A group of Haitian-Americans were aware that Houston and several major cities in Texas were growing more and more attractive to Haitian-Americans. They, which includes co-founder James Pierre, decided to launch an organization to help keep Haitian culture and traditions alive. Houston Haitians United have mixers, cultural nights and other culture-driven events. They’ve even taken part in relief drives to help members of the Haitian-American community (and others) affected by Hurricane Harvey. The organization even sent a representative for Haiti at the Houston Caribbean Queen Pageant.

In Part I of our interview, we discussed the beginnings of the organization. In this last installment of the interview, Pierre shares his vision for HHU (as the organization is fondly called), and his perspective of Haitian-American population growth in the State of Texas.

Kreyolicious: Besides the popular cities like Houston, Dallas, Fort-Worth, Plano, Desoto, where in Texas do you anticipate a Haitian-American population increase?
The aforementioned Killeen Texas has grown exponentially, there are a lot of active military that relocate there and bring their families to Fort Hood which is the nearby military base. There is now a Haitian Restaurant in Killeen as of this year.

Kreyolicious: Do most Haitian-Americans who are in Houston go back to their state of origin after a while, or are they pretty much permanent in Texas?
It varies I’ve been here fourteen years and I’ve seen folks come and go, and this was before the restaurants, Kompa promoters and the conception of HHU as a hub for all things Haitian in Houston. Before that most people would get homesick and move back before interacting with the community. More than often people stay because of Houston’s of jobs, economic stability, and very affordable cost of living.

Above: Houston Haitians United sent these beauties to represent Haiti at the Houston Caribbean Queen Pageant this past summer!

Kreyolicious: Where does HHU see itself as an organization five years from now?
Houston Haitians United: Our plans for HHU are to continue to promote and uplift Haitians and our culture by creating and providing resources for the well-being and advancement of Haitians in Houston and everywhere our organization can reach. We want to continue to highlight Haitian culture and provide an avenue to which local Haitians, Haitian Businesses and Haitian organizations can network. We’re hoping that the buzz and locality of this organization will help a lot of relocating Haitians feel at home here in Houston, as well as be the driving force to help those Haitians who have been here for a while.

This concludes PART II of the interview with the co-founder of Houston Haitians United. CLICK HERE to visit the organization’s website| Houston Haitians United on Instagram |

Is there a correlation between geography and creativity? For New York-born Natalie Holly, the answer is a firm “yes”. The writer-producer-filmmaker witnesses her creative juices boiling beyond temperature, after she made the move from the USA to Cap Haitien.

Kreyolicious: So you moved to Haiti recently? Had you been to Haiti prior to the move?

Yes. I’d been to Haiti a few times prior to moving there. However, my longest stretch in the country was three months.

Kreyolicious: Did you feel isolated at first?

I am very blessed to have a lot of family living in Haiti, including my sister who had been living here a year already, before I moved. So I have to say I never felt completely isolated. When the going got tough, I generally had someone I could run and vent to.

Often, those of us in the diaspora tend to romanticize our Ayiti Cherie. The reality is, no matter how well you have mastered your French or Kreyol, you are still noticeably a foreigner, which can at worst, make you a target for people who may not have the best intentions, and at the very least make for some uncomfortable exchanges and experiences.

Kreyolicious: So, how’s the assimilation process for you?

Identity—how one self-identifies and how one is perceived – is an interesting concept. As a Haitian-American, and frankly for anyone of Haitian descent who decides to move here, you may be expected to adjust faster and to understand what is naturally foreign to you. You may be given less of a grace period than the foreigner who has no Haitian lineage. In that way, I found that I didn’t always feel as free here as I have felt in other countries…Free to ask questions, to be naive, and to explore. Often friends and family project their own fears—some of which are valid—onto us. The liberation I had elsewhere, in some ways, did not always exist for me in Haiti. However, keeping this in mind, I was still determined to carve out a life for myself. The good, bad, and ugly experiences all taught me very valuable lessons. I had to accept that while Haiti is a part of me, I will never be fully Haitian and there will be many aspects of our beautiful country and people that I will never fully understand.

So assimilation in this context, I find, is not a realistic goal. I think “adjustment” would be a better term here. I’ve adjusted over time, and as a result, am far better equipped to switch gears and handle various situations as they come.

Kreyolicious: From what I gather, moving to Haiti has really gotten your creative juices stewing. What are some of the things you’ve been up to?

In my last semester of graduate school at the Actors Studio Drama School in NY where I was studying acting, I started writing a screenplay that takes place in post-earthquake Haiti. Immediately following the earthquake I was drawn to the accounts of children who had survived being trapped under rubble. Through that curiosity, I developed a character—a little girl who survives being trapped under a supermarket with the help of an imaginary friend. Still, I didn’t feel I could write a believable story without having truly experienced the regular ins and outs of daily life in that environment. Five years later, that screenplay became KAFOU—a translation of the word “crossroad”—a six-part dramatic television series. What started as a single story about a little girl under rubble, evolved into several intersecting stories that take you into the lives of an ensemble cast of unlikely and resilient characters: A young woman rebuilding her father’s company after a promising career abroad…A motorcycle taxi driver lured into a kidnapping scheme while caring for his newly disabled brother…An American missionary and her involvement in child trafficking at a local orphanage—and a foreign government official managing aid and faulty policies in the country. Each of them is forced to make some very tough decisions under difficult circumstances, as their lives intersect at a moral crossroad. Hence the name, KAFOU.

I am very blessed to have Haitian-Canadian producer, Laurence Magloire of FastForward Haiti who produced the documentary Des Hommes et des Dieux (Of Men and of Gods), attached to the project. We were recently invited to attend the Caribbean Tales Incubator (CTI) at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, which is an-end-to-end process that supports projects from concept through production and marketing to sales of content. Though we did not win the Big Pitch, an event organized by CTI, we were selected as an audience favorite and were able to pitch KAFOU to potential investors and executive producers there and later in Montreal. To learn more about KAFOU, you can check out our website, and our Facebook page.

Above: A still from KAFOU, the series.

Kreyolicious: That’s so cool. What else have you up your sleeves?

I was also recently awarded a grant from the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church to begin research for a documentary on my great-great-grandfather, Bishop James Theodore Holly, the first African-American bishop of the Episcopal Church. Long before Marcus Garvey’s ‘Back to Africa” movement, Bishop Holly, an abolitionist and peer of other historical figures like Frederick Douglass, led a group of African Americans and Canadians who emigrated to Haiti in the late 1800s, making Haiti the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church with over 83,700 members and over 100 congregations to date. Bishop Holly also wrote the book Defender of the Race, and co-authored Black Separatism and The Caribbean in 1860. Links and alliances within the black diaspora like those between Haiti and African Americans continue to fascinate me.

So, my decision to move to Haiti has proved to be one that continues to feed my creativity and intellect. For that, I remain grateful.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE KAFOU SERIES WEBSITE | CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE KAFOU SERIES WEBPAGE

Haitian-Americans were styling throughout New York Fashion Week. Check it in this special edition of Kreyolicious Fashion.

Here is fashion industry maven Rajni Lucienne Jacques as she swept through New York Fashion Week. She wore a huge faux fur coat, and had her shoulder length hair in a ponytail. When you study her career, you see that she’s been one persistent and determined chick. She started off as an intern and is now one of the most respected fashion editors and influencers in the industry. As an editor at Racked, you know she can’t possibly miss this event. That girl Rajni Lucienne.

Vicky Jeudy attended the Vivienne Tam and Sun Jung Wang shows. These are some of the looks that Vicky sported. She wore a black-and-white dress at Vivienne Tam, and wore a black spaghetti dress. She kept warm with a shawl thrown over her shoulders. It’s been a spectacular year for Vicky Jeudy. Recently, she won yet another SAG Award for her work in Orange Is The New Black. Let’s not forget that she’s going to star in the film adaptation of Caroline’s Wedding, Edwidge Danticat’s short story. That girl, Vicky.

While these other two ladies were dazzling on one side of the coast, fashion bomb and industry influencer Claire Sulmers looked gorgeous in a pink dress suit on the West Coast. She was in attendance at the Colgate Optic White event. She wore strapped sandals with some midnight-dark hater blockers. Claire is the editor of TheBomblife, and the creator of The Fashion Bomb, two popular fashion destinations for fashionistas on the lookout for the next trend.

There you have it folks, Haitian-American fashion mavens at New York Fashion Week and in Los Angeles.

The founders of Houston Haitians United may emphasize the name Houston in their organization’s name, but it isn’t just the Haitian-American population in Houston that they seek to unite, but all the residents of Haitian descent in the State of Texas. When Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, Houston Haitians United members and volunteered rallied to help, and held several drives to help those affected.

James Pierre, one of the co-founders of the organization gave details on what inspired it, and what the plans are for its expansion.

Kreyolicious: What’s the Haitian-American community in Houston like…in Texas in general like?
Houston, Texas is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With that being said the Haitian community is growing at a rapid rate. Earliest Haitian citizens of the Houston community have been here since the 1970’s. There is an roughly estimated amount of between 40,000 – 70,000 Haitians or people of Haitian descent in the Houston metropolitan area. The cities of San Antonio, Austin, Killeen and Dallas also have growing Haitian Communities, with indicators such as Churches, Restaurants etc.

Kreyolicious: How did Houston Haitians United get off the ground?
Houston Haitians United: In the Fall of 2015, three gentlemen by the names of Sledge Leonidas, Jean Michel Celestin, and James Pierre came together to organize and establish proper representation for the rapidly growing Haitian community in Houston, Texas. These gentlemen recognized the ever growing gap amongst people of Haitian descent, elder Haitians, young Haitians, the Haitian churches, and the distance between fellow Caribbean islands here in the city. The musical duo LaFamille Royal, which consists of two HHU founders Sledge and Michel, had been hosting Haitian Flag Day events as well as other social events geared towards the celebration of Haitian culture. To them that was not enough, they desired a greater unified voice and representation. Simultaneously, James, had aspirations of establishing Young Adult Haitians United for professionals working in the city. A first meeting was set at the then Caribbean Fingers, a Haitian American restaurant in Katy, Texas. The turnout was exceptional and a series of other planned meetings took place so that everyone could voice their opinions and concerns on the current state of our community. There was such great a sense of pride and togetherness that it became the fuel needed to uniting together and doing something great for our people. In every movement, timing is everything! On September 14, at the office of HHU Legal Counsel Mac-Pierre Louis, Houston Haitians United was named and formed. Houston Haitians United was created out of the strong desire to unify all Haitians in the greater Houston area and keeping strong ties to our beloved island of Haiti! So, with all the Father’s blessings, our journey to fulfilling our mission statement has begun!

Above: Houston Haitians United members gathering relief supplies for Houston residents affected by Hurricane Harvey earlier this Fall.

Kreyolicious: What advice would you give to those who’d like to move to Houston?
Many people who relocate to Houston have reservations about moving and surviving without their Haitian culture in a place that’s foreign to them. I can proudly say that the community here has a lot of momentum and is growing rapidly. So, Houston is definitely somewhere you can relocate to and feel at home. There are five Haitian churches and two Haitian restaurants. Furthermore, promoters bring Haitian bands at least twice a year.

This concludes PART I of the interview with Houston Haitians United. Watch out for PART II. Meanwhile…you know the drill—

CLICK HERE to visit the Houston Haitians United website!| Houston Haitians United on Instagram |