Educator and Civil Rights Leader

SEPTIMA POINSETTE CLARK (1898 – 1987)   “We are living now at a time when the question is: Who’s going to do it and when? — not whether it can…

U.S. Representative from Utah’s 4th Congressional District

MIA LOVE (1975 – )   “My parents always told me, in order for people to see you as an equal, you need to act as an equal and be…

First Haitian-born individual elected to state office in the United States

MARIE ST. FLEUR (1962 – )   “We must shape our own destinies here. Power concedes to no one. You must go out and get it.” Marie St. Fleur was…

First Haitian-American to play in the WNBA

MARIE FERDINAND-HARRIS (1978 – )   “I am a proud example of someone who had a tough upbringing but uses sports as a vehicle to win in life.” Marie Ferdinand-Harris,…

Legendary actress and singer

JOSEPHINE PREMICE (1926 – 2001)   “At times, cultures that seem exotic are represented through gross exaggerations. My mission will be to clarify and reveal the truth about Haitian culture.”…

Founder of the first black Roman Catholic order in the United States

ELIZABETH CLARISSE LANGE (1784 – 1882)   “She came to Baltimore in 1813…She saw a need in educating children of Caribbean immigrants and slaves, a practice which was illegal at…

Award-winning Haitian-American writer

EDWIDGE DANTICAT (1969 – )   “Art is Haiti’s own ambassador—it can make its own path…Haiti’s more nuanced and complex face often comes across in its art.” Edwidge Danticat is…

First Woman of Color to achieve recognition as a sculptor

EDMONIA LEWIS (1844 – 1907)   “That is what I tell my people whenever I meet them, that they must not be discouraged, but work ahead until the world is…

Organ Transplant Surgeon

DR. ROSE MARIE TOUSSAINT (1956 – )   “When we are rejected in the world, we will recover only as we begin to realize that we must hold on to…