- Just ahead on Black Issues Forum, we explore the heart of Haitian heritage from global impact to a local space bringing lakay to the triangle.

Haiti isn't just a place, it's a culture, a language, and a community growing right here in North Carolina where food, music, and identity bring Haitian heritage to life.

Coming up next, stay with us.

- Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you who invite you to join them in supporting PBSNC.

(upbeat music) ♪ - Welcome to Black Issues Forum, I'm Kenia Thompson.

Well, this month we celebrate Haitian Heritage Month and it's a time to honor the history, resilience, and cultural richness of Haiti and its people.

But it's not just about Haiti as a place, it's about Haiti as a living, breathing presence right here in North Carolina.

From community work that's rooted in care and connection to food, language, and cultural expressions, we're exploring how Haitian heritage is being preserved, shared, and reimagined right in the heart of the triangle.

Joining me first is Emily Everett.

She's the executive director of Hearts with Haiti, a nonprofit working in partnership with the Saint Joseph family of Haiti, creating a caring family for those facing the challenges of poverty and disability.

Thank you so much for being here.

- Thank you, Kenia.

- Yeah, so Emily, tell us a little bit for those that don't know about the organization Hearts with Haiti, tell us about Hearts with Haiti.

- Okay, we're a US-based nonprofit, but more than that, we really are an organization that's founded on partnerships.

So for more than 20 years, we've been partnering with the Saint Joseph family in Haiti, and we support three different ministries right now through the Saint Joseph family.

One is Wings of Hope, which is a residential home for 33 children and adults with disabilities.

And then we also support Lekol Sen Trinite which is a tuition-free school in Jacmel, and it supports around 200 students per year and has for the last seven or eight years.

And then there's also a community center in Port-au-Prince, and it has been used in the past as a guest house, but now it's used as a safe haven for church groups and school groups and community groups to be able to gather in Port-au-Prince.

- And the organization is based here in North Carolina?

- We're based here in North Carolina, and we've been in operations for about 23 years.

- Wow, and so I do wanna talk more about the work you're doing, but before we can do that, we do have to talk about the current conditions in Haiti, right?

We've seen it on the news over years, honestly.

It's nothing new, but things have intensified over there.

How do the current conditions impact the work and the children and families in Jacmel is where a lot of the work is done, too, right?

- And in Port-au-Prince.

I mean, we do have, or the St.

Joseph family does have operations in Port-au-Prince and staff in Port-au-Prince, and so we are able to check in with them on a regular basis to make sure that they're safe and okay and keeping that building, the community outreach center going.

Again, it's open and available when it's safe to do so.

And then there's so many challenges in Haiti right now, particularly because it's difficult to travel from city to city, and some of the staff lives in Port-au-Prince, some of them live in Jacmel.

It's difficult to get basic everyday supplies.

It's difficult to access food.

And I would say the one thing that I can admire the most about our Haitian partners is the resilience that they experience, and it's every day.

They show up, they come to work, the teachers come to work, the caregivers come to work, and they just are always able to make things work despite the challenges.

And the word that I learned when I came to work at this organization was degage, which is do the best with what you can.

And I would have to say that the St.

Joseph family embodies that every single day, and are able to continue to operate a school and a home and a community center.

- And a lot of the work that is done stateside is helping raise money for the efforts in Haiti, sending over supplies.

How has that been easy?

Has that been hard?

Do you find folks have a preconceived opinion about Haitians in Haiti?

- Well, yeah, primarily what we do is send funds.

And we are one of several funding partners for the St.

Joseph family.

We're the largest funding partner for them.

And it's easier in many cases, and better for them to be able to source things locally.

That helps the local economy.

And it has become more and more difficult to ship things to Haiti.

We have partnered with organizations here in the United States previously to send a shipping container full of goods, the things that they have a hard time sourcing there.

But mostly we do send funds, and then we work with them on budgeting and figuring out how they're gonna source all of those things locally.

But we're not on the ground.

The entire staff of the St.

Joseph family is all Haitian-led.

And so what we offer is guidance and opportunities to provide support, but we're not down there telling them what to do.

- Yeah, yeah, which is great.

Here in the Triangle, some folks may feel disconnected to Haiti.

I've shared many times before, my family's Haitian, so I have Little Haiti right in Raleigh at my parents' house.

But census data is showing that Creole is increasing as a reported language here in the Triangle area specifically.

For those that say, "Haiti's over there, "and we're over here," knowing that that number is rising, what do you say to that?

- I say a couple things to that.

First, Haiti's not as far over there as people might think.

It's actually geographically very close to the United States.

And here in the Triangle and in North Carolina and in a lot of the states where we have volunteers and donors, they have strong Haitian communities there.

So Haiti is here.

There are a lot of Haitians that we interact with that are here on the ground in the United States, and the communities are building and growing.

And so it's important for us to connect to the Haitians who are here in America to understand what we're trying to do to support their family and friends and communities in Haiti because I would say that's probably the strongest thing that I have learned about Haitian families and people both there and here in the United States is it's all founded around community and that communities are really important.

And so it's fun and interesting to see the Haitian communities as they are growing here in the Triangle and in other areas that we serve.

- And then that connection coming together is strong.

Again, part of a lot of the work you do is raising funds and you just came off of a Giving Day push.

How did that go?

- It went very well.

It was the first time we'd done that.

I mean, we're a small organization.

And so we were really proud.

We did this last week and we do a couple of other fundraising opportunities through the year.

We do a back to school campaign in the summer that exclusively supports purchasing school supplies for Lekol Sen Trinite And then we do some other fundraising in the fall as well.

And most of our donors are private individuals or churches.

We don't have any big corporate sponsorships.

We don't have government grants or anything like that.

And so we really are a grassroots organization.

- And with the economy, we see gas prices going up.

People are starting to make decisions around what they're gonna give to.

Have you seen the little pushback on giving?

- Sure we have.

And that's been going on for the last couple of years as the economy fluctuates.

I think people get nervous about income and outweigh.

And so sometimes holding back on donations.

But we have a lot of very loyal donors who've been very generous to us.

But we do struggle, I think, like a lot of non-profits.

And again, we used to be able to travel to Haiti and take a lot of things with us.

So Americans were very generous when they traveled.

They would take suitcases full of clothes and school supplies and different things like that.

And not being able to do that now, we're much more reliant on donations again so that we can either send them if there's a way for us to do that.

Or again, help the St.

Joseph family be able to purchase it on the ground in Haiti.

- Yeah, if we have viewers who may want to get involved, right, be part of the organization, donate, support, how can they do that?

- There are a couple of different ways.

I'd say first is there's always an opportunity to donate through heartswithhaiti.org.

The other is particularly helping us connect with the Haitian communities here in the United States so that they can understand the work that we're trying to do in Haiti and supporting again the communities there.

And then just spreading the word about, there are a lot of organizations that are doing good work in Haiti and trying to help the circumstances as best we can.

- Well, Emily Everett, thank you so much.

On behalf of my people, I appreciate the work that you're doing.

- Thank you, Kenia.

- Thank you.

- Well, Haiti's story doesn't stop at its borders.

It travels through its people, its language, and its traditions.

And one of the most powerful ways culture shows up is through food and music.

A new local hotspot, Katyé, has opened up, excuse me, in Durham and is bringing a little piece of Haiti right here to the triangle.

From the flavors of guillo in Dewey Collet to the rhythms of compas, Katyé is more than a restaurant.

It's a space where cultural life breathes and connects all of us.

Here's a little sneak peek into the vibe at Katyé.

- One, two, one, two, three, go.

(upbeat music) ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ I need your loving ♪ ♪ So fresh, so clean ♪ ♪ Love me in and out ♪ ♪ I'm feeling me ♪ ♪ And I'll be down now ♪ ♪ Anytime you call me ♪ ♪ I'll be down ♪ ♪ Because I love and I love and I love and I love you only ♪ ♪ Because I need and I need and I need and I need you more ♪ ♪ Yeah, you know I run and I run and I run and I run ♪ ♪ Fly like you fly in the sky in the night ♪ ♪ Hold me in your arms, me in love, me in light ♪ ♪ I'm on your wave right now ♪ - Joining me now are André and Dafney Lafortune, owners of Katyé.

Thank you both for being here.

I also wanna mention that Dafney is also the president and founder of Carolina Haitian Women's Society.

So I'm excited, as we saw in that clip, I have been to Katyé many times now.

Dafney knows my favorite goat orders, so do you.

When we talk about, let's just kinda localize where we are, how kinda you came to this space, and how North Carolina has been a thriving space for Haitians recently.

Dafney, I'll start with you, and then I'll get your input, André.

- Oh, absolutely.

I love how much, how many people have moved here in the Haitian community.

I'm from Boston, a lot of folks are from New York, Miami, where there are larger Haitian communities, but we're starting to forge our own here, and I love it.

- Yeah, and André, you recently kinda came to this state, it's not too long ago.

- Oh no, I've been here for-- - You've been here for a while?

- Over 26 plus.

- Okay, your accent just tricks me, I think.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- It's beautiful.

So how have you found it here?

Coming here, and cooking I know has been something passed down in your family, and you found your love here in this community.

How's it been for you?

- It's been great.

So my oldest brother used to live here, so when I came here, he brought me to the state, I love it.

And he'd say, "You wanna go to New York?"

I said, "No, I prefer to stay down here."

And it's since then, since 2000, I see the community being growing, and growing, and growing, so I see a lot of changes, how much Haitian that moved down here.

So I have a chance to meet a lot of new Haitian, older Haitian, so since I've been here.

So it's been great, I enjoy it.

- Yeah, yeah.

Dafney, earlier with Emily, we talked about, some people find that Haiti is this place over there, but in reality, as we have now seen, with numbers increasing so rapidly, Haiti lives and breathes here, not just in North Carolina, but we've got Florida, we've got all our southern states, right, which makes sense because of geography.

What do you say to folks who are like, that's their problem over there and not our own?

- I would say we're very much connected, and it's everyone's.

What affects one group of people will affect a lot of folks.

But I also, I would like to encourage people to be more empathetic to the plight of Haitians in Haiti, and those who come here looking for better opportunities, and to embrace the culture.

I know here in the Triangle, it's still relatively, we're still introducing Haitian culture here, and for the most part, it's being embraced, and I would encourage that more people be open to it.

- Yeah, well, talk about embracing the culture.

Food is kind of y'all's love language.

We started out with bon fruitai, which was a food truck, one of, what, very few in the Triangle, maybe one of two?

- Yeah, two.

- Yeah?

Whose idea was it?

- The food truck.

- Yeah.

- I was both of them.

- Both, okay.

But you are the chef behind the plates.

Talk about what inspiration came about in creating the cuisine for bon fruitai and now Katyé.

- We started early on catering, so the inspiration, I see that there's a lack of our cuisine in the area.

And my mother is such a great cook, and I always passionate about cooking.

So growing up, it's two of us, three boys, so my mother taught us how to do everything as far as cooking and everything else.

So to me, it's just like being able to, be able to-- - Express.

- Express, you know?

But what people were missing, I was able to deliver, like the food back home, and it's a connection when you're eating out of food, it's just like, you take it back.

- And one thing I've learned is that it's an expression of love, right?

You can't go to a Haitian's house without eating at least two plates of food.

- Minimum.

- And you better eat it all, which I know is also very similar to black American culture in the South and across the country, too.

When you opened up Katyé, you wanted to kind of make that an extension of bon fruitai, not just food, but also a cultural immersion space where we can come and experience Haiti.

- Absolutely.

- Right?

Talk about how you've created and curated that space and what kinds of things go on there.

- I mean, it just starts with the name itself, Katyé.

- Tell us the definition.

- Literally translates to neighborhood, community.

When we were coming up with names, André, he came up with that and instantly it clicked because we knew that was the essence we wanted to embody in that space.

When people walk through that door, we want them to feel like they are a part of the community.

'Cause that's one thing Haitians are, are hospitable.

We take hospitality to an extreme, almost.

And so the way we set up the space, we surround you with Haitian art, we want you to feel transported.

And that's, a lot of folks have mentioned that.

Once they walk through, we're in a shopping center, they're like, we would never think this would be inside of a shopping center.

You open that door and you are transported to Haiti.

From the art and of course, from the food and how we care for you.

- Yeah, and music.

Music is a big part of our culture.

You've had events, right?

So tell us about that.

- So our events are obviously culturally rooted.

So every first Fridays, actually we host a social called Voyage Fridays, we wanna take you on a voyage.

So we partner with groups here to teach compa, which is our Haitian style of dance.

And also kizumba, 'cause we still wanna bridge across the diaspora.

And then it's just a beautiful party all night.

People embrace it, they actually learn how to dance compa, they love it and then it's just a vibe.

- And André, I know that while it is space for Haitians, non-Haitians alike come too.

How have you seen, I guess the energy and the reception of the space from those who aren't of Haitian culture?

- Oh, it's everybody embrace it.

So it's just like, they have a chance to experience something different, unique.

So, I mean, as a chef, I'm not only, you know, represent our food and culture, but I'm selling Haiti because we put a projector in our place that we showing different images about Haiti.

Because I wanna see, I want people to see Haiti in a different lens through Katyé.

You're eating great food, but also you'll be able to see what Haiti look like, not like the other picture that we're showing.

- Yeah, 'cause media has, you know, and this is media right here.

We do have the responsibility of creating perceptions and understanding and unfortunately, the perception of Haiti has not always been a positive one.

And I love that you're creating different imagery, right?

Tell us about the food.

What are some of the dishes?

I already mentioned the goat.

- Yeah, that's my favorite.

- Well, as a chef and I take notice in how things go on.

So the griot used to be one of our top seller, but for some reason-- - Which is pork.

- Yeah, the pork, you know, is marinated, braised overnight and deep fried.

And then we serve what we call picklies.

So if you're not Haitian, so I have to give you a little background of it.

But the taso cabbage, which is like the fried goat, people have been going hard in that one because it seems like the tenderness of it, the flavor that come to you, it just like hit you, be like, what, what is hitting me?

- What is this?

- Yeah, and of course, when you eat it with the black rice, that's a good pair, it's just like heaven.

- Yes, remember Tim Shropshire?

I had asked you guys to create some food for him and he sat on the set and he lost his mind over that food.

And I thought it was just such a good spark for conversation and so many people in the comments said, this is what Haitian community people, food does to me, non-Haitians.

So that was beautiful to see.

So let's talk about Haitian Creole 'cause I know that the space is designed for the future to be more than just fun and food.

It's also meant to be education.

So Dafney, tell us about some hopeful plans that you have for that space.

- Oh, absolutely, Katyé is definitely a community space.

We don't even refer to ourselves as a restaurant because we think of ourselves beyond that.

In terms of Haitian Creole, I'm Haitian American, I was born and raised in the States and my Creole didn't really improve until I married this guy.

And so I don't want that to be the case for the next generation.

We have a seven-year-old son who knows maybe like two words in Creole and I know that's a shame, but we're working to solve that problem.

So with the Carolina Haitian Women's Society, our goal is to launch a Haitian heritage school, release a Saturday program where children five to 10, they come and learn not only Haitian Creole but the Haitian history, games that they would play if they were children in Haiti, art, just learning more about where they come from, being proud of where they live, but also being proud of where their parents are from because oftentimes, unfortunately, they're bombarded with such a negative imagery and narratives about Haiti.

And so we want to flip that narrative on its head and show them what it really is about.

So the Haitian Heritage School, which would take place at Katyé is something we're really excited about.

- Yeah, I'm excited about it too.

I mean, to your point, growing up in the '90s, the imagery that we saw of Haiti was not one that I wanted to identify with, although I do and did know how to speak Creole, I wasn't telling anybody that, right?

Because there wasn't a lot of ownership in our culture, well, for me, I will say, during that time.

- For a lot of people.

- For a lot of people.

And so I love the idea of bringing beauty to it.

It's a beautiful language, right?

If people think French is beautiful, then you should think Creole is beautiful too.

- Absolutely.

- So I'm excited about that.

André, when you hear these plans, I know that you two are working, I don't know if you like more, I'm gonna focus on food, but what would you see, like in five, 10 years, where do you want to see the impact and influence of Katyé go?

- Oh man, this is a good question.

(laughing) Me personally, I mean, I know I share that with my wife, my partner as well.

I want Katyé to be replicated in different state, like not only North Carolina.

So like we can have Katyé NC, Katyé NY, Katyé GA, so Katyé Jersey, so this is what I want to, because the way that we present our food, the ambience, the place, what it look like, I want all the people to experience that in other state as well.

- Yeah, do you find people being more open to having conversations or asking questions about the current state of the nation and how maybe they can help?

Or are there conversations like that being had?

- I mean, a lot of non-Haitian guests at Katyé, they do inquire about the conditions in Haiti and what's going on.

They'll tell us stories about their connections to Haiti if they have any.

But I think more conversations can be had about what people can do to help, finding local organizations that are doing good work in Haiti.

So yeah.

- Yeah, no, I think that's great.

I think in building that community, that camaraderie, the understanding that no one asked for those conditions and there are things that we can do.

With Carolina Haitian Women's Society, tell us a little bit about the mission and some other efforts that you may be working on.

- So with CHWS, our mission is to support Haitian and Haitian American women in the state and their families.

First and foremost is forging connection, forging community, and building a network that can support one another.

So if people are in need of jobs or we have a WhatsApp group with over 250 women and we're always posting job opportunities or where can I find the ingredients for my Haitian soup jumeau?

Things like that.

At the base of it, it's about forging that support network and then also building on top of that and trying to provide resources that are needed.

- And part of that is amplifying Haitian Heritage Month.

We have Haitian Flag Day coming up.

Important dates that I think if people really understood the historical connection and the impact that it has had in our world's history, they would view the country a little differently.

- Absolutely.

- Tell us how we can find out more information about Katyé, about the Carolina Haitian Women's Society.

- Absolutely, so Katyé, people can visit our website, katyehouseofevents.com.

We have an event coming up for Haitian Flag Day on May 16th.

It's a party, I mean, come with your flats and come with an empty stomach.

- No, that's gonna be at Katyé.

- That's at Katyé.

- Okay.

- It's called Raboday Rush Raboday is Haitian, I would say even like-- - It's a different style.

- Almost techno music.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- It's going to be high energy.

- Nice.

- That's gonna be fun, 8 p.m.

to 1 a.m.

And then with CHWS, you can go on our social media and see Haitian women or nchaitianwomen.org.

- Okay, wonderful.

André, anything you wanna add?

- No, I would say like, you know, waiting for everybody to have a chance to taste our great foods coming down to Katyé.

- And I will be coming back soon.

- Yes.

- So have my goat ready for me.

- We'll have your goat ready.

- André and Dafney Lafortune, thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- And I thank you for watching.

If you want more content like this, we invite you to engage with us on Instagram using the hashtag #BlackIssuesForum.

You can also find our full episodes on pbsnc.org/blackissuesforum and on the PBS Video app.

I'm Kenia Thompson, I'll see you next time.

(upbeat music) ♪ - Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you who invite you to join them in supporting PBS NC.