“Generations of immigrants have preserved the traditions of their homelands and these traditions defined our nation’s identity.”Chances are United States President Barack Obama was thinking of Eric Holder, the son of Bajan parents, when he made that observation while issuing a proclamation heralding Caribbean Heritage Month across the United States in June.After all Holder, the United States Attorney-General had spoken publicly about the Bajan traditions brought to the US from Barbados by his father, Eric Holder Snr., values that emphasised education, hard work, Christianity and a striving for excellence, all of which helped him to be the person he has become.Of course, Obama could have been thinking of the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, who spent a few years growing up in Barbados before returning to Brooklyn which later sent her to the United States House of Representatives as the first Black woman to sit in the chamber. The president’s thoughts could also have focused on Dr Kenneth Forde, a Barbadian and a world renowned surgeon at Columbia University, which has established and endowed the Kenneth A. Forde professorship of surgery in its College of Physicians.But Obama, whose father was an immigrant from Kenya didn’t stop there as he hailed West Indians.“Caribbean-Americans bring a unique and vibrant culture,” he went on. “This multilingual and multi-ethnic tradition has strengthened our social fabric and enhanced the diversity of our nation.“Millions of individuals in the United States have Caribbean roots,” Obama added. Unfortunately, some Caribbean Americans were forced to our country as slaves; others arrived on their own volition. All have sought the promise of a brighter tomorrow for themselves and their children. In their pursuit of success, Caribbean-Americans exhibit the traits all Americans prize: determination, a devotion to community, and patriotism.”All across the land, people of Caribbean descent have been reflecting on their heritage, and as they do so they are paying tribute to their ancestors and to those persons, led by United States Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who campaigned in and out of Congress to make Caribbean Heritage Month a reality.Creative imagination
For whether it was in the form of poetry, eloquent readings from novels, stirring musical presentations of reggae, soca or on the steel pan, exhortations in public speeches, dialogue between elected officials, academicians or community activists or words of praise in proclamation the bottom line was the same: a demonstration of the creative imagination of those who traced their roots to the archipelago of islands that dot the Caribbean Sea.Decades ago, Errol Barrow, Barbados’ first Prime Minister, spoke of the “mirror image” while Norman Manley, a towering Caribbean figure from Jamaica, once emphasized the importance of self confidence when he said “people must consciously believe in themselves and their own destiny and must do so with pride and with confidence”.Any honour roll of people from the Caribbean whose self confidence, tenacity and skill must include the array of high achievers, some of whom are well-known while others have laboured in relative obscurity. Some of them are: Derek Walcott, the Nobel Laureate from St. Lucia; New York Governor David Paterson of mixed Grenadian and Jamaican heritage; Sylvia Hinds Radix, Brooklyn’s chief administrative judge, a Barbadian; Harry Belafonte, one of the world’s best known entertainers and a major civil rights, figure who speaks frequently of his Jamaican mother; Dr Velma Scantlebury, the Barbadian who was the first Black woman anywhere to perform an organ transplant; Sir George Alleyne, Director Emeritus of the Pan American Health Organisation and Chancellor of the University of the West Indies; retired United States General Colin Powell, a former United States Secretary of State who was once Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Paula Marshall, a Bajan prize winning novelist and university professor of literature.For a region whose history is laced with the tales of struggles of early indigenous populations – Caribs, Arawaks and Taino – who were subsequently decimated after Europeans arrived in the Caribbean beginning in the 15th century, the islands have emerged as a major area in the landscape of the world’s developing lands. They are members of the international community with respect for the rule of law and a commitment to human development, and has a solid record of achievement in responding to people’s aspirations and all stand out as defining characteristics. Barbados is a good example.In Brooklyn, the Heritage celebrations will continue until next week urged on by Marty Markowitz, the borough president, who said that “every inch of our borough has been enriched by contributions of our Caribbean-American communities. Without the vibrant Caribbean colour, rhythms, dance, poetry, art, and of course, food, that’s for sure, Brooklyn simply wouldn’t be Brooklyn”.
