"I say that I'm Haitian first, and then we go from there," said Patrick Marcelin, the U.S.-born son of Haitian immigrants who raps in Creole and English as "Mecca a.k.a. Grimo." "I just happened to be born in America, but really I'm a Haitian brother. And Haiti is the direct daughter of Africa." The Black History Months he remembers studying never mentioned Haiti's history, even though Haiti was a destination for Black Americans searching for their cultural roots. Marcelin now also teaches in the Haitian Heritage Museum's school outreach program, exposing students to the American history he never learned. For example, when talking about writers from the Harlem Renaissance, Marcelin points out that [Zora Neale Hurston] wrote her novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" in Haiti in the 1930s, and the poet [Langston Hughes] wrote admiringly of the Haitian peasants who walked down mountain roads barefoot, balancing baskets on their heads, to sell their wares. "They should have been teaching this in school, that soldiers from Haiti came to fight in the American Revolution," Marcelin said. "I read about [Frederick Douglass] in the history books but I don't remember anything about him being the ambassador to Haiti. Or that the founder of Chicago was a Haitian brother."
Launch of Caribbean Culture Week on January 18 at Savacou Gallery, NYC. Loris Crawford is Director of the Savacou Gallery, which hosted Caribbean Culture Week.
Why? Because there is not a shred of doubt, as acknowledged by President George W. Bush's proclamation to mark the occasion last year, about the immense contributions made to the U.S. by people of Caribbean background. Not so long ago, former military General Colin Powell, a son of Caribbean-born parents, was Bush's secretary of state, one of the most powerful political posts in the U.S. Powell was even touted as a presidential contender. "But in communities (in the U.S.), where there are large concentrations of Caribbean people, for example in the South Florida area and in the New York metropolitan area, the Caribbean communities have all come together to do different things, sometimes collectively, sometimes individually, meaning individual associations..." Already some activists, who advocate on behalf of Caribbean interests in the U.S., have frowned on clauses of the proposed new immigration bill which they claim is a backward step for those wishing to see immigrant families united in the U.S. Also on the table for the leaders will be the issue of security in the Caribbean and the sensitive subject of deportations.
"That is the difference between the parade in Haiti and the parade in America. Here-it unites us," said [Wilner Auguste]. "I believe that if we can live with the idea of being united for one day then that idea can carry on throughout the rest of our days."
Flags flailed - both by the breeze and by the hands of proud people - to the live onstage musical performances. The stage was set large enough to support a full band and back-up singers, and to support the energy of every performer. The program included several international, big time and small time, artists. Some on the bill were reggae star Tony Rebel, (reggae, Jamaica); Bunji Garlin (Soca, Trinidad); Ken Boothe (Vintage Reggae, Jamaica); Slice International (Soca/Calypso band); Everton Blender (Cultural Reggae, Jamaica); Dadou Pasquet (Kompas, Haiti); Omar Reid (Jamaica's 2006 Festival Song winner) and Dias and the Charms (R&B).