Hastings Blue Plaque Unveiling for Marie-Louise Christophe
On October 3, 2022, a second blue heritage plaque honouring Marie-Louise Christophe and her daughters was unveiled in West Hill, Hastings. The initiative, funded by Hastings-based organisation Black Butterfly, a Black cultural heritage, social justice and wellbeing social enterprise, and the Centre for Migration, Diaspora and Exile and Arts and Humanities Research Association at the University of Central Lancashire, was coordinated by Black Butterfly’s director, Dawn Dublin, and Dr Nicole Willson, researcher at the University of Central Lancashire and Principal Investigator on the Fanm Rebèl project. The event marked the commencement of Black History Month in the UK and coincided with the the bicentenary of the Christophe women’s arrival in Hastings in October 1822. The event also signalled the first of a series of activities that Black Butterfly will lead around the idea of the ‘unforgotten’, attempting to resurrect hidden Black histories in the Hastings area.
“As a Capoise, I am proud, as a Haitian, I am honoured, and as a person of African descent, I feel lifted. There is something extremely urgent about telling our stories and our truth, and discovering new history.”
Speakers at the event included Dawn Dublin, Dr Nicole Willson and Guilaine Brutus, founder of the Haitian Heritage Group (HHG) UK. The plaque, mounted on 5 Exmouth Place, was unveiled by Wilford Marous and Michelet Romulus, President and Vice-President of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain. The event was followed by a reception at the Nest in Hastings Old Town, a café, creative therapy centre and events space run by the Eggtooth Project, which was catered by Grill Shack and Tiki Bar, the only Haitian restaurant in London, owned by Wilford Marous. The reception paid tribute to the contributions of Haitian elder Tonton Michel to the community.
“Not many people know about King Henry Christophe or Marie-Louise, but they set the bar very high when it came to legacy. My wish is that this plaque and these events make King Christophe and Marie-Louise topical in all academic and developmental spaces.”