迈阿密小海地社区再次繁荣起来

Making Miami's Little Haiti Neighborhood Great Again

Haitians are worried about changes taking place in the Little Haiti area of Miami, Florida.

Little Haiti is considered “the cultural heart of the Haitian diaspora” in the United States. Many Haitians fled from their homeland and sailed to the U.S. mainland¹ in the 1980s. Some of them established the Little Haiti neighborhood in Florida’s largest city.

Today the energetic neighborhood is filled with Haitian-owned businesses, including restaurants and stores selling works² of art.

On Saturdays, music from Haiti and other Caribbean countries fills the air outside Little Haiti’s Caribbean Marketplace. People buy and enjoy tasty treats from local eateries. Farther³ down the sidewalk, a group of girls and women in traditional Creole clothing work on dance moves. Often there are artists busy creating paintings, and performances by musicians.

Today many locals are concerned about efforts to expand and develop parts of the colorful neighborhood. They note how wealthy individuals seem to be buying up property and displacing⁴ poor people. They fear that this gentrification will lead to Haitian culture and people disappearing from the area.

"Because of gentrification - it's the only thing that we have so we're trying to keep this going, said Hoppy⁵ Duroseau, who lives in Little Haiti.

Born in St. Louis du Nord, Haiti, Duroseau immigrated⁶ to the United States at age four. He is now involved with marketing⁷ for the Caribbean Marketplace on social media.

"We want to keep it busy all the time because if not - then we'll lose this place and we'll no longer have Little Haiti,” he said. “Little Haiti is the only one in the world. So we need to keep this."

To slow these changes, some Haitians hope to see the Caribbean Marketplace operate seven days a week. They believe this would help support the community economically.

Gentrification in effect

Over the years, the Little Haiti neighborhood has become popular with non-Haitians. Some land developers say the area is desirable⁸ because of it sits on higher ground overlooking⁹ other parts of Miami. This makes the land less susceptible¹⁰ to flooding and rising sea levels.

In 2016, rental¹¹ prices on office space climbed as much as 50 percent. Many Haitian-owned businesses were forced to close because of the rising costs.

A local woman named Myrlande sells food at the Caribbean Marketplace. She told VOA she is among the Haitians directly affected¹² by gentrification.

"It's a dead zone; nothing is going on. Haitians have pretty much left the neighborhood," she said. "I - myself had a business in the neighborhood and the rent went up so high that I was forced to leave… That is why we've lost almost all the Haitian-owned businesses in the community. That's why we are trying to have them open the Caribbean Marketplace every day so we can have a place to call home…"

David C. Brown wrote a book called The History of Little Haiti: Featuring Its Pioneers. He says the area is special because of the values and strength of the Haitians who moved there. "…Those values that I see so clearly that shone through in the Haitian spirit are the values of family, education and work ethic¹³,” he added. “Those are the three values that have helped to raise the bar of this immigrant¹⁴ community."

A colorful community

The marketplace is home to many different vendors¹⁶ who each add their own personality to the neighborhood.

Roe¹⁷ Michel sells t-shirts and other clothing with colorful printed images. Michel immigrated to the United States from Haiti at the age of two with his parents. He feels Haitians have the ability to survive anything.

Michel shows this sense of pride through the clothes he sells. His products are called Vintage 1804. The name is based, in part, on the year Haitian slaves declared their independence from France and became the first free black nation in the Western Hemisphere¹⁸.

One of his T-shirts shows heroes of the war for independence, such as Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint Louverture, and Alexandre Petion.

Often there are artists painting for the public and live music concerts.

Even with the difficulties of gentrification, Haitians like Myrlande hope the marketplace can continue to provide support to the community.

"Business today was not bad at all, but I just wish we could have the same amount of people every Saturday," Myrlande said. "Although I didn't make a lot of money today, I'm satisfied, I'm happy."

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

ethic - n. rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad?

pride - n. a feeling that you respect yourself and deserve¹⁹ to be respected by other people?

vendor¹⁵ - n. a person who sells things especially on the street?

rental - n. the amount of money paid or collected as rent?

susceptible - adj. easily affected, influenced, or harmed by something?

zone - n. an area that is different from other areas in a particular way?

diaspora - n. a group of people who live outside the area in which they had lived for a long time or in which their ancestors lived ?

gentrification - n. change of a place, such as an old neighborhood, by improving it and making it more appealing to people who have money

1 mainland   

n.大陆，本土

参考例句：

• The new bridge will link the island to the mainland.新的桥梁将把该岛与大陆连接在一起。
• Hong Kong's prosperity relies heavily on mainland.香港的繁荣在很大程度上依赖于大陆。

2 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

3 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。

4 displacing   

移动( displace的现在分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• The face of Big Brother swam into his mind, displacing that of O'Brien. 他的脑海里浮现出老大哥的脸，代替了奥勃良的脸。 来自英汉文学
• Leukemias typically fill up the marrow with abnormal cells, displacing normal hematopoiesis. 典型的白血病有很多不正常的细胞充满骨髓，取代正常的造血功能。

5 hoppy   

（指海洋）波浪起伏的

参考例句：

• The sea began getting choppy. 大海开始变得波涛起伏。
• The choppy waves made handling the boats a tricky operation that day. 那天在滔滔的波浪里驾驶小舟着实费了一番手脚。

6 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 desirable   

adj.值得拥有的；可取的，有利的

参考例句：

• Some reasonable adjustments seem desirable.某些合理的调整似乎是可取的。
• Prolonged negotiation was not desirable.拖长了的谈判并不是大家所想要的。

9 overlooking   

v.忽视( overlook的现在分词 )；监督；俯视；（对不良现象等）不予理会

参考例句：

• The house is in an elevated position, overlooking the town. 这栋房子地势较高，可以俯瞰全城。
• The house sits high on a hill overlooking a lake. 房子高高地坐落在可以俯瞰湖水的小山上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

11 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 ethic   

n.道德标准，行为准则

参考例句：

• They instilled the work ethic into their children.他们在孩子们的心中注入了职业道德的理念。
• The connotation of education ethic is rooted in human nature's mobility.教育伦理的内涵根源于人本性的变动性。

14 immigrant   

adj.(从国外)移来的，移民的；n.移民，侨民

参考例句：

• Life in the USA was very hard for almost every new immigrant.美国的生活几乎对每一个新移民都很艰难。
• I'd like to obtain some information about applying for an immigrant visa.我想取一些申请移民签证的资料。

15 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

16 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

17 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

18 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

19 deserve   

vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

参考例句：

• You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。
• I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。