IT WAS A sight to behold.
As the colourful costume bands of immigrants from across the Caribbean floated down Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway to the pulsating sounds of soca and reggae music, a Bajan with a broad smile on her face and obvious merriment in her heart couldn’t help but rejoice at the amazing spectacle.
“This is truly magnificent,” said Marva Atherley. “Look, this is the time of the year for us to be on the Parkway, to enjoy ourselves and don’t worry about what lies ahead tomorrow.”
What was on Atherley’s mind was the festive mood, the splendor and creativity evident during the annual West Indian carnival and the oneness, togetherness evident among the revellers and the spectators. But the unity wasn’t simply on display during the Labour Day bank holiday when at least 1.2 million revellers and spectators took over the thoroughfare to enjoy the best of the carnival.
It was also present when thousands of Bajans were joined by Vincentians, Grenadians, Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Guyanese, you name them, gathered at St Gabriel’s Episcopal Church on Hawthorne Street in Brooklyn to enjoy the music, food and the fellowship that make Q In The Community the success that it has become.
The Bajans and other West Indians filled the street in front of the church, packed the driveway and its undercroft as well as its steps inside the building, which has been transformed into a Caribbean cultural centre presided over by the Very Reverend Eddie Alleyne, the parish’s rector who is also a rural dean of the Long Island Episcopal diocese.
“Q provides us with an excellent opportunity to bring people together. It’s not simply about Bajans, their music and cuisine,” Alleyne, a Bajan Anglican priest, told the SUNDAY SUN. “It captures the mood of carnival and involves people from many of our islands who worship at our church, live in the neighbourhood or who just want to be a part of what we are doing. Q also helps to make St Gabriel’s more attractive to people, especially the youth. It also allows us to raise funds for our social programmes such as our senior citizens centre, youth activities, and for our building expansion effort. Actually, it is about bringing West Indians together as one and our folks enjoy it.”
The Q was sponsored mainly by the church in collaboration with the Friends of Barbados DLP Association, the New York arm of the ruling Democratic Labour Party but the Alleyne explained it wasn’t a political event or just a Bajan thing.
The food served under tents and at the stalls set up along the street enabled vendors to serve a range of Bajan dishes, but other national groups – the Jamaicans, Guyanese, Vincentians and Grenadians – came out, “prepared their dishes” and were part of a Caribbean happening, Alleyne explained.
“It encouraged the diaspora to come together as one. That was essential,” said the Bajan. “It was a delightful experience to see the range of Caribbean dishes served at the Q and the efforts by many people to sing their favourite tunes and to join in what’s intriguing about the West Indian presence in the city. The police gave us maximum cooperation, closed off a major portion of the street and gave people the freedom to enjoy themselves. We started it with religious music.”
Several hours after the street was cleared and re-opened to vehicular traffic, many of Barbados’ leading soca artistes, including TC, Red Plastic Bag, Deevine, and Biggie Ire entertained hundreds of people, most of them Bajans at a 50th anniversary concert held at Tropical Paradise Ballroom on Utica Avenue.
The concert, said Dr Donna Hunte-Cox, Barbados’ Consul General in New York, fitted in well with the Government offices ‘celebrations to mark Barbados’ historic independence milestone.
Michael Armstrong, who attended both the concert and the costume parade, said above the ear-splitting music that the carnival spirit reflected Caribbean culture and life in the city and the tristate area.
“I love it. It’s beautiful,” he said.
Tony Marshall, Barbados’ United Nations Ambassador who was a parade Grand Marshal said after walking the length of the Parkway ahead of the bands that he “thoroughly enjoyed” the carnival.”
Clearly, people didn’t allow the violence at J’ouvert in the Empire Boulevard area where two young people 17-year-old Tyreke Borel, a Trinidadian, and Tiarah Poyau, 22, were killed to mar their carnival spirit. J’ouvert, a pre-carnival function was sponsored by an independent group that’s not affiliated to WIADCA.
“The deaths were a tragedy but the violence doesn’t reflect our Caribbean culture,” said the diplomat.
Tony Best is the NATION’s North American Correspondent. Email: [email protected]
