Carmelau Monestime (April 6, 1931 – January 16, 2016) was a Haitian-born American community leader, activist and broadcaster.
[1] He fled from Haiti to the United States in 1964 to escape the dictatorship of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Monestime operated some of the first Haitian nightclubs in New York City, including The Flatbush Terrace, which was located in Brooklyn.
He lobbied the U.S. federal government to grant legal resident status to undocumented Haitian immigrants.
"[1] In 1978, Monestime partnered with two colleagues, Pierre Mendes Alcindor, a psychology student, and Ferdinand Forté, a newscaster, to create the Express Publicite Radio on WMBM 1490-AM.