On August 14, Philomene Philostin, a local youth pastor, business owner, and nonprofit leader, stood on the street corner outside Springfield, Ohio’s City Hall, crying out in Haitian Creole.
Fontil Daity, a Haitian immigrant who leads a local Pentecostal Haitian church, interpreted in English: “Haitians! Haitians! . . . We cannot take it anymore. We ask for God in heaven to hear our cries!”
About 75 people gathered around them in the sweltering heat, many holding signs that read, “Love your neighbor”—a reference to the biblical command to love one’s neighbor as oneself.
