Dr. Erlange Elisme

As we stand at the threshold of a new year, many of us in the diaspora carry the weight of what broke us in the last one. 2025 has been particularly brutal. Political leaders have belittled us, reducing our stories to lies and our humanity to talking points. Families face deportation after decades of building lives here. Businesses that took years to establish now struggle as customers stay away, afraid to be associated with us. The professional credibility we worked so hard to earn feels fragil

The School Bell Rings, But Home Remains the Foundation As August winds down and backpacks fill our living rooms, Haitian parents across Georgia are preparing for another school year. But before our children step into those hallways, we have the sacred opportunity to strengthen the foundation they carry with them: the emotional safety of home.

"We gathered as one... and we rise as many." These words closed my spoken word piece at the recent Eritaj Gala, but they carry a truth that extends far beyond that evening. They speak to something our ancestors understood deeply: that healing, like trauma, happens in community.