Against the Tide: One Woman’s Return to Haiti Is a Wake-Up Call for the Diaspora

By The Haitian Pulse Editorial Team | May 22, 2025

While thousands flee Haiti in desperation due to unchecked violence, political instability, and international neglect, one South Florida woman is making a bold, soul-stirring move in the opposite direction — straight back to the land she calls home.

Rebekah Antoine, a Miami-born public health professional and mother of three, is defying the narrative and moving her entire family to Haiti. For some, it’s unthinkable. For her, it’s an act of love, courage, and responsibility.

Despite everything happening in Haiti, it’s home. I’d rather be home and make home better instead of being somewhere where my people and I are not welcome,” she said.

Her statement is a gut punch. It speaks not only to the pain of watching Haiti suffer from afar, but also to the alienation many Haitians feel even in places they've called home for decades — whether it's the U.S., Canada, or elsewhere. While many in the diaspora still view Haiti as broken and hopeless, Antoine is choosing to be part of the solution rather than wait for one.

With a master’s degree in public health and a new role at Mama Baby Haiti, Antoine’s decision is more than symbolic — it’s strategic. She’s not just returning to survive; she’s returning to serve. Her children are enrolled in school in Cap-Haïtien. Her husband works remotely. She’s already teaching her kids to speak and read Haitian Creole.

Antoine’s return comes at a pivotal time. With growing uncertainty around U.S. immigration policies and the looming threat to Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the future for many Haitians in the U.S. is unstable. While Washington debates, people like Antoine are building solutions — with their feet, their families, and their faith.

And yet, the deeper truth Antoine’s story reveals is this: The Haitian people are all we’ve got.

We cannot rely on a phantom government installed through foreign meddling. We cannot depend on nations who sit at the table making decisions about Haiti without a single Haitian voice present. As the Dominican Republic continues a campaign of racial violence and forced deportation against Black Haitians — with young men murdered in the streets on camera with zero accountability — where is the outrage? Where is the leadership?

If we, the people, don’t rise to claim our future, no one else will. Antoine is not just moving back — she’s moving us forward.

The Haitian Pulse calls on every member of the diaspora — from Little Haiti to Brooklyn, from Boston to Paris — to recognize that our greatest strength is not in our protest, but in our unity. Let’s build the structures. Let’s build the movement. Let’s create the institutions that Haiti has been denied for far too long.

Antoine reminds us: Haiti is not just a place of problems — it’s a place of possibility.
If she can go back, what’s stopping the rest of us from standing up?

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