Preserving Haitian Culture Means Investing in the People Who Carry It Forward

MIAMI – A musician cannot pay rent with applause. An artisan cannot replenish supplies with compliments. A cultural organization cannot keep its doors open because people agree that its work matters.

Yet when we talk about preserving Haitian culture, we often focus on celebrating traditions without giving equal attention to the livelihoods of the people who sustain those traditions.

That is where our approach must change.

When people visit Little Haiti for its music, food and art, they encounter heritage carried forward by families, artists and entrepreneurs. Keeping that heritage alive requires more than attracting an audience. It requires making cultural work economically sustainable for the people doing it.

National Arts and Humanities Month

October’s National Arts and Humanities Month offers an opportunity to connect celebration with that sense of responsibility.

The economic importance of cultural work is well established. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, arts and cultural economic activity accounted for $1.17 trillion, or 4.2% of the nation’s gross domestic product, in 2023. That figure says nothing about what Haitian artists earn, but it establishes that culture belongs in economic development conversations.

I have spent more than 25 years producing Haitian heritage events in South Florida, including nearly a decade spent managing the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. It has taught me this: If we want Haitian culture to endure, we must invest in the livelihoods that sustain it.

Consider what happens around a cultural gathering. Musicians rehearse. Vendors buy ingredients and materials. Artisans prepare inventory. Organizers coordinate equipment, staffing, and promotion.

A successful evening can create opportunity. But a crowded event does not automatically mean a vendor made a profit or a performer received fair compensation. Attendance tells us how many people showed up, but it does not tell us whether the people providing the experience can afford to do it again. We need to ask both questions.

Little Haiti Cultural Complex

Sounds of Little Haiti illustrates what that gap looks like in practice. For more than 11 years, the monthly festival I co-produce at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex has brought together live Haitian music, food vendors, artisans and families in the heart of our neighborhood. It is one of the few places where elders, young people and first-time visitors can experience live Haitian music on our own ground.

Keeping it going has become a struggle. Each edition costs between $22,000 and $28,000 to produce. Our May edition, during Haitian Heritage Month, can cost up to $40,000 because it features two headlining bands and accommodates a significantly larger crowd. Established Haitian bands now charge $8,000 to $10,000 for a single performance, roughly a third of the budget before we pay for sound, lighting, staging, security, permits, insurance, and staff.

Advance tickets are $25, and we give away 100 tickets each month. At that price, we would need to sell roughly 900 to 1,100 tickets to cover costs through ticket sales alone. We could raise prices to close the gap, but we have chosen not to. Sounds of Little Haiti exists so that working families in Little Haiti can experience their own culture without being priced out. An affordable ticket is the purpose of the event, not a flaw in its business plan.

That choice means every edition depends on fundraising and on sponsors and partners willing to invest. Too often, support arrives one event at a time, if it arrives at all. And the answer is not to pay musicians less. Those fees reflect the real cost of rehearsals, equipment, and the livelihoods of several professional musicians, the fair pay this column argues for.

This is the squeeze facing many community cultural events: artists rightly asking for fair pay, audiences unable to absorb higher prices, and organizers caught in the middle. Sustained public and private investment can solve that problem. A single well-attended night never will. Three changes would help.

Cultural Funding

First, cultural funding should cover the full cost of the work. Artist fees, administrative staff, equipment, and year-round operations should be recognized as essential expenses. Funders should consider multiyear support so organizations can plan beyond the next event. Community events that keep tickets affordable by design should not have to start from zero every month.

Economic Development Programs

Second, economic development programs should make room for cultural entrepreneurs. Artisans, performers, and small cultural businesses should have access to support for pricing, bookkeeping, contracts, marketing, and reaching new customers. Programs serving Haitian communities should provide access to Haitian Creole as needed.

Cultural Work

Third, institutions that benefit from Haitian culture should purchase from and contract with Haitian creative professionals. Hotels, businesses, public agencies, and event organizers can commission artwork, hire performers, and buy locally made products. Clear agreements and timely payment should be standard practice.

Organizers have responsibilities, too. We should track paid opportunities, vendor sales, and repeat business alongside attendance and use that information to allocate resources where needed.

Our heritage endures because people practice, teach, and adapt it. Their time and expertise deserve compensation.

This October, I urge funders, public agencies, and businesses to make a concrete commitment: fund a paid opportunity, sponsor a community event that remains open to all, purchase from a Haitian cultural entrepreneur, or support an institution’s ongoing operations.

Celebrating Haitian culture should help the people who carry it build a future.

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