Unity parade set for May 16: The annual parade features marching bands, floats, dancers and dignitaries- all celebrating Haitian and Haitian-American culture. Photo by Don WestGovernor Deval Patrick will serve as the grand marshall of the 10th annual Haitian American Unity Parade, which will be held on Sunday, May 16 in Mattapan and Dorchester. The parade steps off from Mattapan Square and travels up Blue Hill Avenue beginning at 1p.m. Organizers say this year's event is an occasion for support and solidarity with earthquake victims.
"This year, because of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, and several surrounding areas on January 12, 2010, the annual Haitian Heritage Month/ Flag Day celebration will be focused on that tragic catastrophe," said Wilner Auguste of Haitian-Americans United, Inc., which organizes the parade.
The 15th annual Haitian Flag Raising Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 14 from 12 to 2 p.m. at Boston City Hall Plaza. It will be a memorial ceremony for those who died in the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. The Haitian flag will be flown at half- staff for the occasion. A quilt of Massachusetts residents’ relatives who died in the earthquake will be displayed at the ceremony, Auguste said.

Haitian Heritage Month is a celebration in the United States of Haitian history and culture. The Heritage Month was first celebrated in Boston in May 1998. During that time, TeleKreyol, one of the Boston Haitian Access Television shows, initiated the celebration with a series of programs on Haitian history, culture, and contributions to the world.
Haitian Heritage Month is an expansion of the Haitian Flag Day, a major patriotic day celebration in Haiti and the Haitian Diaspora. In the 1930s, Haitian President Dumarsais Estime, who was Minister of Education under President Stenio Vincent, created the Flag Day celebration. Various events such as parades, cultural and athletic activities were held across cities in Haiti.
Toussaint Louverture, the Haitian slave and revolutionary general who was born on May 20, 1743, is also remembered. Most of all, Mother's Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of May. And, for Haitian Catholics, May is the month of Mary, the mother
of Jesus. For more information on celebrations in Boston, see www.hauinc.org