JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As you’re driving around today, you might see Haitian flags waving from car windows; perhaps you will see people dressed wearing red and blue. That’s because today is Haitian Flag Day.
STORY: Two men check into hospital overnight following separate Jacksonville shootings
Haitians or Haitian-Americans celebrate the day the nation’s flag was created on May 18, 1803.
After Haiti’s tragic earthquake in 2010, thousands of Haitians immigrated to Florida to seek refuge. Haitians are still fleeing the island-nation as a result of nonstop deadly protests, political unrest and kidnappings following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021.
Florida is home to more than half a million Haitian-Americans. That’s more than any other state in the nation.
Here in Jacksonville, we have a growing Haitian community. We now have dozens of Haitian churches and business on the Westside and Northside.