Musings of a Haitian American Male: Big Night In Little Haiti/Gwo Nuit Nan Ti Ayiti

Yours truly and the Big Night In Little Haiti sign

Miami is one of those cities constantly mentioned in songs and travel blogs for its nightlife and activities. For it's beautiful beaches, various clubs and lounges, and plethora of culturally inspired events people from all over the world flock to Miami. Few people realize that Miami is made up of many smaller cities. One city in particular, Little Haiti, is one of Miami's hidden gems.

Little Haiti, so named due to the influx of Haitian immigrants who came to call it home in the late '70s early '80s. Comprised of many Haitian owned restaurants, businesses and tourist attractions, Little Haiti is a great place to become engrossed in Haitian culture.

One such attraction is The Little Haiti Cultural Center (LHCC). The center offers tutoring programs, arts and crafts, and dance classes for children and adults. A focal point of the center is a program that it along with The Rhythm Foundation sponsors every third Friday of the month.

Big Night In Little Haiti. An event that draws in spectators from all over Dade and Broward county, Big Night In Little Haiti is a cultural event that boasts Haitian inspired music, food and drinks. Each month Tradisyon Lakou Lakay, Little Haiti Cultural Center’s resident percussion and dance ensemble, headlines for the featured kompa artist of the month. This past weekend, none other than Alan Cave graced the stage. Known best as lead singer of the band Zin, Alan Cave's music has been making couples plo'gay (dancing in a provocative grinding manner), all night long for years and Friday night was no exception. His energy was so infectious that the hundreds in attendance, myself included, couldn't help but montay sou jazz la. His two hour set included a few of my favorite songs: Chokola, 365 jours de l'annee, and of course Se pa pou dat.

In addition to offering BNLH, the LHCC is home to an art gallery. The gallery showcases paintings, photography and sculptures from local and international artists. Boasting exhibits with a different theme each month, Shades of Black, February's black History inspired theme has been a big hit. Curated by Carl Juste, a (HAITIAN) photographer for the Miami Herald, Shades of Black depicts black and white portraits and paintings depicting Africa, Haiti and important historical figures of color. Two of the most compelling pieces to me were a laser etched glass image of the late former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela and a portrait of a solemn faced Haitian girl entitled "Haitian Face".

Though still undiscovered by many in S. Florida, Big Night in Little Haiti was named Best Festival by New Times Best of Miami.

You may have missed Alan Cave and have less than a week to catch Shades of Black, but take solace in the fact that the LHCC is already hard at work preparing for the months to come. Big Night In Little Haiti is a free event to the public and an amazing opportunity to enjoy some great music, art and get a small taste of what Haitian culture has to offer. I for one will continue enjoying one of the great things Little Haiti has to offer the community and who knows, after reading this I may bump into on of you out there. Until then...

Na we pita/A plus tard