Gertrude Delsoin said that Tuesday’s opening of the first Haitian cultural center in Boston stirred up a mix of emotions ranging from joy to pride.
Delsoin said that seeing all of the contributions of Haitians in one location was a surprise. But for the Dorchester resident who many call the “mother” of the Boston Haitian community, the recognition is well past due.
“It was about time,” she said.
The Toussaint L’Ouverture Cultural Center looks to serve as a place for celebration and commemoration of Haitian traditions. The center opened its doors exactly a year after its groundbreaking ceremony. Located in the West End along Lovejoy Wharf, the center houses a gallery of art from local Haitian artists and a library of Haitian literature.
“This is important for us to have because not only can we celebrate our legacy and our history and who we are,” said Marvin Mathelier, executive director of the cultural center, “we could also combat many of those negative rhetorics through our programming and share it with people from all different walks of life.”
Boston has the third-largest Haitian population among metro areas in the United States, behind Miami and New York City.
The Toussaint L’Ouverture Cultural Center is also the first in the New England region. Mathelier said the center is an embassy of Haitian culture to be shared with the entire area. The goal is for the center to be recognized throughout New England while fostering strong partnerships with other cultural centers in the United States.
“We want to build a strong coalition with them,” Mathelier said. “I want to reach out to those executive directors to see, ‘What could this partnership look like? How can we work together? How can we fortify each other to build a strong resiliency to ensure that we are supporting each other?’”
Milady Auguste is a student at Harvard Medical School and moved to Boston two years ago from Haiti. Once in the region, she quickly ingrained herself in the local Haitian community. She said she was thrilled to the opening of a center that celebrates her culture.
“The literature, the history, the dance, the food. Everything that makes us Haitian because there’s so many layers to being part of this community,” Auguste said. “I know with all the programs they’re going to put together, everybody’s gonna have a taste of the diversity and the richness of our culture.”
Karm-Syndia Augustin is the program director for the center. She said she’s excited to create spaces centered around Haitian dance and art, but she also wants to plan reciprocal and holistic programming for the center, bridging the gap between the Haitian community and other Bostonians.
“[I want to] create programs where Haitians will be a little bit more exposed to Boston’s art and culture and where Boston will also get the opportunity to be exposed to Haitian art and culture and history,” Augustin said.
The center’s namesake — Toussaint L’Ouverture — was a major figure in the Haitian Revolution. He was born a slave, became a general and is seen as one of the founding fathers of Haiti. He’s been compared to Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, but Mathelier likens him to another historical figure.
“He’s our ‘Black Spartacus,’” Mathelier said. “A gladiator … who broke the bondage of slavery and really fought for independence for those slaves.”
The center’s grand opening comes days after Haitian Flag Day and during Haitian Heritage Month.
It also comes as the Supreme Court allowed the Trump Administration’s efforts to end the Temporary Status Protection (TPS) program for Venezuelans. More than 500,000 Haitians in the United States are protected or eligible for TPS, and many in the community are concerned that the administration plans to ends their protections as well.
Mathelier said the center is a perfect place to celebrate the beauty of Haitian culture while also learning about the systemic burdens Haiti has shouldered for generations.
He said that he hopes the center will help people “understand all the different factors, domestically, that’s plaguing Haiti [and] also the international issues that’s also plaguing Haiti. And hopefully that could help shift some of the policies that we may have.”
The center is supported by various donors and grantees, including the Barr Foundation, which pledged $150,000 over three years and Related Beal, which granted the center $50,000.
Several local elected officials attended Tuesday’s grand opening event, including Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune.
Louijeune is the first Haitian-American to serve on the city council. She quoted the Haitian national anthem during her remarks. Se pa kado blan te fè nou, se san Zansèt nou yo ki te koule, she recited in Haitian Creole. The translation — “It was not a gift … it was the blood of our ancestors that was shed.”
“That power of that will mean that we can do anything,” she said. “We can have a Toussaint L’Ouverture Cultural Center in the heart of Boston, we can have a better Haiti, we can have Haitian elected officials. All of that is possible because of ‘san Zansèt nou yo ki te koule.’”
