Two young men of Haitian descent were found shot to death on the same Dorchester street this week. Emmanuel Louissaint, 17, of Brockton was found shot to death outside of 64 Mascot Street on Sunday morning around 1 a.m. He had been shot once in the upper chest. Two days later, on Tuesday morning, police were called to the driveway of 63 Mascot Street— right across the street from the scene of the earlier murder— where they discovered the body of 19 year-old Nervin Charlot. He was also shot, but it is not yet clear if he was murdered in the same incident that claimed the life of Louissaint. If he was shot on Sunday, his body lay undiscovered for more than two days. Charlot's death has now been officially classified a homicide, making him the city's 66th murder victim of 2010 to date.
More details on these homicides are available at the Reporter's sister paper, the Dorchester Reporter. Read more

The fall brings many things to the Haitian community. A local election in which Mattapan residents, a huge contingent of whom are of Haitian descent, proved themselves to be a force at the polls. Governor Deval Patrick won a second term. He’ll have a chance to fulfill a campaign pledge to develop a comprehensive housing strategy for thousands of displaced Haitians in the commonwealth. Carlos Henriquez, a dedicated community advocate, succeeds the first Haitian-American elected official in the state Marie St. Fleur, to represent the 5th Suffolk district. Read more

BHR 11-10The date scheduled for the first round of Haiti’s presidential and parliamentary elections, November 28, is racing towards the island. Simultaneously Cholera is racing across the countryside in the Artibonite, the Central Plateau and beyond, and Hurricane Tomas raced up the Caribbean, lashing the South of the country and cutting off all towns below Leogane from the capital. The Provisional Electoral Council maintains that they are doing everything they can to prepare, and that they are moving ahead on schedule. But serious doubts have been raised about the timetable.

Even before these crises Haiti had many obstacles to legitimate and credible elections. The voter list has not been updated since 2005, so many people who lost their lives in the earthquake are still on the list, which could facilitate electoral fraud. Many Haitians are not registered to vote, or lost their identification cards in the earthquake. For months long lines have snaked out from the National Identification Offices as people tried to fix their paper work—though the lines continued even after the publication of the voter list, and many Haitians seek identity cards to go to the bank or to deal with the police, not just to vote. Read more

Confusion, fear as Haiti camps evacuate for storm
PORT-AU-PRINCE— For nearly 10 months, more than 1 million people in Haiti's earthquake camps have been walking a precarious line: Trying to get out and find good homes without losing their tents and the few possessions they still have.

Now a potential hurricane threatens to upend that careful balance. The Haitian<** government has called for the voluntary evacuation of all the quake zone's camps ahead of Friday's expected arrival of Tropical Storm Tomas, telling people who could find nowhere else to live to suddenly go find someplace else. Read more

The organization Discover Roxbury, along with the Haley House Bakery Café will host a speaker series event focused on the history of Haitian people in Roxbury on Wednesday, October 27 at 7 p.m.. The discussion will focus on the rise, growth and culture of Haitian-Americans in the city. Read more

GBIO forum brings candidates together: All four pledged to oppose ballot questions 2 & 3. Photo by Erik JacobsGreater Boston religious leaders this week asked the four candidates for governor to pledge that, once in office, they will create a comprehensive dwelling strategy for Haitian refugees and advocate at the federal level for legal status that will allow these families to work. All four candidates – Gov. Deval Patrick, the Democratic incumbent, Republican challenger Charlie Baker, independent candidate Timothy Cahill, and Green Rainbow Party candidate Jill Stein – said “yes” at a Sunday forum at the Temple Israel of Boston. Read more

AFAB fundraiserThe Association of Haitian Women in Boston— AFAB— celebrates its 14th annual fundraising dinner at the First Parish Church/MeetingHouse Hil Read more

The higher education system in Haiti, which faced numerous structural challenges and academic difficulties prior to the earthquake last January, collapsed. The major task ahead is to rebuild a higher education system conducive to the future economic, political, and social development of the country. Improving and rebuilding Haiti’s education system, particularly higher education, is at the core of helping the country to realize progress and strengthen its evolving democracy. Read more

Edwidge Danticat speaks at Brown University, Oct. 4, 2010On Monday October 4th, Brown University launched a Haitian Initiative with two special events featuring Edwidge Danticat, acclaimed Haitian-American author and Paul Farmer, UN Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti and co-founder of Partners in Health. The University’s Department of Africana Studies also announced a new visiting fellow, Haitian recording artist Wyclef Jean. Read more

BHR October 2010The Boston Haitian Reporter, the region's leading source for news and information in the Haitian-American community, endorsed the re-election of Gov. Deval Patrick in its October edition, in circulation on Oct. 8. The full text of the endorsement follows:

Four years ago, this newspaper endorsed the candidacy of Deval Patrick because of what we saw in him: the promise of a transformational leader who would bring change to state government.
This month, we endorse his candidacy for a more concrete reason: because he has earned it.
Gov. Patrick has guided the Commonwealth through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He has done it with poise, professionalism and with a sense of purpose that has paid off: Massachusetts’ economy is now growing at twice the rate of the rest of the nation. While unemployment remains high following the global financial meltdown of 2008, the Commonwealth has added jobs in the last six consecutive months and there are many other encouraging signs that the state is positioned to leap past most other states in job creation. None of that is accidental. Patrick has shepherded Massachusetts through the most severe crisis of the last half-century and he has distinguished himself and his administration in the process.
Even while managing a fiscal crisis of historic proportions, Gov. Patrick was able to assemble an impressive list of accomplishments: Read more

Former Haitian Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, who is a candidate for president in the upcoming November 28th election in Haiti, is scheduled to appear at a forum on Saturday, September 25 from 5-9p.m. at the Mattapan Center for Life, 555 River St in Mattapan. Read more