Gainesville and Alachua County Build Belonging at Bo Diddley Plaza
[Correction Sep 25: originally incorrectly reported name and position of the Alachua County Language Access Coordinator]
On Sunday, September 22, Gainesville residents consisting of immigrants and citizens gathered at Bo-Diddley Plaza to celebrate their diversity and heritage.
The Building Belonging event was hosted by Gainesville Immigrant Neighbor Inclusion Initiative (GINI) of Rural Women’s Health Project, Alachua County, and the City of Gainesville.
GINI is housed in Rural Women's Health Project and is in an advocacy alliance with leaders from different organizations and backgrounds.
Building Belonging host Veronica Robleto introduced two immigrant liaisons from Alachua County and the City of Gainesville. Garcia Fernandez is the Immigrant and Language Access Coordinator for Alachua County, and John Yohan John is the Immigrant Affairs Manager of the City of Gainesville Office of Equity and Inclusion. Both positions were formed in June after GINI advocated for their creation.
Since its formation GINI has gotten the City of Gainesville and Alachua County to respectively allocate $350,000 and $875,000 to language access. Fernandez said GINI can help Gainesville immigrants with document preparation, language access, and other advocacy services. [Correction: Mistakenly reported that the City allocated $500,000 because that was what GINI proposed but the City decided on $350,000.]
“At the City of Gainesville and Alachua County we have a language access plan,” said John. “At the City we’re focused on eliminating language barriers accessing City services and information. That’s been our focus for the past year. Going forward we have a lot more improvements and services planned out.”
University of Florida (UF) plant pathology graduate student Belizaire Christ Mane spoke about being a Haitian immigrant in America amidst misinformation and falsehoods in politics. “Talking about Hati makes me feel emotional because I know that nowadays we have many bad words swirling in our community. My message today is a message of hope and peace because I know we’re a strong community when we represent with the Black community…. We’re supporting everyone here. This is our country and we’re going through many bad situations right now. Knowing we have a community that supports all Hatians. We are lovely people even if you heard many things about our community that are not true.”
She is correct. 45th President of the United States, convicted felon, and President elect Donald J. Trump’s claims about Hatians are verifiably untrue.
Trump said at the ABC Presidential Debate “look at what’s happening to the towns all over the United States. A lot of towns don’t wanna talk about it; not gonna be Aurora or Springfield…. In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in; they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there….”
Trump was spreading false claims about Hatians since Ohio, Spingfeild is home to over 10,000 Haitian immigrants.
ABC News Moderator David Muir responded that “ABC news did reach out to [Ohio, Spingfeild’s] city manager and he told us there’s been no credible reports of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
Trump said that he “saw it on television.” Misinformation has contributed to his claims.
A video that people have regarded as “proof” shows an American, Ohio woman who is not Haitian being arrested over 100 miles away from Springfield for allegedly eating a cat.
The front-running musical performance heard from Haitian musician Mirddoson Jean-Gilles playing guitar and singing Ayiti pap peri as Mane and Jeftey Saint Fleur held a Haitian flag. The direct translation of the song’s name is “Hati Will Not Perish” and Mane said it shows that Haïti will stay strong whatever happens even if bad words are sullying the community.
Click here to access Mirddoson Jean-Gilles's Youtube account
The event went on to hear from local Afro Venezuelan electronics musician Venezonix. He’ll have a show at the How Bazar on September 28.
Click here to access Venezoniz's spotify.
Mayor Harvey Ward said he’s proud of what GINI has grown into over the years. Ward said “It's exciting to see lots of different types of folks which is really what our community is about…. UF is here and invites lots of different sorts of folks to our community…. Almost any kind of folks you can find here in Gainesville; we wanna help you at the City of Gainesville find your people and then build out from there…. The City of Gainesville is gonna continue to provide resources as we can and do everything we can to help everybody who is here understand that you belong in Gainesville, no matter where you came from initially, no matter what you look like, no matter what kind of music you are, culturally, uh most likely to have started with. We wanna help you move on and-and becoming apart of the bigger community so that you will enjoy being here.”
Robleto thanked Ward for his speech and said that it's important to see support from the City and County.
On October 23, 2023, Ward reportedly pledged Gainesville’s support to Israel. He's garnered controversy among Palestinian Americans and pro-Palestine protesters for posing with former Israeli soldiers and refusing to cut the city's investments that support military aid to Israel.
Robleto said she had the “honor to introduce” Gainesville Police Department (GPD) Corporal Gilberto Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said he’s “not much for titles,” and said “I believe it’s very important for all of you to know, to follow the words of Mayor Ward we want you all the feel safe. That’s where we come in at GPD. We have many different initiatives to make sure inclusion is our number one priority with everything we do, with every crime we investigate, to make sure that everybody feels safe and protected.”
Gonzalez said that if Gainesville and Alachua County residents have an encounter with a police officer that they have the right to a translator. He said that GPD works with UF to have a translator line available at all times.
“No matter what, we’re always gonna be able to translate for you,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is a certified Spanish Translator for GPD and he frequently appears on Tu Fiesta Radio. Gonzalez said he brings Gainesville “All the information he can on your safety.”
“We want you all to feel safe and welcome,” said Gonzalez. “Gainesville is very unique…. Please do not be afraid to follow law enforcement. Do not be afraid to contact should you be the victim of a crime. We’re here to help you and we have the resources to help you be safe and protected.”
Robleto introduced Alachua County Commissioner-Chair Mary Alford.
Alford said “Being an immigrant takes courage and tenacity. I know that there are challenges that come with that…. If you need information to help make decisions, or are worried that a landlord is taking advantage of you because that does happen in this town; our community support services are here to help. Depending on your circumstances we can connect you with resources to help you receive medical, vision, utility, housing, or any other special needs, we can provide that kind of help if you qualify and most of you do. We have non profit partners [and] emergency rental assistance we can connect you with. If you’re having issues as a tenant our legal services can help with landlord disputes. We have a tenet hotline if you’re experiencing discrimination and you can participate in our tenet’s rights workshops…. If you feel sad, isolated, or depressed from being away from home; for any reason, you can call the #988 number. That number is there to help prevent suicide and help people deal with personal crisis’. If you’re the victim of a crime you can receive counselling and support though Alachua County’s Victim Services. These are all services we provide at no cost.”
GnvInfo caught up with Alford as she was walking off stage and asked her if she’d be willing to call out the specific landlords who are taking advantage of local immigrants.
Alford called the issue “widespread,” and said she doesn’t have their names off the top of her head but indicated where to find them.
“There’s one or two really bad landlords,” said Alford,“but I don’t wanna give free reign to all the other landlords causing trouble. Feel free to call our community support services and ask for a Tenants Rights workshop, ask who is running that, and talk to them. I think that would be most helpful.”
video cred. gnvinfo
Alachua County’s Tenant Rights workshop is run through Florida Legal Services (FLS). GnvInfo left a message for FLS to ask for information on landlords with shady business practices and for more trustworthy alternatives. This article may be updated when that information is found.
Gainesville based Cuban artist at Tu Fiesta Radio DJ Elio Piedra closed out the event with a Fiesta.
As Piedra was throwing a Fiesta dance party, GnvInfo asked Lauren Poe for an interview about his affiliations with Ignite Life Center church, as he was at the event tabling for his international organization, but he declined.
Jack Walden
Article was edited on Aug 5, 2025 to remove supplemental information reported in other articles (linked here and here) for smoother readability.
