South Florida woman ready to promote family's story during Haitian Heritage Month
MIAMI -- A mom guarding her family's treasured history plans to share it with the world next week.
Alexanda Jeanty-LeClerc, a mother of three who is a teacher by trade, said education is her passion.
After coming to South Florida from Haiti at 13 years old, Little Haiti is now her home and she is planning a lecture that she hopes will reshapes views on Haitian heritage.
"I'm ready to share it with the world," she said. "I think it's very important to the world to the world to see that Haitians are on their feet because whatever happens in Haiti affects everybody else around the world. It's not only Haiti but it affects people who are here. Haitians who are in Canada. Haitians who are in France."
May is Haitian Heritage Month and Jeanty-LeClerc's presentation is scheduled for May 17 at Miami-Dade College's Wolfson campus Building 1 at 10:45 a.m.
In Haiti, thousands are fleeing raging gang violence and struggles to find food. \
With heritage month full of hard-luck headlines, Jeanty-LeClerc's family thinks their tie to a composer whose image appears on stamps, the story of how he got there and what that story does for his descendants could inspire people.
"If things were better (in Haiti), I think things would be better for the world in every aspect," she said.
Her great-great uncle is Occide Jeanty, the composer who historians credit with writing Haiti's first anthem in 1893. Family stories suggest that Jeanty did it in one night.
Even to this day, the composition remains part of the country's presidential salute.
That positive contribution to history has long been a source of family strength, Jeanty-LeClerc said.
It's discussed often. It also has also given Alexandra a life-long sense of belonging no matter where she lives.
"When you have somebody of such importance in your family you want the young people to know and to remember where you come from," Jeanty-LeClerc said. "So it was always shared in a way that was very special."
Her father talked about sharing the story until he died.
Soon after, Jeanty-LeClerc's cousins in New York and Haiti agreed that Alexandra should tell the world about their ancestor in the hope of inspiring others with similarly guarded family historical treasures to share and remind people of positive Haitian accomplishments.
"This (story of the anthem) is not ours," Jeanty-LeClerc said. "It belongs to the nation. I really hope that other Haitians as you say individuals that have treasures (and) we have so many treasures, (I just want) them to share it. Show the beauty of our country, the beauty of our people, our courage."
