Haitian Heritage Month Wraps up with celebration at New York City Hall.

Tequila Minsky, Heritagekonpa Magazine

The nation has seen a plethora of festivities as part of Haitian Heritage Month, from Miami to New Jersey to Boston and New York. Wrapping up the month and commemorating Haitian Flay Day was the annual celebration at New York City Hall, the grand building aflutter with the Blue and Red, an event brought there by Rudell Decceus in 2002.

It is the 205^th birthday of the Haitian flag and members of the Haitian community, Consul Generals from Haiti, Felix Augustin, and Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Harold Robertson-who attends every year, and a slew of City Council Members packed Council chambers at City Hall to celebrate. It was the first year for Mathieu Eugene, the first Haitian Council Member, to lead much of the evening's proceedings. A backdrop of historical art in and just outside of chambers, depicting many heroes from Haitian history, help set the time in history that was commemorated.

In Pictures: haitian Flag Celebration in New York

Nicole Baron Rosefort director of HABETAC, Joceyln Gay, and Frank Eloi, were honored as local community members who have served the community in areas of education, activism and folkloric performance, and sports for children, as were artist Joseph Thony Moise ,"Ti Tonton," and music teacher and writer Jean Guesly Moriseau, "Ti Gus." Also honored was renown painter Prefete Duffaut, who lives in Port-au-Prince and is 85 years old. CongresswomanYvette Clarke, who has a large Haitian constituency, received special recognition.

In Pictures: Haitian Flag Celebration in Miami

Many of the paintings on display depicted the inscription on the flag, "L'Union Fait Force' --In Union Lays Our Strength, the words that reflected the necessary strategy for all the island's peoples of color to be unified in order to rise up against their slave owners. This imperative was needed to win the long battle for freedom from slavery and independence that was declared on January 1, 1804.

Consul General Augustin, expressing this sentiment, said that no matter what class, caste or color, all Haitians always unite around the flag; this is a holiday that brings all Haitians together. Haiti is the only country that had a successful slave revolution and it was the first Black independent republic in the world.

The French Tricolor flag was torn up by the revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1803, the blue and red remaining. The two parts were stitched together horizontally by Catherine Flon on May 18, 1803, in the town of Archaie, to make a new flag