Among the big talking points of the current immigration debate in the United States is the type of labor that should be admitted into the country. Many believe the entry of "unskilled" laborers should be severely restricted. Jamaican-born Eleanor Brown, a Reginald Lewis Fellow at Harvard Law School, is not one of them. Shortly after addressing the "Conference on the Caribbean: A 20/20 Vision " last month, Brown explained to Caribbean Today's Managing Editor Gordon Williams why more of the Caribbean's labor force should allowed to go overseas.
Protesters gathered at the corner of 64th Street and 22nd Ave., carrying yellow placards reading "Stop Using Black Men as Target Practice," and "Free Haitian Refugees." "If we can't vote people in the positions to do the right thing then we have no other alternative than to protest," said [Lorraine Goddard], who held a sign that read "No Justice, No Transit Tax." "We demand that the police who have been guilty of killing our youth be prosecuted and put in jail," said Mel Reeves, an organizer with the coalition. "We also demand that they free the Haitian refugees who are being held in the Chrome detention center."
Arbitrary detention of Haitian refugees should not be part of U.S. foreign policy. Minors should not be held captive, nor should any of the refugees be denied due process or the right to legal representation. In the past, all Haitian refugees were considered economic refugees. Today, even the president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is claiming that he is being persecuted. While the U.S. Special Forces and the State Department are busy chasing Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, on the island nation of Haiti, a powerful and deadly drama is unfolding. Mob killings of reporters and shootouts in broad daylight between mayors and congressmen have become common occurrence.
Boston First Baptist Church and Mattapan's Saint Angela's Catholic Church choirs uplifted the service with songs. Rev. Father Charles Gabriel of Dorchester's St Matthew Catholic Church gave thanks to God for the country's blessings. Rev. Gary Theodat of Golgotha Seventh Day Adventist of Roslindale asked for deliverance for Haiti, while Reverend Nicholas Homicile of the Baptist Tabernacle of the Evangelical Voice prayed for unity. The President of the Association-of Haitian Pastors of New England, Rev. Pastor Paul Daniel of Evangelical Baptist Church of the North Coast, closed the worship with a prayer of consecration and the final blessings. The reflection part of the gathering ended with a series of short and precise messages.
In addressing some of the issue facing Caribbean migrants, Dr. Manley implored everyone to take responsibilities for themselves and their respective islands. "Maybe we have been depending too much on the people we elect. A democracy works best when it has citizens who are willing to be accountable," she said. While empathizing with the terrorism issues, currently affecting the United States, Dr. Manley pointed out that the Caribbean was also experiencing terrorism in its own form. "For us poverty is terrorism. The amount of guns that come into Jamaica from this country is terrorism. Jamaica is way ahead of the other islands with their homicide rate. "Guyana is right behind us and some other islands are beginning to see the same thing happening."
It may also have helped English-speaking migrants from the Caribbean that Florida served as a broad entry point for Caribbean migrants from Cuba, Haiti, and other countries: Where an area has a strong tradition of immigration, prevailing social attitudes are not likely to be as parochial as those in traditionally closed communities. Again, this is not to minimize the difficulties that particular migrants have faced; it is to acknowledge the fairly obvious point that some communities are less impenetrable for outsiders than others. A recent study by the British Cabinet Office has found that Caribbean women constitute a significant success story at the professional level. Specifically, for the generation born between 1940 and 1959, as many as 45 percent of the black women from the Caribbean, or who are of Caribbean heritage, now hold professional or managerial jobs, as against 27.3 percent of the black men in the same category. For the generation born between 1960 and 1979, 38.1 percent of the black women with Caribbean roots are professionals or managers, in comparison with 28.6 percent of the black men. These figures warn us that gender is now a significant factor in determining the prospects of Caribbean migrants to Britain, and they highlight the need for a broader examination of the factors that determine success for those who, in Claude McKay's words, may find themselves "a long way from home."
The genesis of these carnivals carries the intent of resisting on some level, by Caribbean migrants, the otherwise alienating conditions of life in migration, to "carnivalise" these landscapes with some of the joy and space commensurate with Caribbean carnival. Indeed, Caribbean intellectual contributions have had successful impact on the development of U.S., European and African thought. Still, the Caribbean in most imaginings, and in particular to those who do not know it well, is the place of "sun and fun," a vacation land devoid of serious engagement with the world. Caribbean carnival then is the climax of all those "sun and fun" constructions. Yet, there is a history and politics to carnival - a "carnival of resistance" beyond the outer face of "carnival of tourism" - that demands exposure.
The concerns raised by the opposing view that dual nationality is a form of conflicting allegiance have been a lingering irritant to relations between the Haitian politicians and the Haitian Diaspora. For too long, we were led to believe that all birthright Haitian nationals who stayed in Haiti to endure the political vicissitudes of the last three decades did so out of blind patriotism. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the most vocal restrictionists, those most passionate in their denunciation of double nationality as an antithesis to the patriotic principle of uncompromising allegiance are the first to make use of cheaper technology, communication and travel to shuttle between the great metropolis of North America for all their basic needs, including banking, shopping, investing and schooling for their kids. They are essentially enjoying the less taxing lifestyle of a languishing economy while spending, investing and enjoying the glitters of flourishing ...operating in small villages in Haiti.
What is Eiery Furnace Films? A film production company established by a group of Caribbean immigrants, predominantly Jamaicans, to produce community based films about the real Caribbean immigrant experience in this country. Their films portray the peoples' stories in an unrelenting honest and straight forward manner. Like the musical works of their courageous predecessor, Bob Marley, there is no "sugar coating" to the message of why people are struggling, as their lives are vividly portrayed on film. There is one industry always flourishing in the "ghetto" - that is the drug trade. Who profits from the drug trade? the big "drug lords," who live nowhere near the ghetto. If the only available jobs are those involved in the drug trade, that is what some people will go towards out of necessity. The majority of people don't get involved in all of that. They work very hard, many with two and three jobs, to support their children and send money home as well. Kevin Porter is a producer and writer with tremendous talents whose creative efforts are responsible for the publishing of "Inspirations of the God Within" (A Book of Classical Poems), and the production of "Rasta-Life and The Truth," an award winning film on the contributions and benefits of the Rastafarians.
Representatives of several major Jamaican corporations, primarily representing companies in the food distribution and financial services sectors, will also be participating in and co-sponsoring the event. This year's conference will be held under the theme: "The Jamaican Diaspora: Unleashing the Potential".
