This story is republished from the web site Reckon
By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com
Earlier than Marjorie Colas made historical past at Walt Disney World in Orlando, her father made certain she knew the magic of being her genuine Haitian self.
Born within the island’s capital of Port-au-Prince, Colas is the youngest in her household. However her father, Banes, made certain his daughter knew she was mighty. He was the primary individual to name her princess and reminded her usually – each with phrases and actions – of her majestic potential.
“He would at all times say, ‘You’re the star of the household,’” Colas mentioned. “So I grew up believing all these issues and knew that I needed to do very well. That actually guided how I managed my life as greatest as I might.”
Colas was raised with a assured spirit, on an island of freedom fighters who established the first free Black republic in January 1804. This legacy is widely known loudly throughout Haitian Heritage Month in Might, by means of the nation’s meals, music and language. Colas refused to water down her vibrant tradition when she moved to the US practically 30 years in the past and have become the primary Haitian Walt Disney World Ambassador.
Colas’ needs to disrupt those that understand her nation solely as a nation of poverty and instability. She isn’t ignoring the political unrest in her homeland, however she is aware of the tragedies of the current don’t erase the satisfaction of Haiti’s previous. An island as soon as colonized for its sugar cane and assets was freed by the enslaved who overthrew the French regime.
“When you already know your historical past, irrespective of how unhealthy issues get, you already know who you’re and you’ve got one thing to look again at and work in direction of,” Colas mentioned. “So being from Haiti – sure, there are such a lot of various things occurring there. However on the finish of the day, Haiti is the mom of freedom.”
Haitian Heritage Month is an growth of Haitian Flag Day on Might 18. The flag has grow to be an emblem of resilience, satisfaction and freedom for the nation. In 1803, Catherine Flon sewed collectively remnants of the French tricolor flag, torn aside by Haitian revolution chief Jean-Jacques Dessalines. The blue and pink stripes symbolize the alliance between Black and mulatto residents. Beneath the flag’s coat of arms is a white ribbon with the motto “L’Union fait la pressure,” which implies “unity makes energy” in French.
Every thing is shut down when Flag Day arrives, Colas mentioned. Colleges would parade their satisfaction within the streets, embellished in pink, white and blue. Colas beamed with pleasure when carrying the flag and singing throughout her center college parade. The odor of the meals, the exuberance of the music and laughter merge collectively right into a symphony of heritage.
Flag Day turned the proper classroom, educating youngsters about their satisfaction. Colas realized how Haiti was an architect of freedom. In 1815, then-Haitian president Alexandre Sabès Pétion gave Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar refuge and resources as he fought for Latin America’s independence towards Spanish rule. The Greek Revolution was inspired by the uprising in Haiti, which was the primary nation to acknowledge Greece’s independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1822. Even earlier than the nation obtained its personal independence, a bunch of freed Black males from Haiti often called the “Les Chasseurs Volontaires de Saint Domingue” volunteered to assist colonial troops seize Savannah from the British through the American Revolution.
“Haiti was the ‘Pearl of the Islands’,” Colas mentioned. “That’s the satisfaction. I grew up realizing, ‘Hey, you’re from Haiti. Once you speak about freedom, we led that motion.’”
Whereas Port-au-Prince will get media consideration, Colas praises different elements of the nation that deserve extra highlight. Her household spent many carefree summers in her father’s hometown, Jacmel, on the southeastern coast. Luscious inexperienced mountains body the gorgeous blue Caribbean Sea. Colas and her kinfolk might leisurely stroll out the entrance doorways and take pleasure in mangoes, mandarins and sugar cane plucked straight from the supply. If it received too scorching, Colas cooled off together with her favourite frozen deal with, Ti Kawol, a selfmade popsicle made with Haitian fruit.
“Rising up in Haiti was really a joyful expertise,” she mentioned. “Everybody needed to make sure that the youngsters of that atmosphere have been cared for and have been beloved.”
Bear in mind who you’re
Training was prized possession in Colas’ family, so when political points in Port-au-Prince began affecting Colas’ education, Colas was despatched to stay together with her older sister in Connecticut, the place she attended Stamford Excessive College in June 1994.
Information in regards to the discrimination Black Individuals confronted have been exhausting to disregard when she moved to the US. She thought it was unusual how Black individuals acquired much less assets in training and different areas of their lives. After graduating highschool, Colas confronted the identical microaggressions that put on on the souls of African Individuals. Again in Haiti, she was part of the bulk. However in America she realized the way to navigate life as a Black Haitian lady – a triple minority in a predominately white society. There have been individuals who made her really feel like she didn’t belong and questioned her intelligence due to her accent.
Being her genuine self, with out it being a risk, is one the primary issues Colas misses about Haiti.
“I don’t need to justify who I’m,” Colas mentioned. “I don’t have to fret in regards to the shade of my pores and skin. I don’t have to fret about my accent as a result of I don’t have an accent once I’m dwelling. Once I’m dwelling, I’m me. Once I’m away, I’ve to elucidate to individuals why I’ve an accent after residing within the U.S. for 30 years.”
The feedback about her accent didn’t distract Colas from her targets. She didn’t must nurse her confidence again to well being, both. She pushed herself ahead in her training and profession as a result of she had her Haitian satisfaction and her father’s phrases repeating in her thoughts.
“It’s essential for individuals to recollect who they’re,” Colas mentioned. “As a result of for those who don’t, you’ll simply get shaken by the calamities of society.”
Colas stored this knowledge in thoughts whereas she climbed the ladder of management at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Like many, she was enchanted by the model. “The Lion King” and “Cinderella” are a few of her favourite tales. However she didn’t take into consideration working for Disney, till she landed a job of being a language service coordinator in 2004. Her essential job was to assist with communications between Disney and their staff, which the corporate refers to as “solid members,” and to conduct cultural consciousness coaching. She didn’t know on the time that the place can be the gateway to her celebrating the Disney magic worldwide.
Bringing the magic of Haiti to Disney
Colas was solely a 12 months into her profession when she realized in regards to the Disney Ambassador Program, which was created by Walt Disney himself in 1965. Disney Ambassadors are solid members chosen to symbolize the corporate, its solid members and its values, appearing as spokespeople and goodwill ambassadors at occasions and within the media.
Colas didn’t see a Haitian ambassador for Walt Disney World, however the absence didn’t intimidate her and she or he determined to use in 2005.
“I needed to bridge the hole and illustration. So I put my identify within the hat,” Colas mentioned. “It’s the concept of remembering who you’re. I used to be like, ‘After all, I can do that.’ We have now different solid members from Haiti at Disney, and I needed to encourage everybody – however notably them – to see themselves ready that may make them proud to be who they’re.”
Turning into a Disney ambassador is a rigorous course of. Colas was one in all 129 individuals to use for the place that 12 months. She mentioned 29 of them moved on to the second panel interview with govt management. Solely 9 of them made it to the ultimate interview with the corporate’s president. Candidates interview abilities have been examined as management requested about present occasions of their neighborhood. Their love and data of the Disney model was examined. Colas leveraged her management abilities she gained whereas working within the human assets division at the moment.
All through the extreme endeavor, she held on to her accent and her Haitian identification.
“My accent is my identification,” Colas mentioned. “Till you converse with me, you don’t know I’m not from right here. I would like individuals to learn about Haiti as a result of Haiti is my basis.”
On Oct. 28, 2005, Colas and the opposite finalists stood in entrance of Cinderella Citadel to study who can be the following ambassadors. Walt Disney World selects two ambassadors for the chance. So when the president of Disney referred to as her identify after saying the identify of her Black coworker, Michael Collier, she was in disbelief.
However the second was actual. She turned a dream right into a actuality, and from October 2005 till December 2006, Colas walked within the footsteps of historical past, identical to her ancestors did earlier than her.
“Everybody was saying, ‘Oh my goodness, we now have two Black ambassadors and one in all them is from Haiti,’” Colas mentioned. “I felt prefer it was now not about me. It was about everyone else. How do I actually leverage this platform to raise everybody else with me?”
Being a Disney ambassador is a cherished place of service to Colas. She felt honored when she traveled the world to carry the present of Disney magic to each the company and the tons of of hundreds of solid members who stored the parks operating.
“When you find yourself out and about, it’s important to make the company really feel particular as a result of they are particular,” Colas mentioned. “Once you go to a hospital go to with Mickey and Minnie, it’s important to make the youngsters and their households really feel particular. On the similar time, we want the professionalism of the workers once we host dignitaries. So it’s a mix of each.”
Throughout her time as ambassador, Colas continued to speak in regards to the items Haiti gave her and the way her upbringing led to her success in America. She helped provoke Disney’s first centralized occasion for Haitian Flag Day in 2006, which continued for 12 years. She and different Haitian leaders additionally created the Haitian Process Power. The group was later renamed KONBIT, which is the Creole phrase for “teamwork.” It’s a becoming title for a corporation of leaders who proceed to raise Haitian heritage and tradition.
Colas continued serving her individuals at Disney even after her time of ambassadorship was over. She left her position in human assets to grow to be an govt director in housekeeping, which is the division that employs essentially the most Haitian solid members. She nonetheless seems out for her prolonged relations now as a senior facilitator at Disney Institute, which teaches skilled growth to different organizations world wide.
“For me, it has at all times been about: It’s not a curse to be from Haiti. It’s a blessing,” Colas mentioned.
At the moment, Colas is carrying that message to the following technology. She sings the Haitian national anthem alongside together with her 9-year-old son, Marques-Emmanuel, as he will get prepared for varsity each morning. He was solely two when he visited Haiti the primary time. However to him, the nation is a colourful dwelling full of the recollections of his mom’s childhood. He understands the Creole tongue that’s spoken in his home and at church. His favourite dish is hen ready in a creole sauce with a aspect of white rice with black beans.
However most significantly, she makes certain he inherits the identical satisfaction her father instilled in her.
“As a dad or mum to a younger Black man, I placed on him as a lot knowledge and data he wants for him to be pleased with himself and of his heritage,” she mentioned. “The extra the kid is aware of who they’re, the extra they’re higher in a position to stand with their heads excessive and shoulders straight.”