Springfield, Ohio – Sony Auguste remembers May 18 well. It was a warm, sunny day in Springfield, Ohio, and a crowd had gathered at the Veterans Park Amphitheater, where a line of canopy tents was decorated with red and blue balloons for Haitian Flag Day.
Live performers had been flown in from out of state to blast Caribbean tunes. The city’s burgeoning Haitian food scene — a mix of newly opened food trucks and unadorned cafes — served mountains of plantains, stew and rice.
