Caribbean Diaspora United honours Jumaane Williams and Guyanese mathematician Terrence Blackman
Trinidad and Tobago Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles-Robinson gave the keynote, and SKN-rooted State Senator Siela Bynoe presented proclamations.
NEW YORK, United States. Caribbean Diaspora United (CDU) honoured New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Medgar Evers College professor Terrence Blackman at its third annual Community Unity Breakfast on Saturday, July 11, at Russo's on the Bay in Howard Beach, Queens.
New York State Senator Siela A. Bynoe, who represents the 6th Senate District in Nassau County and is a first-generation Caribbean American with roots in St Kitts and Nevis and Suriname, presented proclamations to both honourees.
Trinidad and Tobago Opposition Leader Pennelope A. Beckles-Robinson delivered the keynote address for the second year running. CDU was founded three years ago by former Grenada ambassador to the United Nations Eugene Pursoo, who remains its president.
'We must try to be unified'
Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, referred to the loss of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. "If we're not united, it's a problem," he said. "So, we must try to be unified."
Blackman, the Guyanese-born chair of mathematics at Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, who becomes interim dean of the School of Science and Allied Health in August, said unity was "the condition under which excellence becomes visible".
"When we gather, Guyanese, Grenadian, and Trinidadian, Jamaican and Barbadian, Vincentian and Haitian, we are not diluting our identities," he said. "From Georgetown to Brooklyn: one people, one purpose."
Beckles-Robinson on the diaspora
Beckles-Robinson, leader of the People's National Movement, said the diaspora did not "celebrate enough" its influence. She said her vision for Trinidad and Tobago included a diaspora secretariat with a direct link to the prime minister and a Diaspora Registry, along with structured mentorship.
Pursoo said CDU would launch a Caribbean Hall of Fame with an induction gala on October 5, 2027, and planned to publish a quarterly Caribbean journal and establish a "collective" with Caribbean policymakers.
The honourees
Williams has been Public Advocate since 2019 and previously represented Brooklyn's 45th District on the City Council from 2009 to 2019.
Blackman, an alumnus of Queen's College in Georgetown, holds a PhD in mathematics from the CUNY Graduate Center and has worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and MIT. He is also founder and publisher of the Guyana Business Journal.
