Published by
Miami Herald
Miami Herald
Kerlie Leonce wasn't always proud to be Haitian. A first-generation American, Leonce doesn't speak Creole and, a times, felt ostracized because of it, as if she always had to prove herself to other Haitians. At one point, Leonce even began introducing herself as “Kelly” because she was ashamed of her birth name. In college, however, something changed: between Florida International University's robust Caribbean community, her own research and just genuine maturation, Leonce eventually began to embrace her heritage. “Not anybody else can say that they have the history that my blood has,” Leonce …
