Boston Haitian community

Elected officials and local Haitian leaders across the country criticized former President Donald J. Trump after he uttered falsehoods about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, during the presidential debate earlier this month.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Toussaint L’Ouverture Cultural Center of Massachusetts took place on Monday near TD Garden. The center will act as a gathering place and resource for local Haitians. And organizers hope it will also help the legacy of one of history’s great leaders live on.

On a hot day in July, a woman took her own life in a hotel room in Taunton. She was one of an estimated 500 Haitian migrants receiving emergency shelter in that hotel. We cannot say for certain what prompted her to take her life — perhaps it was the culmination of the trauma she endured during her migration journey through South and Central America, or perhaps it was the unexpected challenges she experienced upon her arrival to Boston.

Massachusetts officials moved to provide aid to Haitian migrants in a $4 billion federal COVID-19 relief funding spending bill signed by Governor Charlie Baker Monday.

About 50 people, including public officials, faith leaders, and residents of the Haitian diaspora, came together in prayerful support for the people of Haiti following the assassination of the country’s president Jovenel Moïse and the shooting of his wife Martine on July 7.