Brooklyn groups to host Caribbean American Heritage Month and Juneteenth celebration
The free event on June 19 at Brooklyn Technical High School will honour Dr Julius Garvey, VP Records founder Patricia Chin and former Haitian ambassador Raymond Joseph.
NEW YORK, United States. The Caribbean American Society of New York (CASONY) and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) will host a combined Caribbean American Heritage Month and Juneteenth celebration under the theme “Building Together”.
The free event takes place on Friday, June 19, from 10am to 2pm at Brooklyn Technical High School, 29 Fort Greene Place, Brooklyn.
Honourees
The honourees are Dr Julius Garvey, son of the late Marcus Garvey; Patricia Chin, founder of VP Records; Raymond Joseph, former Haitian ambassador to the United States; Kenneth P. Thompson, the first African American district attorney of Kings County; and Jeanine Ramirez, a Brooklyn Tech alumna and award-winning journalist and media consultant.
“This year’s combined Caribbean Heritage Month and Juneteenth celebration will be a spectacular event which will recognize several distinguished African Americans and Caribbean-Americans who have made significant contributions to our history, life and culture,” said Horace Davis, CASONY’s president and founder.
The programme will feature poetry, music and dance. Dr Beryl R. Williams, founder and president of the Caribbean American Poetry Association (CAPA), told Caribbean Life she would perform alongside Chip Williford, Suffolk County Poet Laureate and the first African American to hold the title. CAPA is also supporting the event with promotion.
Two commemorations
Juneteenth marks the day Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to tell the last group of enslaved people of their freedom, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17, 2021.
National Caribbean American Heritage Month, now in its 20th year, celebrates the history, culture and contributions of Caribbean immigrants and their descendants in the United States. President George W. Bush signed the proclamation establishing it on June 5, 2006.
“It is a time to reflect on the past and step toward a future filled with possibilities,” Mr Davis said.
CASONY is a New York-based non-profit membership organisation that seeks to improve the social, educational and economic status of its community. NSBE is one of the largest student-led organisations in the US.
