Boston gets a Haitian cultural center, a dream 25 years in the making
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Marvin Dee Mathelier, executive director of the Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center of Massachusetts, holds up the ceremonial groundbreaking shovel that has Louverture's portrait painted on it. Photo: Steph Solis/Axios
The Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center of Massachusetts — an homage to Boston's Haitian community — opened this week in the West End.
Why it matters: The center was a dream 25 years in the making in Boston's Haitian community, led partly by community leaders Marie and Wilner Auguste.
The big picture: Boston joins Miami, New York and other American cities with large Haitian communities that have built cultural centers.
- Greater Boston was home to an estimated 50,000 people of Haitian descent as of 2020, per a Boston Indicators report.
- That includes an estimated 25,000 Black people with Haitian ancestry in Boston, the report says.
Catch up quick: The center's task force won a bid to open the space at 131 Beverly St., managed by Related Beal, in 2023.
By the numbers: The center will operate in the space rent-free for 25 years, with reviews of the deal every five years, said Marvin Dee Mathelier, the executive director.
- Related Beal gave the group $50,000, which helped cover construction costs.
- The organizers have raised $300,000, including $150,000 from the Barr Foundation.
State of play: The center, run by two part-time employees, including Mathelier, will be open four days a week, 10am–3pm, starting next week.
- Visitors can see the gallery exhibit, peruse the reading room named after the late poet laureate Danielle Legros Georges and drink coffee.
- The center will ramp up programming and extend its hours, hosting panel discussions, dance events and possibly cooking classes, Mathelier told Axios.
Zoom in: A man dressed as Louverture, the Haitian general who led the nation to freedom from French colonial rule, waved the Haitian flag Tuesday night as organizers celebrated the center's grand opening down the street from TD Garden.
- Boston recording artist Rebecca Zama sang the American and Haitian national anthems to scores of attendees at Lovejoy Wharf.
- The opening comes during Haitian Heritage Month and on the day believed to be Louverture's birthday.
What they're saying: "Haitians belong everywhere," City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune later told the crowd.
- "We belong in every corner of this city."
Friction point: Some residents wanted the center in the heart of Boston's Haitian community — Mattapan, Hyde Park, Roxbury or Dorchester.
- Rent-free real estate aside, Louijeune tells Axios the location reflects the Haitian community's reach across the city, from the business owners in Mattapan to the cleaning staff working in downtown office buildings.
- "Here in the heart of this city, we belong here like any community group," Louijeune said in an interview.
What's next: Mathelier said he's looking to raise another $200,000 to hire a full-time employee to staff the center and cover costs long-term.
- Once they scale up, Mathelier said, the team will plan to operate five to six days a week with longer hours.