(Eleuthera, Bahamas) The Creole speaking community of Eleuthera, held the first of two planned Haitian Flag Day celebrations – in Blackwood on Sunday, May 15th, marking the historic hoisting of that flag of Freedom over the previously enslaved people, in Haiti, after the Africans on that Caribbean territory, were able to end the brutal centuries of rule by European powers at the beginning of the 19th Century. The significance of the flag is not lost on many in the region of African descent, as the revolution in Haiti represented the first successful rebellion of its type. In many ways the freed people of Haiti have subsequently paid the cost of daring to be free.
Lesly Condé, the Consul General of Haiti in Chicago, in a speech on the weekend, said: “On May 18, 1803 in Archaie, our ancestors defied the powerful world order of the time, and did something that confirmed them as world heroes in the perennial fight for freedom and justice. They used the dreadful and unforgiving symbol of their oppression to create their own unifying flag. On May 18, 1803, when my ancestors made that gesture, they were fully aware of the fact that it was the beginning of the end for slavery and all exploitation of humans by humans. They did what they did for the generations of the future, and on behalf of mankind as a whole.”
The afternoon at the Blackwood celebration was one of sport, cultural dances, music, games, and food. The second Haitian Flag Day celebration planned for the island is set for Saturday, May 21st in Savannah Sound. The official observation day of Haitian Flag Day is May 18th, which is celebrated by the Haitian Diaspora throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. Flag Day celebrations in Eleuthera are said to have begun during the 1960’s and were held initially in Governor’s Harbour.
