Remembering Jean Fritz Martial Sr and His Radio Legacy

By Moses St Louis

Losing Jean Fritz Martial Sr hurts because he was family, and because he belonged to so many people's Sundays. For Haitian families across the Tri-State area, his work on WLIB helped keep home within hearing distance.

I remember Moment Creole as a Sunday ritual, part of my parents' routine and my own introduction to the Haitian community.

As I remember Fritz, I keep returning to those broadcasts and the young voices he welcomed alongside his own.

Remembering Jean Fritz Martial Sr, a voice of the Haitian community

Fritz was a pioneering Haitian-American radio producer and host who helped establish Moment Creole, also known as Moman Kreyol. On New York's WLIB-AM, 1190 AM, the program became a familiar voice for the Haitian diaspora.

As the former CEO of Moment Creole, he helped make Sunday radio a gathering place. Haitian music, community concerns, and fundraising appeals all had room on the air. During the 1980s and 1990s, that connection meant a great deal to families like mine.

For me, Fritz Martial was also a relative and someone I knew closely. Our bond went beyond family ties because he helped introduce me to the Haitian community.

Through him, I came to know a community I would later participate in myself. His encouragement helped me find my place among people whose music, work, and concerns became part of my life.

How Moment Creole brought Haitian families together across the Tri-State area

WLIB reached listeners across the Tri-State area. In my family, its Haitian programming gave Sundays a rhythm that I can still remember.

The Sunday sounds that became a family ritual

I remember waking to the radio before I was ready to get out of bed. L'heure Haitienne came first in my memory, followed by Moment Creole.

The hours I associate with that Sunday routine are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. That's how I remember those days at home, with my parents listening and the broadcasts becoming part of our weekend.

Their attachment to those programs taught me something before I could put it into words: Haitian culture deserved our time and attention.

A shared broadcast connected separate households

Other families were listening, too. Although we weren't gathered in one room, the station gave us familiar voices and music to share.

The programming also carried appeals for help. Preserved radio recordings about Ti Manno include discussion of "Opération Men Kontré," a fundraising effort to assist the hospitalized singer "Ti Manno".

That combination of music and community responsibility mattered. A listener could tune in for a favorite artist and also hear about someone who needed support. Fritz helped give those concerns a place in our Sunday routine.

Place aux Jeunes gave Haitian youth a place to speak

Fritz believed young people deserved a voice. He made room for them within programming that already held an important place in their parents' lives.

Richard Urbain and Martial's daughter brought youth voices on air

Richard Urbain and Fritz's daughter Marie-Andre, had their own youth hour, Place aux Jeunes, during the show. The name fit the invitation: make room for young people.

For those of us growing up within the diaspora, that space mattered. We heard younger voices on a station our families trusted, discussing ideas that belonged to our generation.

Fritz understood that a community program needed room for its younger listeners to participate. By giving young hosts airtime, he let them become part of the conversation themselves.

His support reached young community organizers

I experienced that welcome through HEAR, Haitian Enforcement Against Racism. When the youth organization formed in 1990, I was part of it.

Fritz welcomed us to the station as frequent guests. We had access to an audience because he was willing to hear us and let others hear us, too.

That support made his belief in youth tangible. He offered us time on the air and treated our involvement in the community as something worth sharing with listeners.

Fritz supported local Haitian businesses and sometimes broadcast the weekly show at one of them. Those broadcasts brought the station closer to the people working within the community.

He also promoted Haitian culture, especially its music. The late Stanley Barbot helped champion konpa and introduce new artists during his portion of the programming. Together, those contributions helped listeners discover performers and stay connected to Haitian music.

During my college years, Fritz played a great part in introducing me to that music and the nightlife around it. My memories of him belong to both the radio broadcasts and the community life I came to know.

His commitment also included humanitarian work. An account of Moment Creole's fundraising efforts records the Moment Creole Ti Manno Care Fund. The program gave community concern a practical outlet.

Beyond Moment Creole, Fritz was vice president and accountant for WLIB/WBLS, stations that served Caribbean and African American audiences.

He passed away on September 28 in Florida. He leaves behind his daughter, Marie-Anre Martial, and his son, Fritz Martial Jr. My grief is with them, alongside everyone who knew and loved him.

The voices he encouraged carry his legacy

Jean Fritz Martial Sr helped make Sunday radio part of our family life. For me, his loss brings together the grief of losing a relative and the gratitude of having known his encouragement.

Moment Creole connected households, while his support for young people opened the microphone to another generation.

I will remember Fritz through the Sunday radio sounds of my childhood and the opportunities he gave me afterward. Moment Creole connected our family to a wider Haitian community, and his welcome helped me become part of it.

His support for young people remains central to that memory. The voices he helped bring forward carry his legacy, along with everyone who found a place in the community because he made room for them.