Annual Haitian Heritage Month Celebration MAY 1-31

           The Month of May carries distinctive dates that are important to Haitians and people of Haitian descent:
           May 20 1743, Haitian General Toussaint Louverture, later known as the first of the Blacks, was born.  Between 1771 and 1803, he successfully initiated the first organized large scale military battles against the Spanish, British and French armies. Although he was ultimately captured in an ambush and died in France, his vision and actions paved the way for his generals to successfully lead the country to independence.
 
May 16-18 1803, traditional rivals Jean Jacques Dessalines, leader of the blacks and Alexandre Petion, leader of the mulattros met in the city of Arcahaie and agreed to fight as a united front against Napoleon Bonaparte’s colonial army. This pact sealed the fate of the French rule in Haiti and led to the creation of the first Black Republic in the world in 1804.

May 18 1803, adoption of the official blue and red Haitian flag with the motto: “IN UNITY THERE IS STRENGTH” by the Haitian leaders at the end of the congress of Arcahaie.

 THE HAITIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS  WILL BE CELEBRATING, FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR, THE HAITIAN HERITAGE MONTH (MAY 1-31,2001) WITH A SERIES OF CULTURAL EVENTS ORGANIZED BY THE HAITIAN-AMERICANS UNITED, INC. IN COLLABORATION WITH MANY OTHER HAITIAN ORGANIZATIONS.