal status in the country; she doesn’t want to jeopardize her application.
Tina has three comfort dishes including legume she’s hoping will soothe her customers on this brisk, rainy fall Sunday. McMahan has been helping her prep the dishes all day.
“I just put out the soup joumou and we have the rice with lima beans, which — I do not speak Creole — but I believe it's diri ak pwa. And then I'm getting the sauce ti-malice,” McMahan said.
Tina said soup joumou, also known as pumpkin soup, holds a special meaning in Haitian history.
“This is an independence dish in my country,” she said, in Haitian Creole.
McMahan said that dish was historically reserved for slave masters in Haiti.
“So [after] the revolution happened [in 1804], it was pumpkin-soup time,” McMahan said.
Chef Tina said she left her home in Port-au-Prince because a gang demanded money she earned from her small business. When she refused, they killed her father and threatened to harm the rest of her family.
“It wasn’t my family that was the problem,” Tina said. “It was me, so I felt like I had to leave.”
She fled to Chile for six years, where she cooked Haitian food at a restaurant. Then, she went to Mexico for a year until she crossed the border and found her way up to Massachusetts.
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Tina was introduced to McMahan through a friend, Pamela Adams, the executive pastry chef at UMass. Adams speaks Haitian Creole and was helping out at the shelter.
That’s when McMahan said she saw an opportunity for her and Tina.
“This is mentorship until she gets, you know, papers and can work. We were able to trade,” McMahan said.
The trade: Chef Tina lends her expertise in cooking Haitian food, in exchange for McMahan letting Tina the restaurant space after hours. Tina and other migrants gather there to commune and relax away from the shelter.
The pop-up opens at 5 p.m. every Sunday, McMahan said, for the foreseeable future. It’s $12 a plate and the profits go to buy things the Haitian migrants need, like baby formula.
Kerlie Gedeon, the first customer of the night, walks in from the rain 15 minutes after opening, simply elated.
“My aunt told me that there's going to be Haitian food in Greenfield,” Gedeon said. “I said, ‘Where?’ She wasn't sure where, but she said somewhere near Chapman. I said, ‘OK, well, I'm going to go find it.’”
Gedeon is from neighboring Turners Falls, and of Haitian descent.
“It’s just so fantastic. I hope it's able to stay on like this, because you can't really find Haitian cuisine in western Mass.,” Gedeon said. “You'd have to go all the way back to Boston to get Haitian cuisine. So this is it.”
Gedeon received the plastic bag wrapped with her favorite meals — legume and rice — and whispered, almost in disbelief, “Oh, my goodness. It's home.”
She said she had to meet Chef Tina.
“I [told her] that I love the idea. The food smells wonderful. And I'm so glad that she's doing this. And I'm going to do it every Sunday,” Gedeon said.
More people — including those who are less familiar with Haitian food — started trickling in and ordering off the pop-up's makeshift menu.
Kate Hunter, McMahan’s roommate, went for a cup of the pumpkin soup.
"It's super flavorful," she said.
Earlier, Hunter tried pikliz, a cabbage side dish marinated with scotch bonnet pepper.
“I said it was too spicy and it felt too spicy, but I kept eating it and I got used to it,” she said.
During the dinner, Chef Tina runs out of the kitchen with plates of food for a group of Haitian migrants gathered near the back of the restaurant. Their plates are free
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@mson
thanks, I see elected officials there from all the areas where we have numbers.
But was surprised to see the lady representing Chandler, ARIZONA ?????
@Mega,
thanks...good to read about him putting a unique touch to a dish that is linked to that city. It would have never occurred to me that anybody would have a bar that serves cheeseteaks.
thanks, I see elected officials there from all the areas where we have numbers.
But was surprised to see the lady representing Chandler, ARIZONA ?????
@Mega,
thanks...good to read about him putting a unique touch to a dish that is linked to that city. It would have never occurred to me that anybody would have a bar that serves cheeseteaks.