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Garifuna group celebrates
Heritage Month in NYC
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By Nelson A. King
The Bronx-based Garifuna Coalition,
USA, Inc. says it will be celebrating the
11th Anniversary of the Garifuna-American
Heritage Month 2019 from March 11
to April 12.
“The day of March 11 is significant
because it is the anniversary of the forcible
deportation of the Garifuna people
by the British from St. Vincent and the
Grenadines in 1797, which resulted in
permanent separation of Garifuna families,”
said the group in a statement on
Wednesday.
March 14 is National Hero Day in St.
Vincent and the Grenadines in observance
of the anniversary of the death of Paramount
Garifuna Chief Joseph Chatoyer on
March 14, 1795.
In addition, the coalition said March 25
is the 29th anniversary of the tragic fire in
the Happy Land Fire, on March 25, 1990.
The group said it was “an arson fire that
killed 87 people trapped in an unlicensed
social club named ‘Happy Land Social
Club’ in the Bronx.”
Most of the victims were young Hondurans
celebrating, largely drawn from
members of the local Garifuna American
community, the coalition said.
“It was through the Happy Land Fire
that New York discovered the Garifuna
people,” it said.
The month concludes on April 12 in
commemoration of 222nd Anniversary
of the Garifuna Settlement in Central
America on the island of Roatan, on April
12, 1797.
“Garifuna-American Heritage Month
provides an opportunity to celebrate the
Garifuna family reunification and recognize
the significance of Garifuna’s contributions
to the quality and character of life
of New York City,” the Garifuna Coalition,
USA, Inc. said.
It said, through many events and activities
throughout the month, all people
will “gain a greater appreciation of Garifuna
history and traditions, and of the role
Garifuna-Americans have played, and will
continue to play, in New York’s society.”
The coalition described the Garifuna as
“a hybrid people resulting from a biological
and cultural mixture between Caribs
and Arawaks of the Caribbean and people
of African origin.”
It said this process of “hybridization,”
which took place in St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, “gave rise to a new group
called the Garifuna or the Garinagu.”
“All of the communities in Belize, Guatemala,
Honduras and Nicaragua descend
from the just over two thousand Garifuna
people forcibly deported from St. Vincent
in 1797,” the coalition said.
“They are, therefore, one people who
share the same history and a common
tradition in language, music and dance
among other things,” it added.
The coalition said New York City is currently
home to the largest Garifuna population
outside of Central America, with
an estimated 200,000 living in the South
Bronx, Brownsville and East New York in
Brooklyn, and Harlem.
“We invite you to join us in the celebration
of March 11 - April 12, 2019 as
Garifuna-American Heritage Month 2019
in New York City,” the group urged the
public.
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