Alo Alo Podcast
Crystelle Casimir
We are very proud to be Haitians and starting the podcast was definitely fueled by this passion for Haiti. We aim to bring awareness to our community by discussing some uncomfortable topics. We will also have interviews with those in our communities that are doing positive work to highlight the best of Haiti. Our generation has a more liberal approach in their views compared to our parents who tend to be more conservative. We believe strongly in educating others and ourselves to be as accepting as possible. We both migrated to the US at a young age which allowed us to assimilate into the culture. We understand that this will take time but we hope to make an impact and reach our audience with each episode.
I am of Haitian descent but born in the US. I lived in Haiti from the time I was two years old and left to live in the US permanently at the age of fifteen. I met Wolf in Haiti in our teens! My mom was very adamant about both her kids being raised in Haiti because she wanted us to speak French and creole while also learning about the Haitian culture. After I moved to the US, the transitional period was quite challenging. My high school years were quite traumatic. It took me a while to fully adjust myself to my new environment. Consequently, a lot of who I am presently stems from those two years I spent in high school here. My school did not feel safe to me and being the "new girl" did not help!
Wolf Pamphile
For me, my experience of coming to America was about a lot of assimilating. Learning how to tell a joke in English and in this country was a challenge. High school wasn’t scary for me, but I mean not knowing anyone made it tough initially. I couldn’t speak English when I got here and got teased a bit at first for my accent. Even today sometimes if I’m counting I have to consciously think about it. I usually think about it in creole first and then translate it. In Brooklyn, there are a lot of places to make that transition. The Haitian community in Brooklyn is very present and heavy and also there are a lot of Haitian Americans. Like we’re here in Grandchamps right now enjoying this good food. It’s a good place to socialize.
I was always the kid to tell people about Haiti. Like when people were making fun of Haiti I would say “actually things are like this”. I made sure to dispel any stereotypes about Haitians when I was in high school and received “most likely to become president of Haiti”.
Crystelle
The spontaneity of the podcast is so far from who I am as a person! I like to have a well thought out plan for everything hence the reason why I became an event planner. We get asked often how and why we started a podcast! The story is pretty straight forward, I told Wolf: "Let's start a podcast!" Thankfully, he did not take much convincing...
It is our newest project and so far we are having fun creating the content. Ultimately, our goal will always be to bring unity to our community with a positive message that comes from a place of love. We have invested a lot of our time and money into it, so naturally, it is because we believe there is a need for it.
Wolf
The podcast is a major move for us. It’s like something very small right now but also its potential is crazy big. We focus on getting the technical part right, being dedicated, and have this dynamic between us both. I think in the Haitian community podcasting isn’t very popular. So, for many of our friends, this is the first podcast they’re listening to. When you start its exciting but after a while, you realize it’s a lot of work. But it’s become more serious.
Crystelle
In the beginning, we did not realize the impact of sharing our thoughts with so many people! But we have had to be more serious about it because we realize it is something that can potentially grow to have a life on its own. It is something that even our children could be listening to in the future. We have the responsibility to create something we will be proud of 20 years from now and more! We rely on each other to be informed because we do not rehearse the episodes prior to recording. It takes a level of trust in one another to be able to do that as well.
Currently, there are 6 episodes and the growing concern is our ability to come up with content that captivates others. We are friends so of course, we find each other interesting but we need other people to think so as well. We are a dynamic duo but we are not the ones listening to ourselves...
Wolf
I don’t stress about it as much, we set everything up and test sound, we drink some wine and do a countdown. We know what we’re going to talk about but we don’t know what we’re going to say. I usually have my book with facts and whatnot. I think we’re going to take this whole thing episode by episode.
Crystelle
We plan to keep the podcast going as long as possible. We definitely have no intention to stop after just one season of 10-13 episodes. Depending on how the podcast progresses, we will mutually decide how to move forward. As this time, we are sure we will take a break during winter! Behind the scenes, we have to commute to each other... so we will take a "winter break".
Wolf
We’re at a point in time where it's ok to talk about things. We don’t have political aspirations (yet) that would prevent us from talking about anything. Usually, people in the Haitian community sugarcoat things like you won’t see the topic of sex and if its religion it's very biased and more like preaching.
Crystelle
We tend to be more liberal. We also recognize that we cannot agree or please everyone. We are often in situations where we have to simply agree to disagree. Just because we do not see the world from the same lenses, it does not mean we cannot coexist. We hope to incite in our listeners the need to become more inclusive and to support one another whether as people or in business. We discuss matters from our immigrant point of view. Our topics might be because an issue might affect us due to gender, age, race, sex, business, financially or even love...
Wolf
For example, Kings theater has been there for a long time; It was this broken down theater that they revived through government grants and now it’s this hot thing. Right in the middle of Flatbush. When that came about they opened a hotel across the street from it. And the whole neighborhood started changing. Very few people own houses in that area but overall the Haitian community was/is affected. The people who live in these neighborhoods have been here for decades and haven’t seen that much economic growth to be able to afford an extra $500 on rent. Many have been doing the same job since they moved here. Also, the changes in technology have made it tough for some. Some people want to move back to Haiti and so they don’t push themselves to learn the new stuff, but now more people are staying here.
It’s like you see white people and it’s like people know what’s happening. There used to be a baseball field where this building is and it was affordable housing and now it’s like a building where a lot of white people are moving in and there’s this sort of clash there. Because people are being displaced and feel like these newcomers are part of the displaced. The zoning changes happen before people even see the changes so when you see the changes it’s too late.
Crystelle
There seems to be a disconnect sometimes because there are barely any Haitians at the table in the seats where decisions are being made. Hopefully, with the podcast, we can change that a bit.
discover more Haitian culture with Alo Alo:
