Ruthzee Louijeune on TeleGalaxie
Ruthzee, with the help of Pasteur Dieufort Fleurissant, introduces herself to the Haitian community as a candidate for Boston City Council At-Large. She reminisces about reading "Ti Malice e Bouki" with her father, talks about her career up until now, and asks the community for their support in the upcoming election.
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Pasteur Dieufort Fleurissant (Pastor Keke): Stay tuned and do not change the channel from Telegalaxie. We will be back with the jackpot in just a moment.
Robert Louijeune: We have come to the point where we will hand off the microphone to Pasteur Dieufort Fleurrissant who has a lot of information for you all. Information that makes me very happy, makes you happy, makes us all happy. Let’s listen.
Pasteur Dieufort Fleurissant (Pastor Keke): As you can see, I am standing amongst a bunch of boxes of food. Every Friday we have food to give away through a partnership amongst the following organizations: TeleGalaxie, True Alliance Center, Immigrant Family Services Institute (IFSI), Haitian Americans United, Inc., Association of Haitian Parents, and Fallen Heroes as well as a number of state legislators including State Senator Nick Collins. This is a part of the jackpot about which I spoke earlier.
The biggest jackpot, however, would be a Haitian-American to represent our interests in Boston’s City Hall and advocate for us. I want to introduce a Haitian-American candidate for Boston City Councillor at Large. It will be the first time that we have a Haitian- American, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, running for this post to sit in City Hall with former Mayor Walsh who has now stepped up to serve as Secretary of Labor. Write her name down. She needs your support. If you would like to help, please reach out to me at 617 799 0009 because we need money to send this young Haitian-American woman to City Hall. She is going to speak for us because she knows the community. She has been a part of the community. She is a former attorney for Senator Elizabeth Warren. She is an attorney with experience. Let’s work so that we have one of our children sitting in City Hall. Please call me so we can support her campaign. Never stop watching your program: TeleGalaxie!
Ruthzee Louijeune: Hello, my name is Ruthzee Louijeune. I am a candidate for Boston City Councillor at Large. I am the third of Robert Louijeune’s four daughters. I grew up in Mattapan. I know how to read, write, and speak Kreyol because since we were little my father would make us read “Ti Malice e Bouki.” That is why I can speak Kreyol even though I was born here in the United States. I went to the Charles H. Taylor Elementary School in Mattapan. I then went to the McCormack Middle School in Dorchester. After that I went to Boston Latin School from 7th grade to 12th grade. I completed my undergraduate studies in New York at Columbia University where I worked with many Haitians. Soon thereafter I returned to Boston where I went to Harvard Law School and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. After graduation, I went to work in a law firm and for Senator Elizabeth Warren on her campaign for president as her Senior Counsel.
Today I am really happy to be here where I can speak to the Haitian community. I would like to be a voice for the Haitian community on Boston’s City Council. Thank you.
Watch the whole interview here.