Haitian Americans worry about relatives and friends in Haiti amid violence

Atlanta-based CARE International has been in Haiti since 1954.

“Although the worst of the violence is in Port-au-Prince, all of the Haitian people are suffering from this emergency. This includes those in the provinces where supply chains and transportation of goods and people are either cut or severely disrupted by limited access and violence, as well as other disruptions,” Muhamed Bizimana, assistant director, CARE Haiti, said in a release.

“All this has spread the impact of the crisis to an unimaginable level,” he said. “Time and again, the Haitian people are tested by crises. And time and again, they demonstrate incredible resilience.”

Nearly 31,000 people who identify as having Haitian ancestry live in Georgia, according to data from the Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey estimates.

Chenet Nerette is the chief executive officer of Power102.Net - Haiti on Demand, community radio station in Snellville..

He’s trying to find ways to bring the Haitian American community and the larger Caribbean community together. The gang violence is not new in Haiti, but “now it’s out of control,” he said. “Young people are manipulated and there’s no way out for them. Corrupt politicians use the gangs for their own gain.”

Nerette was born in Haiti but has lived in the United States for 35 years, including 17 in metro Atlanta.

He said plans are in the early stages to hold a town hall meeting that will bring the Haitian American and other Caribbean communities together to see what they can do to help.

“We have to do whatever we can to rally and make our voices count,” he said.

The situation is very complex said Emmanuel Buteau, executive director of the Haitian Institute of Atlanta, and a theology professor at Xavier University in Louisiana.

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