Speaking Volumes: Haitian Heritage Month is almost here. Here’s how you can celebrate

May marks the 21st anniversary of Haitian Heritage Month.

Started in Boston in 1998, Haitian Heritage Month didn’t become a national celebration until 2005. The commemoration began with a series of programs on Haitian history, culture and contributions for the month presented by Boston Access Television, Tele Kreyol.

In 2001, Palm Beach picked up the celebration and worked to make it statewide.

In 2004, attempts to make it nationwide proved unsuccessful with a failed bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, but things changed in 2005 when President Bush sent a letter to the Haitian-American community to congratulate them and organize a celebration at the White House that year.

Since then, many states and cities have issued annual citations and proclamations recognizing May as Haitian Heritage Month.

Haitian Heritage Month is an expansion of Haitian Flag Day, which is celebrated on May 18 in Haiti and the Diaspora. The celebrations serve as a way for the Haitian community to take pride in and pass on their culture and history to future generations.

In addition to Haitian Flag Day, May is linked to many other important milestones in Haitian culture, including Labor and Agriculture Day on May 1, the birth of revolutionary general Toussaint Louverture on May 20, and Mother’s Day on the last Sunday of the month.

Join the Haitian celebration by visiting your local library and checking out some of the following items:

▪ “C’est si Bon! Haitian Cuisine Cookbook.” Make your next family dinner night a Haitian cuisine experience with this collection of recipes given by Haitian restaurant owners, organization members and other community members.

▪ For your next movie night, check out “Mystic Lands: Anasazi & Haiti.” This DVD reveals the truth behind the mystical practice of Voodoo, revealing its roots in West African beliefs and Roman Catholicism.

▪ Plan your next vacation to Haiti using any of our many travel guidebooks and a travel DVD called “Cuba and Haiti.”

▪ Learn more about one of the most famous people in Haitian history by reading the biography titled “Toussaint Louverture” by Madison Smartt Bell. Or discover more about the Haitian Revolution by watching the DVD “1804,” which details the strategies and motivation behind the nation that overthrew their oppressors.

▪ Want to pick up a new language? Try “A Learner’s Dictionary of Haitian Creole” by Albert Valdman, the “Oxford Picture Dictionary” by Jayme Adelson-Goldstein or “Haitian-Kreyol in ten steps” by Roger E Savain. Then test your skills by exploring our Creole language nonfiction collection.

▪ Teach your kids about Haitian culture with “A Haitian Family” by Keith Elliot Greenberg. This book for kids tells the story of a Haitian family that came to the United States to build a new life in Brooklyn, N.Y. Also check out “Please Malese! A Trickster Tale from Haiti” by Amy MacDonald, “Bouki Dances the Kokioko” or “The Magic Orange Tree and other Haitian Folktales” by Diane Wolkstein.

▪ Finally, discover Haitian authors Ibi Aanu Zoboi and Edwidge Danticat with such titles as “American Street” or “Behind the Mountains.”

Call your local branch for more information on available titles.

▪ Central Library — 941-748-5555;

▪ Braden River — 941-727-6079;

▪ Island — 941-778-6341;

▪ Palmetto — 941-722-3333;

▪ Rocky Bluff — 941-723-4821;

▪ South Manatee — 941-755-3892.

You also can access the library via the internet at mymanatee.org/library.

Sylva Osbourne is the librarian at the Central Library in downtown Bradenton. Speaking Volumes, written by Manatee County Public Library System staff members, is published each Sunday in the Bradenton Herald.