Vincentian-born publisher’s Juneteenth and Caribbean heritage expo draws hundreds in Brooklyn

Kamla Millwood of Palatial Publishing says she personally financed the free event after a major sponsor withdrew three weeks before it opened.

By SKN Daily StaffThursday, 2 July 20261 min read

NEW YORK, United States. Brooklyn-based Palatial Publishing LLC marked Juneteenth and Caribbean-American Heritage Month on Friday, June 19, with a Small Business Exposition that drew hundreds of people.

Founder and president Kamla Millwood, who was born in St Vincent and the Grenadines, told Caribbean Life that the free event at the Major Owens Health & Community Center on Bedford Avenue was an “extraordinary display of Black excellence, Caribbean pride, entrepreneurship, creativity, and community empowerment.”

She said the expo welcomed more than 200 vendors and 50 Black artists, gallery owners and visual creatives. Galleries represented included TAAG Gallery and Dozie Arts Gallery, and podcaster Nicole Thomas of “Let’s Talk, Passion and Purpose” interviewed artists in a dedicated area dubbed “The Art Gallery”.

Visitors could shop, network and support Black-owned businesses, while artists displayed and sold original work directly to the public. Free film screenings and refreshments were also offered.

Political support

Millwood said those attending included State Senator Kevin Parker of the 21st Senate District; staff from the office of Guyanese-born State Senator Roxanne J. Persaud of the 19th Senate District; and Brooklyn district leaders Anthony Beckford, Anthony Jones and Michelle Tégé.

Self-funded

Millwood said a major sponsor unexpectedly withdrew three weeks before the event, and that she chose to finance the whole expo herself rather than abandon it.

“Entirely self-funded as a gift to the people, the expo became more than an event,” she said.

Millwood is the daughter of the late Kenton Kirby, editor emeritus of Caribbean Life newspaper.

“Caribbean American Heritage Month represents resilience, contribution, and the undeniable impact our people have made across generations,” she said.

“When I looked around that room and saw over 250 businesses, more than 50 artists, gallery owners, elected officials, families, and community leaders, all gathered together in unity, I saw possibility,” Millwood said. “This expo was my way of giving back, not for profit, but for purpose.”