In 1988, the Haitian Cultural Club of Tallahassee was born. The product of the idea of a dedicated FAMU student, Louis Marcelus, who wanted to see unity among the Haitians living in this community. He invited students from FAMU, FSU, and T.C.C., and some members of the Haitian community to his apartment for a meeting, and there we laid the foundation for this club. First meeting were held in a member's apartment or house before the club was officially recognized by FSU and assigned a room for our traditional Friday meetings.

1988 was a year of severe hardship for Haitians in our motherland. After the 1987 electoral debacle, new elections were scheduled for January 17, 1988. Four leading presidential candidates withdrew from the race in protest over the military's attempts to control the electoral process. The balloting went ahead as scheduled, however, amid a low voter turnout and allegations of fraud. Leslie F. Manigat was declared the winner and took office on February 7. Manigat made the mistake of trying to assert constitutional control over the armed forces rather than serving as a figurehead. In response, army overthrew Manigat on June 20 of that same year, and Haiti returned to direct military government for the first time since 1956.

Human-rights abuses increased as the army did little to discourage the violent backlash of Duvalierist groups. These abuses climaxed on Sunday, September 11, when a group of former tonton makouts entered the Church of Saint John Bosco in Port-au-Prince (pastored by a prominent opposition priest), murdered a number of worshipers, and set the church on fire.

When times are at there hardest, we proved that we can stand together and overcome. Haiti has stood for over two hundred years and still continues...

The Haitian Cultural Club’s main goal continues to be Unity. At each meeting we come together to discuss, analyze, and share issues affecting the Haiti. To allow our members who were born in the USA, or emigrated from Haiti at a young age to know more about our country. We focus on ways to positively promote the social and cultural aspects of Haiti. Currently our membership count is more than one hundred people, all of different ethic and racial backgrounds.

Portions of the above contributed by Mr. Jean Beaudoin