National Caribbean American Heritage Month Celebrations will open with an Official Ceremony on June 1st at 10:00 am EDT. The event will be hosted virtually on the Zoom platform and will feature keynote speaker, Brian A. Nichols, Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Other invited speakers include: H.E. , Ambassador of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to the USA and Chair of the CARICOM Diplomatic Caucus; and Ambassador Nestor Mendez, Assistant Secretary General of the OAS. Special live performances by internationally acclaimed Jamaican tenor, Steve Higgins; and Gerard Placide, three-time first place winner Mc Donalds Gospel fest is also on the agenda to commemorate the occasion. Since 2006, June has been designated as National Caribbean American Heritage Month by Presidential Proclamation. Caribbean Americans have contributed to the development of the United States in extraordinary ways. Millions of people in the United States are connected to our Caribbean Neighbors.
“Honoring Our Journey, Shaping our Future” is the theme for the June 2023 Caribbean American Heritage Month, being celebrated across the United States in recognition of the contribution of the Caribbean Peoples to the culture and economy of the nation. The Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS), a non-profit based in Washington DC, Founding Convenor of the movement along with Caribbean diaspora associations across twenty states are organizing activities in communities with significant levels of Caribbean American Nationals. This year’s activities will be held in a variety of hybrid options (virtual and in-person) owing to the ongoing effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The ‘SMART’ Caribbean Gathering and Caribbean American Legislative Week are the main intellectual components of the month-long celebrations in which Caribbean-American leaders and sector-knowledge experts come together to discuss issues affecting the Caribbean Region as well as Caribbean Americans. It is expected that members of the Congressional Caribbean Caucus and US administration officials, will also participate in timely discussions of policy issues affecting the Caribbean American community in Legislative Week, June 20-24th.
“Since the beginning, ICS has worked together with our partners and stakeholders to successfully grow awareness of the commemoration; and more importantly signal a sea change in Caribbean immigrant relationships with the political and policy elite here in the US. said Dr. Claire Nelson, ICS President & Founder, a White House Champion of Change and Forbes Top 50 female futurists. The onus is on us as Caribbean community leaders to be present in the room, and if needed bring our folding chair, she added.
Additionally, a variety of cultural Celebrations, carnivals and festivals are planned from California to Georgia, Massachusetts and all points between.
National Caribbean American Heritage Month has been celebrated annually every June since 2006.
The month represents an opportunity to bring together Caribbean peoples across the world to address common concerns; to allow Caribbean peoples everywhere to feel a sense of place in the public discourse, and to strengthen the Caribbean Voice in the World.
Francine Campbell Hakim, Communications Co-Chair
Institute of Caribbean Studies
