Queen Mother Dòwòti Part I - Significance of 2024

Lakay se Lakay. Home is Home.

Community, this year we are intentionally recognizing and uplifting Haitian culture and its historic contributions to the entire community of global African descendants through our programmatic theme: Lakay se Lakay.

2024 marks the closing of the International Decade of People of African Descent and is the 220th anniversary of Haiti’s independence, the first independent Black republic in the world. Earlier this week Benin celebrated its annual Vodou festival at the beach near the Door of No Return, while next week we recognize National Day of Racial Healing in the U.S. coinciding with MLK Jr. Day. With all of this in mind, we ask, what is home to a people dispersed across that world - a people with so many connections to one another?

Our Scholar-in-Residence, Her Royal Majesty Dr. Dòwòti Désir, the first Queen Mother of the African Diaspora on the African continent, contextualizes the significance of Lakay se Lakay as our theme and asks us to consider, as members of the African Diaspora, what does home mean to each of us?

Stay tuned for more information to follow about our Lakay se Lakay programs.

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