Long Island Haitian Americans wait, worry and hope for Haiti
“I think now's the time for us to really get serious about what is happening to human beings,” said Haitian community activist Mimi Pierre Johnson, of Elmont, about the ongoing violence in Haiti. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
For Uniondale resident Marie Sonia Saint Rose-Bienvil, her native Haiti's ongoing gang violence and near-anarchy is personal, almost like a “death in the family.”
Saint Rose-Bienvil's grief and anger at the thousands of Haitians displaced and scores killed is interspersed, she said, with worry for friends and close relatives in the country's embattled capital of Port-au-Prince.
“The feelings are very, very tense,” said Saint Rose-Bienvil, co-founder of Solidarite Haitiano-Américaine de Long Island (SHALI), which helps newly arrived Haitians adapt to unfamiliar surroundings.
Like others in Long Island's Haitian American community, violence and bloodshed in the Caribbean country's streets, and significant food insecurity there, have left Saint Rose-Bienvil feeling horrified, but not hopeless. She and others are speaking out, urging more action from the international community to help those victimized by the violence and to stabilize Haiti, the first free Black republic in the West.
“We will come back,” Saint Rose-Bienvil said.
The challenges facing Haiti, which shares a border with the Dominican Republic, are many.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he would step down once a transitional government was established. Gangs hold power in 80% of Port-au-Prince, according to experts' estimates. Gangs recently emptied a pair of Haitian prisons of more than 4,000 inmates. The nation's two international airports were shut down.
After Henry said he would leave office, Kenya stalled plans to deploy at least 1,000 officers to the country. By Wednesday, President William Ruto said the African nation will steer a U.N. Security Support Mission in Haiti.
The United Nations' food agency's director, Jean-Martin Bauer, recently said 4 million people in Haiti are dealing with “acute food insecurity.”
The gang violence has also displaced more than 15,000 people, the U.N. said.
Meanwhile, among Long Island's Haitian community — roughly 22,000 in Nassau and 11,300 in Suffolk, according to a recent American Community Survey — many share Saint Rose-Bienvil's heightened sense of urgency.
“I think now's the time for us to really get serious about what is happening to human beings,” said Mimi Pierre Johnson, of Elmont, a Haitian American and a community activist.
On Wednesday, other Haitian American community leaders and activists gathered in Elmont, where they discussed the crisis, shared how it has affected them personally and brainstormed ways to help.
They spoke about the lack of anything resembling a working government and law enforcement being unable to stem the violence. They agreed there should be a multinational effort. Some said that the United States should stand with Haiti just like it has done for Ukraine and Israel.
Others, like Marie Pereira, a lawyer from Franklin Square, urged “outside intervention” but remained concerned about what it would mean to the country's ability to operate as a sovereign nation in the long term.
“And I hope that it's done with love,” said Pereira, who helps Haitian immigrants with work authorization requests in the United States.
Rev. Edy Bichotte, 71, the senior pastor of Bethany French Baptist Church in Elmont, said because of the violence, his relatives have warned him: “Don't come back.”
For decades, said Rodrigue Belot, of Elmont, he has sent money to Haiti for investment in a construction firm. But just two months ago, he lost the firm to gangs, he said.
“Since 1975, I've been putting my wealth, my money in there,” said Belot, 70.
Democratic Nassau County Legis. Carrié Solages, who is of Haitian descent, met Wednesday at his Elmont office with other members of the Haitian American community. Solages said he initially “felt helpless” when it came to finding a way to help Haiti's many people in peril.
To bring additional light to the situation, he appeared in a TikTok video last week. In it, he held up the Haitian flag in front of the headquarters of the United Nations in Manhattan and asked for the U.S. and U.N. to intervene.
“We as a Haitian community must speak up,” he said in the video. “And we must have one voice with one message.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the video had garnered more than 45,000 views and had upward of 460 comments.
After the video went viral, Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat representing parts of Nassau and Queens, included Solages in a video conference with other Haitian American leaders across the country to discuss the crisis.
The island nation is at a crucible, Solages said Wednesday at his office. If the rule of law is returned and there is a stable government in place, the possibilities for the island nation are vast and can include more tourism and agriculture, he said. On the other hand, the Nassau legislator added, if the incorrect steps are taken, Haiti could become a heightened national security issue for the U.S.
“So you could have a flow of drugs and guns as you already see increased, and that could cause more disruption in the region,” he said in an interview. “So we can't afford that.”
Mimi Pierre Johnson said seeing the videos of the violence taking place in Haiti weighed on her.
But what keeps her and other activists going, she said, is the drive for change. She wants Haitians to decide who governs them once order is restored. She backs strengthening immigration avenues for Haitians who want to come to the U.S. And Pierre Johnson said she is looking to support those in elected office who share, or at least understand, her concerns.
“When I think about how do I vote, how do I get involved, and how do I participate? These are the things that are on my mind,” she said.
With AP
For Uniondale resident Marie Sonia Saint Rose-Bienvil, her native Haiti's ongoing gang violence and near-anarchy is personal, almost like a “death in the family.”
Saint Rose-Bienvil's grief and anger at the thousands of Haitians displaced and scores killed is interspersed, she said, with worry for friends and close relatives in the country's embattled capital of Port-au-Prince.
“The feelings are very, very tense,” said Saint Rose-Bienvil, co-founder of Solidarite Haitiano-Américaine de Long Island (SHALI), which helps newly arrived Haitians adapt to unfamiliar surroundings.
Like others in Long Island's Haitian American community, violence and bloodshed in the Caribbean country's streets, and significant food insecurity there, have left Saint Rose-Bienvil feeling horrified, but not hopeless. She and others are speaking out, urging more action from the international community to help those victimized by the violence and to stabilize Haiti, the first free Black republic in the West.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Many in the Haitian American community on Long Island are looking for ways to help people imperiled in Haiti during the current chaos.
- They are also calling for international intervention, but with some concerned about how it could affect Haiti maintaining control of its affairs.
- There are roughly 22,000 people of Haitian descent living in Nassau County, according to a recent American Community Survey. In Suffolk, there are approximately 11,300.
“We will come back,” Saint Rose-Bienvil said.
Crisis-fueled challenges in Haiti
The challenges facing Haiti, which shares a border with the Dominican Republic, are many.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he would step down once a transitional government was established. Gangs hold power in 80% of Port-au-Prince, according to experts' estimates. Gangs recently emptied a pair of Haitian prisons of more than 4,000 inmates. The nation's two international airports were shut down.
Democratic Nassau County Legis. Carrié Solages, second from left, in his Elmont office Wednesday discussing the crisis in Haiti with other members of Long Island's Haitian American community. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
After Henry said he would leave office, Kenya stalled plans to deploy at least 1,000 officers to the country. By Wednesday, President William Ruto said the African nation will steer a U.N. Security Support Mission in Haiti.
The United Nations' food agency's director, Jean-Martin Bauer, recently said 4 million people in Haiti are dealing with “acute food insecurity.”
The gang violence has also displaced more than 15,000 people, the U.N. said.
Meanwhile, among Long Island's Haitian community — roughly 22,000 in Nassau and 11,300 in Suffolk, according to a recent American Community Survey — many share Saint Rose-Bienvil's heightened sense of urgency.
“I think now's the time for us to really get serious about what is happening to human beings,” said Mimi Pierre Johnson, of Elmont, a Haitian American and a community activist.
Concerns, and ways to help
On Wednesday, other Haitian American community leaders and activists gathered in Elmont, where they discussed the crisis, shared how it has affected them personally and brainstormed ways to help.
They spoke about the lack of anything resembling a working government and law enforcement being unable to stem the violence. They agreed there should be a multinational effort. Some said that the United States should stand with Haiti just like it has done for Ukraine and Israel.
Others, like Marie Pereira, a lawyer from Franklin Square, urged “outside intervention” but remained concerned about what it would mean to the country's ability to operate as a sovereign nation in the long term.
“And I hope that it's done with love,” said Pereira, who helps Haitian immigrants with work authorization requests in the United States.
Rev. Edy Bichotte, 71, the senior pastor of Bethany French Baptist Church in Elmont, said because of the violence, his relatives have warned him: “Don't come back.”
For decades, said Rodrigue Belot, of Elmont, he has sent money to Haiti for investment in a construction firm. But just two months ago, he lost the firm to gangs, he said.
“Since 1975, I've been putting my wealth, my money in there,” said Belot, 70.
Democratic Nassau County Legis. Carrié Solages, who is of Haitian descent, met Wednesday at his Elmont office with other members of the Haitian American community. Solages said he initially “felt helpless” when it came to finding a way to help Haiti's many people in peril.
To bring additional light to the situation, he appeared in a TikTok video last week. In it, he held up the Haitian flag in front of the headquarters of the United Nations in Manhattan and asked for the U.S. and U.N. to intervene.
“We as a Haitian community must speak up,” he said in the video. “And we must have one voice with one message.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the video had garnered more than 45,000 views and had upward of 460 comments.
After the video went viral, Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat representing parts of Nassau and Queens, included Solages in a video conference with other Haitian American leaders across the country to discuss the crisis.
The island nation is at a crucible, Solages said Wednesday at his office. If the rule of law is returned and there is a stable government in place, the possibilities for the island nation are vast and can include more tourism and agriculture, he said. On the other hand, the Nassau legislator added, if the incorrect steps are taken, Haiti could become a heightened national security issue for the U.S.
“So you could have a flow of drugs and guns as you already see increased, and that could cause more disruption in the region,” he said in an interview. “So we can't afford that.”
Mimi Pierre Johnson said seeing the videos of the violence taking place in Haiti weighed on her.
But what keeps her and other activists going, she said, is the drive for change. She wants Haitians to decide who governs them once order is restored. She backs strengthening immigration avenues for Haitians who want to come to the U.S. And Pierre Johnson said she is looking to support those in elected office who share, or at least understand, her concerns.
“When I think about how do I vote, how do I get involved, and how do I participate? These are the things that are on my mind,” she said.
With AP
Education: Howard University
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.
Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation; New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting; Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.
