'Unity Day' in Englewood celebrates Haitian independence, marks 15 years since deadly earthquake

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Sunday marks 15 years since a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, killing hundreds of thousands of people and causing billions in damages.

On Saturday night, Haitian-Americans in the Chicago area came out to remember the lives lost while also celebrating their native country's independence.

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The "19th Annual Unity Day" event was held in Englewood, where the island nation's impact on the birth of Chicago was explained.

January 1, 1804 was the day Haiti's first president Jean-Jacques Dessalines helped to free the country. The South Side event celebrated that liberation, while also marking the day, 15 years ago, when the country was rocked by one of the worst natural disasters in the western hemisphere.

It's culture goes back centuries.

"We are the first free Black republic across the world," first generation Haitian-American Cidney Francois-Friis said."We sparked revolutionary independence across South America, across Central America. So, Haiti freed themselves, then it was Mexico, Ecuador, Peru."

The pride in their country is something they hope to continue for generations.

"You can't forget where you came from," said Patrick Brutus, Co-Chair and Organizer for Unity Day.

That effort of learning the history in the Chicago-area, where about 40,000 Haitian-Americans call home, was highlighted at Kennedy-King College in Englewood.

"We are marking the 221st anniversary of our Haitian independence," said Cyndee Montes Newman, Founder and Executive Director of Daughters of Haiti. "This is our 19th Annual Unity Day. The community has an opportunity to come together to celebrate that independence, to eat our freedom soup or soup joumou together as a community, and fellowship."

The island nation's liberation in 1804, eventually gave birth to another city in 1837.

"Jean Baptiste Point du Sable from Haiti, Saint-Marc, founded Chicago, [and] discovered this midwestern territory," Brutus said.

The event also marked 15 years since the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. A bell was rang for each of those years, honoring the hundreds of thousands of lives lost.

"The resiliency of our people is really strong," Brutus said. "That's what the takeaway of tonight is; we're still here."