In 1984, the association opened an expanded Historical Museum at the Miami-Dade Cultural Center in downtown Miami. This 40,000-square-foot facility includes a permanent exhibition that traces the history of South Florida and the Caribbean, a temporary exhibition gallery that features several new exhibitions each year, a theater and classroom area for variety of educational programs, and storage areas for the museum's extensive collections of artifacts and archival materials, including books, manuscripts, maps and more than one million photographs related to the region. In recent year, the Historical Museum has directed increasing attention to Miami's role as a gateway of the Americas. To explore Miami's multifaceted connections with the Caribbean and Latin America, a new program series, Miami: The Gateway City, was introduced in Spring 1999. The objective of the 12-month series is to use the museum as a central forum for public dialogue about current issues facing Miami and as a space for related artistic presentations.
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."
Yvonne J. Graham, CEO of the Caribbean Women's Health Association, discussed the health disparities that continue to plague racial and ethnic groups in the New York City metropolitan area at the Brooklyn-based group's annual benefit reception. The CWHA's chief mission is to respond to problems affecting immigrants from the Caribbean region.
Amsterdam News publisher emeritus Wilbert Tatum was among eight people saluted by the Caribbean Women's Health Association on Mar 15, 2001 at the group's annual benefit reception at the Brooklyn Museum. Tatum and the others were honored for their records of leadership and commitment to community service.
It is not surprising that the Caribbean woman pushes her daughter toward higher education, for she sees education as the greatest tool for social mobility. Education becomes more than just a means of expanding one's realm; it is seen as an armor of protection against hostile forces, an opportunity to be successful so that no one can "tek step wid yuh." Traditionally, women have been the custodians of culture. The Caribbean woman must continuously face this question: "How can I keep the culture intact, maintain our song and dance in these changing times, this electronic age of computer, when our children are struggling against the reins of our value system and often we are so perplexed, not knowing what to do? This, then, is the most valuable lesson the Caribbean mother passes on to her daughter: how to be firm in the midst of society's pressures and remain her individual self and nurture her talents and resources to love her mate and nurture her children, even while she pursues her own dreams. The songs and dance continue.
Here in Florida, Caribbean people may not celebrate with Junkonoos, but with their cousins the Mocko Jumbies. All over South Florida the Kwuya or stilt dance has become quite popular and includes the participation of children as well. This ritual dance is especially popular among Trinidadians. A newly-formed parang group, the Punto Finale, is testimony to the enduring appeal of Caribbean Christmas celebrations even when one is miles away from home. Led y Ruby Limare, with Dr. Dawn Batson as one of the 12 members, this group has been serenading South Floridians with lively Spanish-style Christmas music that has been part of the season's celebrations in Trinidad for centuries. Kwanzaa, which means first fruits of harvest, is a celebration that many Caribbean people can relate to because of its Afro-Centric base and its focus on family life, self-reliance, and culture. Although Kwanzaa begins the day after Christmas, its celebrations embraces this age-old tradition of Christmas day.
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.
They continued to avoid the racially-motivated behavior of many in the Cuban population in South Florida. In fact, the Caribbean (black?) organizers of the carnival care so little that they were happily prepared to give away the carnival's culture-driven economic and social enterprise to the Cuban community, even if the Cubans didn't really want anything to do with it, like Jewish Miami Beach and WASP downtown didn't. Does this mean that the huge economic infusion that was offered to other communities for acceptance is going to be realized by the people in Opa-Locka? Because, suddenly, it's as if some people belatedly became a little blacker; after all, they're home, they claim, to Opa-Locka. Yeah, right. The carnival organizers have some cojones, if not much sense of appropriateness. They outdid themselves in their fantasizing (but then, that's carnival). They opted for Hialeah and tried to hitch their wagon to Mayor Penelas' new coattail. Somebody needed to remind them of some of the politics involved. Seems Mayor Alex and Mayor [Raul Martinez] `don't tek tea', as we say in the Caribbean. Probably something to do with Alex backing the candidate who ran against Raul. Next stop, Hialeah City Hall. The rest, they say, is history.
Washington DC's Caribbean Carnival, which is in its 11th year, takes more than 500,000 Caribbean people "back home" with its parade of life, color and unity. To the dismay of many attendees, the parade moved from its original home on Georgia Avenue to the downtown area, where the white, business-class atmosphere with its federal buildings made some feel as though their culture was an exhibit in an art museum.
-, Participants in this first year of Caribbean Culture week include educational institutions - Little Flower Day Care and Preparatory School and Nazareth Regional High School in Brooklyn as well as Munroe College in New Rochelle which will host special programs. From the culinary arena, Blue Mahoe Restaurant in Manhattan, Caribbean Island and Gabrielle's restaurants in the Bronx, Clippers Restaurant in Queens and Royal Caribbean Bakery in Mount Vernon stepped forward to take up the mantle by offering special pricing for the week and hosting receptions. CCW receptions will also be hosted by The Caribbean Cultural Centre and Savacou Gallery in Manhattan and Clinton Hill Simply Art and Framing Gallery and Caribbean American Weekly newspaper in Brooklyn, which will also host fine art exhibits during the week. Look out for authors and spoken word artists celebrating the literary arts of the region at each of the receptions mentioned.
