The Fall River Haitian celebration committee held the city's first-ever Haitian flag raising ceremony at Government Center. The event was emceed by Wilfrid Shirazad, a committee member, who welcomed attendees and thanked Mayor Paul Cougan for the opportunity. The ceremony began with a prayer by Pastor Samuel St. Louis, who spoke of gratitude and pride in Haiti's history as the first independent Black nation. Mayor Cougan gave brief remarks, welcoming the growing and vibrant Haitian community to Fall River. State Representative Alan Sylvia followed, explaining that the idea for the flag raising came up just a few days prior during a visit to Sir Jobs with students. Madame Christelle Jean-Baptiste, representing the Consulate of Haiti in Boston, delivered a passionate speech in Haitian Creole about the flag's history, created on May 18, 1803, and its symbolism of unity and freedom. Wilfrid Shirazad then provided a detailed history of Haiti in English, from its pre-colonial origins to its fight for independence and the adoption of its original name. The ceremony concluded with the raising of the Haitian flag, after which Shirazad offered final thanks to all participants and attendees, reaffirming pride in Haiti as the "mother of liberty."
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Watch the video to verify.
Council
City Officials
Public / Other
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Wilfrid Shirazad. I am one of the Haitian celebration committee members of Fall River. We are here today to raise our Haitian flag. And a good thank you to Mayor Paul Cougan, who will give us the opportunity to be here today. So we are going to start with a short prayer by calling Pastor Sam Send me.
0:42Bow your hands ahead. We're going to pray right now. Heavenly Father.
0:48We gather here today. With gratitude.
0:55Pride. For the rich. history of our nation, Haiti. We thank you for the nation of Haiti, the first black and dependent nation in the world, born through sacrifice, born through sacrifice determination resilience Lord in your presence this morning. We lift up Haiti in your hands. We are celebrating the Haitian flag this morning, and we thank you for all the people who are here today,
1:52the clergy member, the personality in politics, The mayor, we thank you for everybody that's here. And Lord, we lift up Haiti in your hands. Bless the nation.
2:13Where there is poverty, bring prosperity.
2:19Where there is pain, bring healing. We thank you for this precious moment, and we thank you for the committee that organize to raise up our flag one more time in the face of the world. Thank you for your presence and thank you for the support and thank you for everybody that's here.
2:44In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
2:51Thank you, Pastor Samuel St. Louis. And now we are going to call the mayor of the city of Fall River, Mayor Paul Cougan. With your applause please, with your applause please. I just want to thank everyone for coming out today. It's the first time we've done the Haitian flag at Government Center in the city of Fall River. This is a growing, vibrant part of
3:20our new community. And we welcome everybody to Fall River. We appreciate your participation and we do want to get this flag raised. So again, thank you for coming out.
3:31I also want to thank one of the people that's responsible for this flag raising today, a good friend of mine from the south end of Fall River who wants to say a few words also, State Representative Alan Sylvia.
3:47It's still morning, so good morning everyone. It's an honor to be here for the first Haitian flag raising in the city of Fall River.
3:58And you know, this was never going to happen until a few days ago. We were at Sir Jobs and we were with students who were studying in English.
4:10And they talked about the festivities coming up this weekend at Kennedy Park. And I was with my legislative director, Monica, He said, wouldn't that be a great time to have a flag raising, a Haitian flag raising. So here we are. I want to thank the mayor for doing what he did to make this happen. And I want to thank all of you for being here. You know, one of the greatest things
4:35about our country is freedom, equality, justice.
4:42When I say freedom, look at, we have the freedom where you can just yell out and speak anywhere, even if you're speaking crazy. You can do that. So that's what's great about our country. We get to see it first hand. But thank you all for being here. It's very important. Thanks very much.
5:03Thank you, Representative. Let's continue. And now we are going to call the Consulate of Boston, represented by by Madame Tristel John-Baptiste. Good morning everyone. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
5:29Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
5:36Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
5:43Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
5:49Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning Drapo ap avle diselman yon simbol.
5:54Li reprezante l'histoire nou, identite nou, kouraj nou ak inite nou. Li raple sakrifis zanset nou yon fe ak batay ke yon te mene pou rive nou yon peyi libre. Po nou kompren vre valet drapo nou an, an retoune nan l'histoire Haiti nan moman pep nou an tap mene yon gro kombat pou libeté.
6:20Nan dat 18 mai 1803, Dans l'Akaë, c'est ce jour important pour les haïtiennes qui se déclenche à faire des drapeaux qui se déclenche chaque année.
6:32D'après l'histoire, c'est en bas de Catherine Flon, le premier drapeau qui a été performant.
6:37Elle a été démoissée par trois, elle n'a pas seulement réunit les couleurs, mais elle a été réunit tous les peuples derrière ce même idéal, liberté et unité.
6:49Bley ak wuj si se kouler nasyon nou an, yo sembolize solidarite, fraternite, inyon pep haisyen an. E deviz nou, linyon fe la fos, pon tout sens li isit la. Mesay sa rete important jodi an, malgre diferans nou, nou dwe rete ini pou nou bati yon peyi miyor. Dapre jou li kreye an, drapo haisyen an prezen nan gwo moman l'histoire. Li kampe nan l'ekol nou,
7:19nan seremoni nou, nan kay nou, e plis toujou nan ken nou. Pou jen Jodia, drapo a se yon apel pou responsabilite. Respekte drapo a, se onore l'histoire nou, se trafay pou devlopman peyi nou. Se kwen avni Haiti.
7:38Zanset nou yo kite yon heritage ki gen pil valen pou nou. Nou gen de fwa pou nou proteje li epi transmet li bay jenerasyon kap vini yo. Mem jen ak grenadye yo, an fè drapo peyi nou flote pi yo. Vive Haiti!
7:56E pou m fini, drapo bleye ouj nou an, plis pasen yon simbol, lise fyete nou, memwa nou, ak identite nou. Chak fra nou gade li, an sonje, kouraj, zanset nou yo, epi renouvele angajman nou anver peyi nou. Vive drapo haitien, vive inite nasyonal, vive Haiti! Mersi! Mersi!
8:21Thank you, Madam Consulate. For those who speak English, we are going to talk with you right now on behalf of the Haitian flag celebration. Again, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Wilfrid Schiazza. Of course, I'm from Haiti. On behalf of the Haitian flag celebration committee, We want to say thank you to Mayor Paul Cougan for the opportunity to have that opportunity to celebrate the raising the
8:59Haitian flag at the city of Fall River. Thank you to Madam Christelle Jean-Baptiste, the Consulate of Haiti in Boston. Thank you to Senator Ed Mackey, Representative Elan Sylvia, Thank you to everyone of you for being here this morning.
9:25Haiti, the land of freedom. Before Columbus, Haiti had been known by a few names. Haiti by the native population. Kiskaya to the people on Surahondan Island and Boyu as well. Haiti comes from the Taino meaning flower of high land, which is more commonly translated as mountainous land. Within the matter of decades following Christopher Columbus in 1492, landing on the island of Hispaniola, which is now Haiti
10:13and the Dominican Republic, The native Taino and Carib population were completely diseminent. Slave labor was forced fully brought over from Western Africa to replace the labor loss as the native population, which led to almost zero from the imported European disease and the unbearable condition imposed by the European conquerors. As a period of European explorers and colonists claim the land as their own,
10:57they give it a new name, aggressively imposing a series of new identities on a place that had existed long before their arrival. First, Hispaniola. meaning little Spain. After Columbus arrival, then Saint Domingue, under French, ruled and informally the Pearl of the Antilles, as the colony flourished with the enormous profit furnished by slave labor and sugar can. But when Saint Domingue
11:39former slaves declared independent in 1936, of the U.S.A.F.A., they choose a old name for their new country, Haiti. Despite historical having very little contact with the Taino, the Freeman choose a name that harknaked back to a time before Columbus, before European interruption, before colonial greed and cruelty. and before their own force arrived, symbolically restoring to the original
12:21inhabitants of the island that which has been stolen centuries before. For the founder of Haiti, meaning the new country was not about imposing yet another new identity, but with a reaffirming and known one, One that spoke to the beauty and autonomy of the land beneath their feet, a burgeoning symbol of freedom and independence in a post-colonial world. Once again, the island proudly boasted the name Haiti.
13:08Created on May 18, 1803, before the last battle for independence between the occupants French army led by their general Donatian, Marie Joseph de Vimeu, Conte de Rochambeau, sent by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the former slave led by our general Jean-Jacques Dessalines. We want their freedom back because it is good to be free. We are created free. We fought for our freedom. We want to stay free. After 2023 years, 222
13:50years of independence, Haitian flag is a symbol of freedom, united, as it's set in the national motto of Haiti, union, fellow force. United makes strength. May God bless each one of you who is here today. May God bless the city of Fall River.
14:15May God bless America. May God bless Haiti and its people. Thank you.
14:28And now we are going to call again Mayor Paul Kungu for the rest. It's going to be the raising of life.
14:44only up here now because we're going to raise the flag, the Haitian flag down on the grounds of government center.
15:45done, we again want to thank every one of you who are here today. Thank you, Mayor Paul Kungo. Thank you, Monica Souza, to help out. Thank you, our consulate, Madam Christelle. Thank you to be here and represent proudly our nation, H80. We are the mother of liberty.
16:16We are the mother of freedom. We said no to slavery. And we are here today and stand and be proud to be free forever. Thank you, everyone.