Wicked Local
As local residents with Haitian roots watch the political crisis unfold from afar, they are asking American friends and neighbors not to rush to judgment about Haiti and allow it time to come to terms with the assassination of the president Jovenel Moïse on July 7, and the unrest it engendered.
“My body and mind could not accept that this happened,” said Jeantilus Geddis, a teacher at the Immigrant Learning Center in Malden. “This is a crime that is beyond hatred, beyond politics. Even if you don’t like the president, it is not right to kill the president.”
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May 7, 2021
Boston is home to one of the largest populations of Haitian immigrants in the United States and became the first City to celebrate May as Haitian Heritage Month in 1998.
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This month-long celebration grew from the Haitian Flag Day on May 18, a nationally recognized day in Haiti, the U.S., and throughout the Diaspora. In years past, Haitian Flag Day was commemorated in Boston with a parade along Blue Hill Avenue through Dorchester and Mattapan.
The Haitian community in Boston is incredibly active, with several community organizations based here, including Haitian Americans United, Association of Haitian Women in Boston, Haitian American Public Health Initiatives, Inc., the Haitian Nurses Association (HNA), the Boston Haitian Reporter, as well as over 100 small businesses.
Domestic aggravated assault and car breaks were up
The Boston Police Department released its year end crime stats for District E-13 (Jamaica Plain) and overall Part One Crime was down 12 percent for 2020.
Part One Crimes are the more serious crimes the Boston Police track and while these crimes were down when comparing Jan. 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2019 with the same time period for 2020, domestic aggravated assault and car breaks were up.
In 2019 there were 41 domestic aggravated assaults reported in Jamaica Plain but that number increased to 55 for 2020–a 34 percent increase.
“There is no excuse for domestic violence,” said the BPD in a statement. “With community members encouraged to stay home to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, the Boston Police Department recognizes the impact that COVID-19 is having on families in our community and the fact that some may find themselves confined with an abuser. This isolation can mean danger for some members of our Ci