Aventura Library's Flag Day Celebration Literary Event
More than fifty people participated in the Haitian Flag Day celebration at the Aventura Library this last Saturday, May 17, 2025. The attending audience was well entertained by the many Haitian authors present at the auditorium. Gifted authors like Daniel Bayard, Patrick Louis, Margareth Papillon, Lyonel Gerdes, Alexandra Jeanty Leclerc, Mireille Sylvain-David, Irsa Vieux, Maryse Denis, Bito Dvid, and Jan Jak Stephen Alexis were at the scene each taking turns to talk about their books with the audience.
Live background music was provided by Ernst Registre, the maestro of Twoybajazz with Garry Metayer and Wolly Saint-Louis Jean as special guest singers at the celebration. Audience participation was quite noticeable through the dynamic Q&A exchanges from the crowd. The event was livestreaming by Harold. Patric Ellancy and Severe Kyrenios from Island T.V. were among the audience filming and interviewing the Haitian authors. In all, it was a successful Flag Day celebration at the Aventura Library.
Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center (TLCC) in the heart of Boston
As we proudly welcome Haitian Heritage Month https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Heritage_Month, we invite you to join us on Tuesday May 20th for the long-awaited Grand Opening of the Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center (TLCC), in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts.
Named in tribute to the life and legacy of Toussaint Louverture, the visionary leader of Haiti’s revolution (born on May 20, 1743), TLCC will celebrate Haitian heritage and the remarkable achievements of the first Black republic to gain its independence and abolish slavery. More than just a cultural center, TLCC will serve as a dynamic gateway to exploring and learning about Haiti’s extraordinary historical and cultural legacy, facilitate connections across communities, and celebrate all that Boston has to offer.
On behalf of the TLCC Executive Committee, please join us, join the Mayor of Boston Michelle Wu, and the President of the Boston City Council Rutzhee Louijeune, and a host of special guests for this Grand Opening: Charlot Lucien.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM 131 Beverly Street, Lovejoy Wharf, Boston, MA (3 minutes walk from the North Station T Station or TD Garden; steps away from Alcove Restaurant, 50 Lovejoy Wharf)
Mingle with fellow supporters of this historic milestone, explore vibrant art exhibitions, get a glimpse of Haiti’s rich history, and culture through some performances and presentations. We look forward to celebrating this momentous occasion with you. Be a part of history!
Haitian singer F-MACK sets sights on becoming Mexico’s ultimate showman
Fermilus Mackenson Fils Lenor moved to Mexico to pursue his music dreams. Now, he’s blending Haitian jazz, soul and R&B with Latin flair—and releasing his debut album.
by Annika Hom May. 14, 2025
THE HAITIAN TIMES
F-MACK performing at Tonal in Mexico City on April 11, 2025. Photo by Annika Hom for The Haitian Times.
Overview:
In Mexico City, Haitian singer F-MACK is chasing a dream sparked by watching Selena as a kid in Port-au-Prince. Blending gospel, jazz, R&B and Latin sounds, he’s building a name with help from mentors, collaborators and fans. Featuring insights from engineers, musicians and cultural leaders, this story charts his rise from church choirs in Haiti to headlining stages across Mexico.
MEXICO CITY— When Fermilus Mackenson Fils Lenor watched the movie “Selena” as a child in Port-au-Prince, he knew he wanted to be an entertainer. One scene stayed with him: Jennifer Lopez, portraying the late Mexican-American icon Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, takes the stage at a packed Mexican festival early in her career. The crowd is skeptical at first, but as Selena begins to sing “Como La Flor,” she wins them over. “‘Como La Flor,’” the Haitian star sang softly from his Mexico City apartment while speaking with The Haitian Times.
“I saw it and said, ‘I want to be that.’”
That childhood dream has taken shape in unexpected ways. Now 35, Lenor—known professionally as F-MACK —performs across Mexico, where he’s building a loyal audience with a distinct sound that fuses R&B, soul, gospel, funk and Caribbean influences. His debut album, Gatear— Spanish for “to crawl” is expected later this year.
“I was right about my dream,” F-MACK said. “I just needed to perfect it.”
F-MACK is a Haitian voice that has been reshaped in Mexico.
He moved from Haiti to the Mexican state of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave six years ago to study at the prestigious Centro de Estudios de Jazz at Universidad Veracruzana. He now lives in Mexico City and has performed at major festivals, including Bahidorá in Las Estacas and Remind GNP in Guadalajara.
Many of his songs seamlessly switch between English and Spanish; some earlier ones are in French and Haitian Creole. His extended play (EP) RENACIDO—Spanish for “reborn”—features two rising tracks and is part of what he calls his artistic evolution. “Now the baby is crawling,” he said of his album provisionally named Gatear, which will be released this year, continuing the metaphor.
I was right about my dream. And I just needed to perfect it.
Fermilus Mackenson Fils “F-MACK” Lenornormal
The new album incorporates more Latin and rock elements but stays rooted in his signature soulful fusion. “My songs improve as I improve as an artist,” F-MACK said.
His collaborators also include Mexican musicians and writers. One crowd favorite, “A Huevo,” uses a slang term loosely meaning “let’s go!” to capture the spirit of F-MACK’s cultural crossover.
“I just make a song, honestly. This is my Spanish, this is my English—do you like it?” F-MACK said.
From Port-au-Prince churches to the stage in Mexico
F-MACK grew up in a modest household in Port-au-Prince, where his mother owned a restaurant and his father worked in construction. His musical foundation came early—he was singing before he could talk, his mother said, and learned to harmonize with friends in the Haitian capital to Celine Dion ballads.
At 17, he joined a Christian choir after auditioning with Britney Spears and Mariah Carey songs. Gospel music taught him vocal discipline and showmanship.
When he was older, the maestro of the Haitian group Hallelujah Gospel discovered F-MACK during an event and told him to audition. It was a performance that even surprised him.
“Suddenly, I was discovering I was special,” he said, recalling a breakthrough performance of “Jesus, You’re Everything to Me” at age 19.
After failing to get into Haiti’s École Nationale des Arts (ENARTS) in 2001, he tried again—and was accepted the next year to study classical music. That discipline would shape his professional path.
He wants to be a frontman. When he steps onto the stage, he becomes somebody else.
Diego Zumaran, F-MACK’s sound engineer and production managernormal
In 2012, a bassist invited F-MACK to front a combo at the PAPJAZZ festival, Haiti’s annual jazz celebration gathering various global celebrities of the music world. There, he saw Haitian jazz singer Mélanie Jean Baptiste Charles perform a scat solo, and after connecting with her after the show, she gave him his first scat lesson.
“I was in love with her [artistry]. I wanted to do what she was doing,” F-MACK said.
That same year, he met traditional musician Camil Meseguer Rioux of the Mexican band Sonex. Years later, F-MACK reached out, looking for a way to leave Haiti and expand his music career. Rioux welcomed him to Veracruz and introduced him to the jazz program that would change his life.
Rioux still remembers the first time he heard F-MACK sing. “He hit an incredibly high whistle note,” the founder of Sonex told The Haitian Times.
Open letter to the United Nations: Haitians need help now | Opinion
Daniel Jean-LouisMay 8, 2025 10:52
THE HAITIAN TIMES
Armed gangs continued to sow chaos in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince. More than 60,000 Haitians have been displaced in the past month. Jounny Fils-Aime Johnny Fils-Aime
The simmering conflict between gangs and the Haitian police last month boiled over into the streets of Kenscoff, a mountainous town southeast of Port-au-Prince known for its cool climate, vibrant agriculture and close-knit communities. Long a peaceful, highland retreat, Kenscoff is now the latest front in Haiti’s escalating crisis.
Early on Sunday, April 20, gangs ambushed a police vehicle, killing four officers. Two wounded survivors were rushed to Fermathe Hospital, run by the Baptist Haiti Mission (BHM), which has served the region since 1955, providing not only medical care but a critical community lifeline.
I currently serve as president of BHM, where I oversee the hospital and our scholarship program, which this year is educating 32,000 children — mostly from poor, rural families with few other options for formal schooling.
By late Sunday morning, gunfire reached the BHM campus. I feared the gangs might set the facility on fire, as has happened at other hospitals. We are the only care center in the region and one of the few still functioning in the country.
With no other recourse, I turned to social media. I posted an open letter on X addressed to the Transitional Presidential Council, Haiti’s de facto government. The post was widely reshared and, remarkably, helped spur action.
By Monday, the Haitian National Police had regained control of Fermathe and restored a fragile peace — at least for now.
That same Monday, the United Nations Security Council held its latest briefing on Haiti. Watching it felt like observing a roomful of doctors debate treatment options while a patient bleeds out on the table.
According to the UN’s top official in Haiti, the country is nearing “total chaos.” Yet Security Council members fell back on familiar talking points: the United States’ expressed concern about the “significant financial burden” of intervention, while China criticized U.S. failures to properly enforce an arms embargo.
It’s striking how much the UN’s past mistakes in Haiti — most notably thedevastating cholera epidemic introduced by peacekeepers — have stifled its will to act. Rather than risk repeating errors, they’ve chosen to do nothing.
So they debate while Haiti burns. Meanwhile, more people die.
Sometimes I wonder whether the world simply doesn’t understand how bad things have gotten, or if they’ve just stopped paying attention.
In the absence of law, gang atrocities have escalated beyond words. The horrors I’ve seen and heard defy expression. Every day of inaction allows further collapse — and makes future solutions more difficult and far more costly.
The time for discussion ended long ago. What Haiti needs now is action: The Security Council must authorize a new peacekeeping mission. At minimum, it should approve a UN Support Office to bolster the existing Multinational Security Support Mission.
At other times, I wonder if people do understand — but feel too overwhelmed to care. Maybe we’ve lost sight of what we’re actually fighting for.
I’m calling for intervention because I want my students to go to school safely and to dream freely.
Despite decades of instability and a collapsed state, many Haitian children still make it to class. We could get more of them to school tomorrow — if the police had the support to push the gangs back.
Life continues, even in chaos.
Parents still wash and press their kids’ uniforms. Older siblings guide younger ones across war-torn neighborhoods. Students still line up at the bell. They still say grace. They still wipe down their lunch tables. They still smile. They still hope.
They don’t need a perfect UN mission. They don’t need foreign saviors. They just need space to grow.
What Haiti’s youth need is enough security to go to school, to work, to vote.
The United Nations was founded on a promise —to protect life despite conflict, to safeguard the vulnerable, to uphold human dignity.
It was a promise to protect children. To protect the future.
I still believe Haiti’s children can rebuild their nation. The question is whether the world will help them do it.
Can the UN keep its promise?
Daniel Jean-Louis is president of the Baptist Haiti Mission.
France Acknowledges Devastating Effect of Debt Imposed on Haiti for Freedom
After two centuries, a contrite tone from President Emmanuel Macron, though no talk of reparations for French actions that thwarted the development of its former colony.
Published April 17, 2025Updated April 19, 2025
President Emmanuel Macron of France said on Thursday that it was time to “recognize the truth of history,” 200 years after King Charles X recognized the independence of Haiti but demanded that its former French colonists be paid an enormous sum for that freedom.
As a result, Haiti became the only country in the world where the descendants of enslaved people were forced over generations to compensate the descendants of their former colonial masters.
“This decision placed a price on the freedom of a young nation, which was thus confronted, from the moment of its constitution, with the unjust force of history,” President Emmanuel Macron of France declared.
Mr. Macron, who became president in 2017 and had not previously addressed in public the question of the debt, called for the establishment of a joint French-Haitian commission of historians to examine “two centuries of history, including the impact of the 1825 indemnity on Haiti.”
The commission will be led by Yves Saint-Geours, a French historian and diplomat, and Gusti-Klara Gaillard Pourchet, a Haitian scholar living in France.
“Once this necessary and essential work has been completed, the commission will submit recommendations to both governments with a view to learning lessons and building a more peaceful future,” Mr. Macron said.
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