IT WAS AN occasion when Barbados was thrust onto centre stage.
After publicly kissing his wife, “the love” of his life, on the patio of the mayor’s sprawling official residence, Bill de Blasio zeroed in on Barbados.
The mayor told more than 250 guests that his children had visited Barbados in search of their roots and they liked what they saw. But even before introducing her husband, Chirlane McCray, New York City’s First Lady, spoke about Barbados, the birthplace of her grandmother who emigrated to the United States in search of a better life.
Both the mayor and McCray were reaching out to Caribbean immigrants on the eve of the mammoth West Indian American carnival which draws almost two million revellers and spectators to Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway on Labour Day.
“The Caribbean community is family,” said the mayor.
Tomorrow morning the mayor is to attend the pre-carnival breakfast and later join other officials, including Tony Marshall, Barbados’ United Nations Ambassador, Melissa Mark-VIverito, Speaker of the City Council and two other grand marshals – Guyana’s Consul-General, Barbara Atherly, and Conrad Ifill, president and CEO of Conrad’s Bakery – in a walk down Brooklyn’s famous Eastern Parkway thoroughfare to mark the beginning of America’s largest cultural festival.
The occasion last Wednesday was a large reception given by the mayor to put his public stamp of approval on an annual event that’s full of colour, music, Caribbean cuisine and splendour and that shows off the creativity and culture of a region which has been sending immigrants to the US for more than 200 years.
The Caribbean carnival began on Thursday evening with a musical concert at the Brooklyn Museum featuring reggae, soca and calypso; continued with a stay-in-school initiative, kiddies carnival, steel band competition and will end tomorrow with the massive parade of 46 costume bands from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Haiti, Guyana, St Lucia, French Guiana and other countries.
In several hours, many of Barbados’ leading entertainers, including Edwin Yearwood, Peter Ram, Red Plastic Bag, King Bubba, Grynner, TC, Hypa Sounds, Deevine, Biggie Ire and Don Trent are to perform at a Barbados 50th anniversary independence concert at Tropical Paradise Ballroom in Brooklyn. It will be the largest showing of Barbadian musical talent on stage in the City in recent years.
“It shows Barbados is producing some of the best soca music available anywhere,” said Daved Levy, a Barbadian and a popular New York radio DJ whose programme on WBAI reaches hundreds of thousands of people every weekend. The concert is being held under the patronage of Dr Donna Hunte-Cox, Barbados’ Consul-General in New York.
Bill Howard, president of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association said he was “happy with Barbados’ enhanced involvement this year. It’s greater than before and we are delighted about that.”
A former top aide to Shirley Chisholm during her dozen years in Congress, Howard said safety and security were among WIADCA’s and the NYPD’s top priority during tomorrow’s costume band parade.
“There are more inspections of trucks taking part in the parade than ever before to avoid accidents. There will be an expanded police presence; no alcohol sold along the parade route; and every precaution is being taken to guard against violence,” he said.
Indeed, cops will be everywhere when more than 200 000 revellers join in the J’ouvert celebrations.
“It’s truly a grand cultural spectacle, “said Marshall,who is getting ready for this year’s annual UN General Assembly.
Mark-Viverito, the City Council Speaker, agreed.
“It is one of the most vibrant and festive parades our City has to offer, and I am thrilled to be participating as a Grand Marshal,” she said in a statement. We have a thriving Caribbean influence in New York.”
Tony Best is the NATION’s North American Correspondent. Email: [email protected]
