Comunidad

"En recuerdo de Sonia Pierre", Miami rinde homenaje

MIAMI, EE.UU. (defend.ht) - Mientras los haitianos y los defensores de los derechos humanos en todo el Mundo la saludan el espíritu de lucha, Miami está celebrando su memoria durante un acto solemne para mantener su lucha por la igualdad, el respeto y la dignidad humana avanzando en la República Dominicana.

Monique and Loriston Community Funeral Home will join Fanm Aysiyen Nan Miyami, Inc. (FANM), University of Miami Human Rights Clinic, All Nations Presbytarian Church, Diocese of South East Florida, Sosyete Koukouy, Haitian-American- Grassroots Coalition and Veye Yo, in remembrance of Sonia Pierre, Saturday, December 10th, 2011 at the Little Haiti Cultural Center 228 N.E. 59 Terrace, Miami, Florida 33137 at 5:30 PM.

“Sonia was a truly remarkable human being. She held true to her convictions and was a hero in the struggle for Haitian rights. I feel privileged to have known her as a colleague, mentor, and friend over the past 10 years,” said Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, who represented Pierre in a case involving mass expulsions of ethnic Haitians from the Dominican Republic before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Rev. Dr. Jonas Georges met Sonia Pierre in 2007 when FANM gave her the Marie Claire Heureuse Leadership Award. He penned this: “I am deeply saddened by her departure. Though her strong and compassionate voice will not be heard anymore, her deep commitment to social justice and her labor of love on behalf of the poor Dominicans of Haitian descent living under inhumane conditions in the Dominican Republic will live on. May her soul rest in peace and may others rise to keep the fire burning”.

Sonia Pierre was following her destiny at an early age. While she has reached to the mountain top, she has reached in and embedded in the collective consciousness of a nation added Jean-Robert Lafortune, Chair of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition.

“The death of Sonia Pierre left me with immeasurable sadness said Marleine Bastien of FANM/Haitian Women of Miami. The Dominican government did everything in their power to crush and destroy her. She is now dead, but she is not broken. Her struggle was not only for people in the bateys, it was for the world disenfranchised. We lost a gentle giant, but we have not lost hope for justice.”

Sonia Pierre, a community activist spent the greater part of her life fighting for the rights of Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic. As a result, Ms. Pierre has been arrested and her life has been continuously threatened. Ms. Pierre died of a heart attack in the Dominican Republic this past Sunday, at the age of 48 years old.